Response: Cheers to you guys. You're brilliant.

We are designers. We are brilliant.

Every day for the past two weeks I've woken up and thought, "Oh thank God, I'm one day closer to being done with school."

Now that the culmination of our undergraduate studies is finally upon us, I'm not so sure I like it. Of course I won't miss the huge load of schoolwork and sleep deprivation that comes along with it, but I'm definitely a lot more hesitant about the part where everybody moves on to the next chapter of their lives. Separation anxiety is inevitable.

I know that we've all been really stressed lately what with finishing up our magazine prototypes, iPad apps, mini portfolios and websites, but I propose we all take a step back and try to enjoy the time we have left together, even if it does involve mag editing, haaaaa. I'm going to try really hard to fully appreciate the short time we have left together before graduation.

It can't be denied; our capstone class has become a creepy cult-like family over the past month. We do perfect impersonations of each another. Our jokes make little sense to anybody else. (Trust me, I've tried. People don't get design humor. Or, in many cases, design itself haaaa.) Shoot, half of us are in the design lab right now ordering Gumby's and laughing hysterically about something insignificant. IT CANNOT BE DENIED.

As a lot of you probably know by now, my immediate plans are to stay and work in Columbia, so if any of you will be in CoMo this summer, please let me know. I'd love to keep in touch and get together for "social outings."

I wish each of you the best of luck in your future endeavors, wherever they might take you. No matter where you're headed, remember this: "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."

You can't miss: unique business cards

Now that I've finished my mini portfolio and have seen a proof of it, I'm really excited to begin doing freelance work so that I can start getting some professional experience and making a name for myself.

To start getting prepared, I finally ordered CS5 today. The first project I plan to tackle after graduation is creating fliers and business cards to promote my work. But more about that in my response post for the week.

Zazzle features some really interesting options for business cards. If you're looking to design your own, I'd check it out to see what some current business card trends are. For example, I learned that vertical business cards are apparently very in right now.

When I create my stuff, I'll probably keep working with my little bird fellows. I think they express my quirky personality in just the right way. As I mentioned in last week's blog, I've also been fond of the different lemon, black and gray color combinations that are happening right now, so I might try to work that color palette in somewhere, too. 

Trendy indie mustaches have even infiltrated the professional market of business cards. Especially the market of poorly designed business cards...

Vertical cards are everywhere.

 Retro birds are found on only the trendiest of business cards. OMG.

Not sure what you'd this one for. Maybe if you're promoting the Dresden Dolls?

Critique: Mini portfolio design

Except for my final round of copy editing, I just finished up my mini portfolio. Here's a preview of the little booklet I'll have to send to potential employers.

cover

I created these little bird fellows a while ago, and I knew I wanted to use them for one of my personal projects at some point. They represent my personal design style, which is very much still evolving.

table of contents

 

I organized my portfolio by type of work to help differentiate different design approaches. I found corresponding quotes to fit with each section divider to give whoever is looking at it an insight into how my mind works.

Vox intro

I designed an opener for each new section. I wrote a little blurb to explain the reason for the designs in each section, such as audience and the time frame, etc. Employers outside of Columbia might not know too much about Vox, the Missourian and, especially, our capstone projects. These little blurbs will give them some contextual understanding.

design work thumbnails

Although I originally wanted to format my spreads with a blurb on the left page and an example on the right, I eventually decided to put one piece with a blurb on each page. Each spread uses three corresponding colored dots that pull together the colors on both the pages. I stood by my decision to use black pages, but some of my darker colored designs got lost, so I added a .75 pt white border around each image to help them pop.

Can't wait to see everybody else's final portfolios next Wednesday :)

Response: iPad design

"I have conquered the iPad. Hire me." 

 — Christina Shimer

Since we sent our final product to the printer last week, we've moved on to developing content for our publication's iPad application. Our goal for Nosh is to convert our entire issue into a format suitable for the iPad.

We're not just uploading pdfs of our publication onto our application, though. We're recreating it for an iPad platform using the software that the J-school has recently bestowed on us ever so graciously. Heck, we can even get free copies of it uploaded onto our personal laptops.

So just how useful and relevant is our current work on the iPad? Only time will tell. For all we know, iPads could be irrelevant in a few years. Or maybe they'll be the default computer operating system for half of America. While I don't think the former is likely, I do think the latter is a prediction by Apple techies who are overestimating the appeal of the iPad.

Do I think a design company will hire me solely based on the fact that I've used iPad design software? No.

Do I think that the additional experience portrays me as having both the interest and capability needed to learn software that could be obsolete in a couple of years? Absolutely.

Do I care about iPads? Not so much at this point in my life.

Do I care about knowing how to design for the iPad? Absolutely. (Hrmmm this seems hypocritical.)

Crap, I might have to give in and get one. If only I had a coupon...

You can't miss: awesome people who design invitations

Since this week's critique featured the graduation announcements I designed for myself, I thought I'd explore to find some inspirational invitations. I thought I'd share my top three designers with you. ***Disclaimer: I'm sharing sites of my own free will to recognize the outstanding design content they offer.***

Gourmet Invitations by Tifany Wunschl

Feathers are very in right now for brides planning weddings, and the use of them in this invitation by Tifany Wunshcl is absolutely gorgeous. I'm usually not fond of the pink and black color theme for weddings, but this invitation has me considering it for my wedding in 50 years. Most of the invitations I found on this site exude a chic vintage feel.

Elizabeth Anne Designs

It was really hard for me to choose just one invitation to showcase from this site because they're all so beautiful. Although  I wouldn't necessarily want to use this as my wedding invitation, I knew I had to recognize its unique and charming nature. Each invitation on Elizabeth Anne Designs is quirky, which probably means that the designers take great care in capturing the couples' individual identities in each invitation. Overall, this site fits with my personal design style the most.

Wedding Paper Divas

You might be able to tell that I have a thing for mustardy, neon yellows and greens, especially when they're paired with black. Maybe that's the direction I'll head in some day. Anyway, Wedding Paper Divas is more of a commercial wedding invitation website. The invitations are basically templates that couples can choose to use for their occasion. So, though the invitations might not be unique to just one couple's special day, that couple would still get a really awesome invitation for a relatively low cost.

After this short excursion into the realm of wedding invitations, I realize I could probably spend (or waste) a great deal of time exploring the medium. Maybe one day I will actually need to ;)

Critique: graduation announcements

                      front

As our final days at MU come to a close, my amazing procrastination skills are paying off yet again. Graduation is in a little more than two weeks, and I have yet to send out my graduation announcements.

This simple fact of reality is more than fitting given my collegiate career as a journalist.

Anyway, I decided to make my own graduation announcements, partially because I hate imprinted cardstock and partially because thought it would be cheaper.
Anyway, here's what I came up with. Luckily, I was my own target audience so I got to do whatever I wanted without having to worry about anybody else's opinion, haaa.

                     back

The prominent words on the front are from one of MU's school songs. I chose to use them because they're so celebratory and fun. The quote at the bottom is engraved in MU's infamous J-school arch, so I found it to be very appropriate. And of course I included the columns.

While I wanted my invitation to have a more modern, graphic feel, I still wanted to use the traditional format of a graduation announcement. So, this is what I decided to do for the back.

HOORAY. HURRAH. MIZZOU. MIZZOU.

Response: indecision — enjoy the power and beauty of your youth

I am tired. It's 4:16 a.m., and a number of my capstone classmates are still in the design lab working on final magazine prototypes.

Walking out of the Missourian after many late hours of design work typically means I'll be a walking zombie the next day, but recently I've felt sad as I make my way through the empty hallways. This is the end. In a month I won't have to complain about the lack of sleep resulting from my schoolwork because I won't have any.

I've done pretty good in school, and it's because I've put so much effort into most of what I do. I wish I could have gotten more design experience earlier, but I was too busy working as both a Peer Adviser and blog editor for SuretyBonds.com. My boss offered me a full time position last summer, which has made working through my last two semesters much more manageable.                                          If only I knew then what I know now...

Having a job waiting for me definitely influenced my decision not to continue school right after graduation. Although I'm definitely ready to move on to the next chapter of my life, I can't help but feel nostalgic about my experiences as a J-school student.

Part of me wishes I would have applied to start grad school here in the fall so I could continue my work as a designer. I'm not sure I know how to live a life that isn't mainly focused on bettering myself through the education system.

What I do know, though, is that at this point in my life, I'm ready to live my life for me. I won't have school and its correlated requirements and commitments to bog me down. I'm excited to finally be fully self-sufficient and independent. Honestly, I can't wait to work 9-to-5 and bring home a steady paycheck. Then the rest of my time will be spent doing things that I choose to do for me. I'll have full, subjective control of what I want to do with my life.

The only problem is I have absolutely no idea what I want at all, not to mention where I want to see myself in a few years. I've tossed around the idea of attending art school for graphic design. Heck, I've even thought about pursuing my recent interest in fine art photography, but earning a living doing that seems too unrealistic for me considering my lack of experience in the field.

The following are the lyrics to a song by Baz Luhrmann that I've always really liked. I think that they ring truer than ever now. They give me a lot of comfort when I'm feeling unsure about the future and what to do with my life. I hope whoever reads this appreciates it, too.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '99—

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it

The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists

Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience

I will dispense this advice now

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh, nevermind

You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded

But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked

You are not as fat as you imagine

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind

The kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday

Do one thing every day that scares you

Sing

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts

Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours

Floss

Don't waste your time on jealousy

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind

The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself

Remember compliments you receive

Forget the insults, if you succeed in doing this, tell me how

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life

Some of the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives

Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't

Get plenty of calcium, be kind to your knees

You'll miss them when they're gone

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't

Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't

Maybe you'll divorce at 40

Maybe you'll dance the "Funky Chicken" on your 75th wedding anniversary

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much

Or berate yourself either

Your choices are half chance

So are everybody else's

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can

Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it

It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own

Dance

Even if you have nowhere to do it but your own living room

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them

Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good

Be nice to your siblings, they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future

Understand that friends come and go

But for a precious few, you should hold on

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle

For as the older you get, 
The more you need the people you knew when you were young

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard

Live in northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft

Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths

Prices will rise, politicians will philander, you, too, will get old

And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young

Prices were reasonable, politicians were noble

And children respected their elders

Respect your elders

Don't expect anyone else to support you

Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse

But you never know when either one might run out

Don't mess too much with your hair

Or by the time you're 40 it will look 85

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it

Advice is a form of nostalgia — 
Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts

And recycling it for more than it's worth

But trust me on the sunscreen