Semester in Review

Suggestion: I would recommend walking through setting up the actual budget in excel, I still feel like that is a little magical.

Enjoyed: I liked working in my group. I learned a lot from the process, each team member taught me something.

Thanks for another great semester.

Just being honest

I tried to think of someone and the only person I could think of is Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.

He is real. He is honest. He helps keep the art of letterpress alive. 
I know I should come up with some one that is really rich or a common house hold name, but I am skeptical of people who are super well known. They have publicists and PR people to rep and vet them. They have a brand and they present that brand and I have no way of knowing if it is authentic; it probably was at some point. I don't know Amos either, but I know his work and one of my mentor's is his good friend, so I trust his brand a little more than some CEO that I will never meet. 
I admire Amos.

Company Culture

I started freelancing in 2008 because I was sick of company culture, even that phrase leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I worked for companies that talk about their company culture and how fun, creative, or innovative they were; to me, when someone says non traditional, fun, and a number of over hyped words, I think oh so you have a bright primary colored wall somewhere in the building and you place the "creative team" in close proximity to the red, blue, or yellow wall. If a company wants to feed me that is a perk that really means I will be working so hard I won't be home to make my own dinner and I won't have time to grocery shop and pack a lunch. I am actually scared of the term company culture.
It is interesting to think about what I want from a company and what I am willing to GIVE a company. I am okay with long hours in spurts and I am okay with bright walls as long as those walls aren't just a facade, but they are an actual nod to a business willing to encourage creativity from their employees, even the ones not on the creative team.
Next year I will be looking for a place to go and earn a living wage. I will approach this task with a seriousness and a little less naivety than I have in the past. I want a place where I can go and work and be encourage to do things differently, to investigate, discuss, and pursue innovation, this is a lofty goal. But, what I really want is a place where I am valued and encourage to improve. I want to work with people who can mentor me and help me grow. I don't want to be stuck with no chance of evolution or promotion. I don't know if I can find this place, but I am hoping I can create a strong personal brand that helps me communicate who I am and what I value. My personal brand will help me attract companies I share a common ground with, and let them know I am ready to contribute to their company culture.

::SIDENOTE::
I loved the Drive Video this week, I sent it to a bunch of my friends. It is fascinating and so well presented.

Top Three Reasons a Designer Should Care About Skrilla

1. If you are informed about the company's budget it enables you to address other people/departments' concerns and goals and incorporate them into the company's design.
2. The reading this week said, "Second, a budget plots your financial path to where you want to be." So, if you want to be apart of the future you need to understand where the budget is steering the company.
3. The image of the designer is evolving. You can get a place at the table where decisions are made, but to get invited you need to understand the budget and other people need to KNOW you understand it.

YouTube Me

My Consumer Journey

I enjoyed the article a lot. It was easy to visualize an infographic for my journey, so instead of banging out a boring blog about why I bought a Kindle I decided to communicate visually my consumer cycle.

Are You An Armchair Creative?

OR

I really relate to this article because I do my best work away from my computer. I am not a great armchair designer but I am a decent running designer. Mark McGuinness puts it best when he wrote, “The armchair takes me into a different space, where my mind can drift and I can see the big picture of the projects I'm working on, notice the patterns that emerge and my gut feeling about the best way forward. When I get up from the armchair, everything is clearer and sharper. My body feels lighter, and more energized. And I get a hell of a lot done when I return to the other chair.” I feel similarly about when I go running.

The article goes on to encourage the reader to keep track of where the reader’s best ideas come to him/her. I am fascinated with this too because I am interested in makes me to be creative and how to become more creative and productive and the way to do that is to track it and look for the patterns in my work.

This article is a short summary of the ideas I have been kicking around for my thesis next year:

1. • Where does creativity come from?

2. • How come I am more productive after I have done something physical? and where does play fit into my design practice?

3. What do people do to organize and design their lives to function better?

He didn’t give me any real answers to the question but just reaffirms to me that they are interesting and valid questions a lot of people would like to know the answer to, and maybe I will spend next year trying to find my own answers to one or some of those questions…Sounds like fun to me.