Archive for 'Art & Design'
Photoshop Tutorial Rap
Posted on 14. Dec, 2010 by Karri Wells.
If only all education was this entertaining. This is actually pretty informative. I think they should make this a series.
(via College Humor)
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If You Love Wes Anderson So Much, Why Don’t You Marry HIM?
Posted on 24. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
Interesting spin on the Save the Date concept.
(image via Mirka23)
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How To Use Your Awesomeness To Get A Raise
Posted on 07. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
Betsy has made a very convincing argument for a raise with her charm, wit, and cold hard facts.
Check out the full presentation
For God’s sake, people like this are hard to come by. After the Duke Powerpoint debacle, it is refreshing to see a lady using Powerpoint for good. Go Betsy GO!
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Lil’ Douchebag Alphabet Book
Posted on 01. Oct, 2010 by Karri Wells.
This is the best thing I’ve come across months – the Lil’ Douchebag Alphabet Book. Multi-talented copywriter/illustrator Ted McCagg has put together an alphabet book chock full of douchey-ness. It reads as a guidebook for aspiring douchetards. With A for Axe (as in the body spray) and E for Ed Hardy, one can’t help but wonder if Jersey Shore was prime inspiration for this fine work.
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Have Your Beer and Make Music Too
Posted on 03. Sep, 2010 by Karri Wells.
Tuned Pale Ale combines two of my great loves in life, music and beer. How many times have you blown into your beer bottle to make a sound? I’ve always loved experimenting with the different tones I can achieve, much to the dismay of my drinking compadres.
Tuned Pale Ale takes that concept a couple steps further. The bottles come in various shapes and sizes which produce different sounds. The label tells you what notes can be played when the beer reaches each level. If that wasn’t already cool enough, the holder can be turned upside down and played as a drum. Has your mind exploded yet? Think of all the impromptu jam sessions this is bound to inspire.
The only bad part is that you can’t actually buy this anywhere. The creators, Matt Braun and Chris Mufalli, produced a small batch initially, and are now looking for larger brewing and distribution options.
What other food and beverages items could be transformed into instruments? 1, 2, 3 brainstorm!!
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Drake Gets a D+
Posted on 20. Aug, 2010 by Karri Wells.
The image below can be found on Drake University’s website. I’m embarrassed :(
In what world is this a good way to market an academic institution?
Update: Listen to Drake University’s Tom Delahunt talk about the marketing campaign on Iowa Public Radio
Also, read the email that was sent to Drake faculty and students to explain the Drake Advantage campaign
Should a good marketing campaign need an explanation? Does Delahunt’s explanation sell you on the concept?
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Why I Am No Longer A Designer
Posted on 09. Jul, 2010 by Karri Wells.
I knew I wanted to be a graphic designer from the moment my high school art department got an iMac. Those bulbous brightly colored computers mesmerized me. I soon found myself spending every free moment in the design lab learning my way around Photoshop and the other, now archaic, programs installed on the machine. I took all of our schools courses in Commercial Art where we kicked it old school, mocking up layouts with non-repro blue pencils and non-digital clip art. I adored my art teacher, Mr. Kling, an incredibly charismatic man with the most contagious laugh. He fed my budding passion for design and encouraged my efforts. He even let me help out with the high school website, which made me feel extra fancy and important.
Senior year came, I remember sitting in the guidance counselor’s office discussing ‘my future’. What college did I want to attend? What did I want to major in? The decision was simple – I wanted to be graphic designer. The next fall, I enrolled in Drake University‘s graphic design program. Freshman year I took what they called our ‘core’ classes – everything from drawing to sculpture. These classes were meant to develop our skills in composition, color and proportion. I loved these classes – while my friends were off taking more bookish subjects like accounting and biology, I was in the studio elbow deep in charcoal and slicing my fingers with X-Acto knives.
At some point I decided to add an Advertising major. I thought it would make me more ‘marketable’. So at the end of five, yes five, wonderful years, I graduated with a double major in Graphic Design and Advertising. I was ready to kick the world’s ass and design the crap out of anything that came my way.
Then reality sank in. Something they never tell you in school is that in the real world, you are no longer creating things that YOU like. You are designing for your clients. So if your client wants you to make a six foot banner full of low-resolution .jpegs and they prefer that you use Comic Sans because they want it to look ‘fun’, you have to find a way to make it work. As a designer there is a fine balance between satisfying your client, and creating work that your are proud to claim as your own. Just because YOU think that you’ve come up with the best idea ever, it doesn’t mean that your client will agree, and you must find middle ground. I spent five years deciphering vague feedback like, ‘let’s make this pop’, ‘the colors aren’t right’, ‘i like it, but it’s not quite there’, and bevy of other lines I’m sure you’ve heard from other annoyed designers or read on Clients From Hell.
I was finally burnt out – I just couldn’t do it anymore. I’d lost my passion. It had been drained out of me. I stopped looking at my projects as fun puzzles with multiple solutions and as client feedback as exciting challenges to work towards a mutually satisfying end product. Instead, I halfheartedly completed projects using the input of my clients and at the end of day wasn’t proud of what I was producing. That’s when I knew that it was time for a change.
I’ve always been a pretty social person, so when the social web started to evolve I naturally became an active participant. The more I dabbled, the more I fell in love with where this field was going and I wanted to be a part of it. So about a year ago, I transitioned careers from a graphic designer to a community manager. Don’t get me wrong, I miss design – I love the creative outlet that it provides me – I crave that, I need that. However, now it’s something that I can do on my own time, and it’s become fun again. I still enjoy reading passive aggressive exchanges between clients and designers, lost cat poster email thread, but now it doesn’t hit so close to home, and I can actually laugh instead of cry.
Are you a designer? What is your biggest frustration with your job? What’s your favorite part?