Genius Book Design

While at the library today, I spotted two spines that looked almost exactly alike, but with that mind-game of photo hunt. Not that it was that difficult to emulate Ann Coulter's book design, but the idea of making it near identical is brilliant. Everyone who looks to pick up Ann's book will now see Susan's. Of course no one far left or right-winged will even think twice about reading the opposition, but I guess it's for us people in the middle. Next time I'm at the library I'll take a picture of the whole effect it has on shelf, but for now this image is all I've got. Kudos.

Since We Last Left Our Heroes

Okay, so I haven't posted on my unemployment blog in awhile because i am, are you ready for this, EMPLOYED! okay, not officially, but as of this next thursday i will be! 75th time is the charm i say. literally it was the 75th place i looked for a job over the course of a little over 7 months. i am very excited and thrilled to have this job! i have a personal rule that i don't blog about jobs i have, so that's all i'll share. i will say that it has helped my mental health significantly; i no longer feel completely helpless and worthless like the dramatic self i was about 3 weeks ago.

since i'm still experiencing lasting bits of freedom this week, i just finished watching "the big chill", "suze orman young fabulous and broke", and "art:21" on jenny holzer. i finished reading, "you're so money" by a girl named farnoosh. it was a really good book about managing money when you're in your post-grad state. i really want to make sure i start off my new life managing my money really well so i can become ridiculously rich when i'm old and live on an island sipping sex on the beaches. until then, i just need to make really smart decisions. when my mom got her first paying job post-grad, she used her first paycheck to buy herself a louis vuitton bag that she still uses today. unfortunately, i don't think i will be doing that, but maybe i will treat myself with a little something as a sort of pat on the back... and a little high-five to the economy.

i'm getting ready for a girls night with some other designers in the cincinnati area that i am friends with, so it'll be nice to start a little group like that. all i have socially these days are 3 good girl friends, and about 30 guy friends from high school. it gets overwhelming sometimes with all the testosterone, but it's a whole lot better than an overload of estrogen.

okay time to crack down on some reading. just checked out, "yesterday's cincinnati", "andy warhol prince of pop" and "what jackie taught us, lessons from the remarkable life of jacqueline kennedy onassis".

and i'm listening to some songs out of my new FAVORITE movie, (500) days of summer along with a new jonas brothers song. judge me.

When to pee at the movies, BRILLIANT

http://www.runpee.com/#app=845b&e1bd-RunPeeID=196.334.0&3156-selectedIndex=0

Ok Wow

I'm so dumb. I researched How to be a Tattoo Artist... turns out these apprenticeships are legit and something you see off of LA ink... Basically for people who really want to be tattoo artists. Why did I think that apprentice meant helper/assistant... haha oh well I guess you'll have that when you're desperate for a job!

It's another Saturday night

well tonight i helped my friend celebrate his 23rd birthday for a few hours, only to come back home and re-open my latest design creation. i found a website called designcontest.net and saw the list of opportunities for a few hundred dollars. it's really neat! so i start sketching, mind-mapping, researching... throw about three designs together... go to post it on the forum-like setting... only to find out that i am not authorized to do so! so i message the person who posted the thread and said how i could send them my sketches via e-mail. so after i got back from my friend's house i go to surf around the site to figure out what the deal was. TURNS OUT you have to be a member that is approved to submit sketches. i have no doubt in my mind that i am capable of getting this done, however, there is an entire process now that i have to invest in to complete it. joke's on them i have nothing else to do these days! worst case scenario, i can throw these sketches into a portfolio piece if they have enough merit. i found out that the message about sending my sketches via e-mail is technically "illegal" and is grounds for "banishment" from the site. so i immediately sent the person a message back saying, "oops i just found the directions/rules". i hope they realize how excited i was to post my ideas, instead of thinking i'm dumb and didn't pay attention to the process. so i created the paypal account i need, and am halfway to posting 10 forum posts. also, i need to be a member on their site for a week, so i have to wait to submit my "application" until next saturday. again, joke's on them, the deadline for the logo i was working on isn't for another 10 days.

the project i worked on is for $350 and for this online tutorial site for people who work with machines, tools, factories, etc. very industrial if you will. the videos teach them different and new applications. i started working on it, and actually like the third option i picked. hopefully the logo conveys the idea of a tool/screw. i'll post a little sneak-peak. i don't want to give too much away because ladies and gentlemen, this is a contest after all. who knows who is snooping around looking to steal my magnificent, brilliant ideas! :)



in other employment news, every now and then i go application crazy and apply to anything/everything. today i applied for a tattoo apprenticeship here in cincinnati. joke's on me now. the guy sent me an e-mail back asking to see more of my work. okay, well that's not a problem. but then, he asked about my history with tattoos and if i had any. NEWSFLASH my skin is as clean as a newborn baby. the only permanent marks on my body since then have been from sports and stitches i got in 4th grade from opening the game Outburst with scissors during indoor recess. what? it wasn't my fault the teacher wasn't there and she taped it shut and left scissors right next to the games!

so tomorrow i have to send this guy an e-mail with a few teaser files of my work... and the ugly truth that i am indeed bare of ink. i'll make sure to let him know that right now i'm looking for any kind of work and i would love to assist him/help him in anyway he needs. i need a job. if that means i get to sit and watch a tattoo artist all day, so be it. i'll be the best tattoo apprentice ever. if he finds someone else in the application process that actually has aspirations of being a tattoo artist and picks them, then it just wasn't meant to be. sigh.

well that's about it for now. if i stay up any later i'll make the 5 more required forum posts on that website and sit on my butt changing the design i'm actually semi-content with right now for that contest. aslfjasld;fj

#goodnight.

The Book That Changed My (Branding) Life

i'm hitting the sheets, but i just realized i forgot all about this AMAZING book. if you are a designer and don't read this, you are MISSING OUT. it is truly educational and phenomenal. i learned so much and had to try hard to not highlight every other sentence. CHECK IT.

Check Me Out!

In 2 months
432 people have checked me out on AIGA.
people have clicked on my portfolio images 1177 times.

Which one of them is going to be my lucky break...


p.s. "a couple in new york city left their baby in the back of a taxi cab last week. good news is that the baby won $500 on cash cab." -jimmy fallon tonight

Laughing, Proud, Healing, Hoping

So after watching Chad Johnson jibber jabber all night on his UStream, I'm just relaxing watching Conan as usual. Chad is so fantastic and, dare I say, NORMAL! He gave out advice to ladies all night about guy problems. He even gave out his "office phone number" for all girls to call when they are having issues with their man. I did write it down and store it for any future dilemmas I have. You never know haha!

Today I worked the last day of lacrosse camp with a bunch of my old teammates from OU and Sycamore. It's a good way to make some quick money, but I would do it even if it were for no pay. I love being able to spread the game to girls even younger than when I started playing! The future of Sycamore lacrosse is very bright after observing what these girls can do! Very excited to be apart of a successful program that I put my blood, sweat and tears into ever since 2001.

My body is still healing from the really bad case of strep I inherited from someone this past weekend. I'm on a second medication that is truly knocking it out of my system. It's the same drug people use when they have exposure to Anthrax. Creepy!

Other than all that I'm just gearing up to get back to the REAL WORLD. After being sick and working the camp I've been out of commission pretty much on the job hunt. Next week is a new week and I am mentally preparing to tackle whatever I can find. I applied to about 4 or 5 jobs this week. It's hard to keep track of all the jobs I apply to off of either Craig's List, AIGA or other outlets online. Right now all these random websites might seem meager in means of finding a job, but I will do anything right now! I still haven't gotten a phone call from Kiss 107 FM about my resume, so that will also need to be dealt with next week. My #1 priority next week is to find a part-time job. Right now I'm considering opportunities at places that deal with printing, paper (even scrapbooking...), copying, stationary, the Apple store, etc. I am even considering applying to be a substitute teacher in my school district. Why not, right?! Basically I am just trying to find someone to BELIEVE in me and TAKE me and let me SHOW them what I CAN DO. Luckily, I have two meetings in the next two days about different freelance jobs. This is so good, my brain, heart and soul needs it. I need to design to survive in this world. My brain has so many different thoughts and ideas, all I need is direction. One freelance opp is for the website that I researched CSS for, so I'll have to get back on that train next week. Ay, ay, ay!

Hopefully this weekend will provide a respite for my body and mind. I want to be in a good physical and mental state for when I have to conquer the part-time world. It's so hard to work your ass off for the last 4 years, earn a BACHELOR degree, and have the world not let you do what you want. It's not that I suck. It's not that people don't want me. It's that no one can take me. This is where they're all wrong. Companies can't afford to NOT have me! I am one of the most ambitious, enthusiastic, idealistic people I know. I set my standards and goals so high and never cease to capture them. If I don't rise to the top I feel like I fail. It's all or nothing! Of course when I fail, I take it in stride and it only motivates me for the next round of adversity. I'm actually really proud of myself right now for thinking like this, and to be honest, I don't know where it's coming from. The last few weeks have been more than rough. I've cried a lot and just wanted to scream for help. I know I'm not alone in this because a lot of my designer friends who are entry-level as well have been doing the same. It's a roller coaster in limbo, that's for sure. I am praying that my mind can stay this optimistic and all the laziness and depression leaves all of us. We cannot give up.

Enough being Coach K here, time to get some sleep! I have to wake up to let my adorable puppy out in the morning, so I better get rest! As they say on twitter, #Goodnight

why i love youtube

Update

So it's been almost 2 full weeks sin laptop/internet at my disposal. I'm not even mad! I feel like I've had more time on my hands, probably because I'm not just sitting in front of a screen. Ironically, the last two weeks I have been sick and I found out today I have strep throat. It was a slow, painful process starting with my eyes being all swollen as if someone was constantly punching me in the face, and as if I was getting stung by 50 bees at the same time. Knock on wood, I am most always in good health, so this kind of came out of no where. You'll have it, so no biggie.
I'm still unemployed, but have been trying to catch up on the freelances I got before my vacation. Unfortunately my graphics card died so my laptop has been in what I like to call the Apple Hospital for the last week. I can't wait to get it back! It's like someone took my child from me! I'm actually very calm about the entire situation because the repair is free and I have all of my work/photos/music backed up on HDs and CDs, so nothing is lost. It is sort of difficult to not have my iMail application where I OCD organize all mail. Now, I have to use the gmail online version where all mail is just a clusterf*. Oh well, it gives me a project for when I get my laptop back :)
Other than that, I've just had to hang out with friends who were leaving the state for jobs, and friends that were coming back from vacations/excursions. There is one tavern in particular that is almost owned by my graduating class from high school. Just about everyone is in Cincinnati and unemployed so all we do is go to this place to hang out and catch up. Kind of takes the suspense out of the 5-year reunion next year, but what can you do. Sounds like everyone is still in the same job-searching boat, but is still optimistic because we have to be.
My eyes are getting super tired from looking at this PC desktop screen, and I'm waiting for my meds to kick in for the night, so I will leave everything at that! More later hopefully.

DEAD LAPTOP. Back in commission soon, and hopefully not $1200 in the hole.

More Good Numbers from AIGA

Prayers for Venkat Shanker, Mr. Sycamore 2005

Twas the Night Before New York

packing is all done, now i'm just playlisting for my road trips in the next week. thank god itunes has the length of playlists at the bottom of the window so i know if i'm remotely close to 6 hours. i've been surfing around to find some new tracks off of "battle studies", john mayer's next album. so far i've found "half of my heart" and "heartbreak warfare". i have fallen in love with each tune already. i wish i could already have both for my ipod! the lyrics of each are at the deepness of continuum if not deeper. his music really clicks for me, i'm so glad he's still around after all these years. i can't lie, i feel like an idiot for not ever seeing him live. it's such a regret. when his next album drops and he tours i will have absolutely no excuses. i'm going to try and go twice to make up for lost time. i don't even care if i go alone. okay, that's a lie, but that's how important it is that i attend his shows at the next opportunity. no doubt continuum single-handedly got me through my tough times in 2007.

i cannot wait to be in new york. it's so quiet and off the grid. my aunt/uncle's place has wireless now so i can keep the world updated with my life and check in on what's going on. i love being out of the loop sometimes, but i have got to find at least a newspaper wherever i go. i have a couple of cousins flying in from florida so my sister and i won't be the lone grandchildren. apples to apples will for sure guarantee good times along with boat rides, and trips to the casino. ok it is truly bedtime for me :) stay classy cincinnati.

Now Reading

http://www.amazon.com/New-Girl-Job-Hannah-Seligson/dp/0806529431

Denver ?

[nibble nibble]

Day 27 of Unemployment; Salute to Pierre Bernard Jr. and other late night designers

I couldn't find any images from tonight's Conan to show you what they did to their poor graphic designer, but basically they put him in a dress in front of the entire syndicated world. Designers really are a truly unique breed. I googled Pierre to see what kind of work he does, and it's primarily comic book type. His site is totallygraphic.com. Here's to being a good sport and here's to being the most famous graphic designer in the world at 11:35pm from Monday-Friday. Once it hits 12:35am Jimmy Fallon's design department usually takes center stage on the head swap skit he does that makes us look like murderers:

Good Things All Around from AIGA

My work is showcased on AIGA's website, it looks like at least some people have looked at my portfolio and profile. No comments on any of my work yet, but I'll take view counts! I'm going to upload more work onto my portfolio, hopefully to keep my profile updated and interesting.
aigadesignjobs.org/merpost1