A spin off of useful info from:
Top 10 Things You’ll Discover at College
10. No one tells you what to do.
It's like working at a large company. Police yourself and work on time management because superiors have other fish to fry and are relying on you to tend to the nets while they're busy.
9. Many students (coworkers/clients) are smarter (or less experienced) than you.
Your processes as a creative may include the education of your client/peers on your ideation steps. Tell them only what they need to know and fill in the blanks when they get curious. Emphasize where you need their input and focus on the timeline you set being a major goal. Learn what your "client" knows about the process and what their experiences are with it so that you'll save headaches on the front end. Giving them more information than necessary can lead to them developing a "false expert" sense. Your responsibility lies in guiding them to the best solution, however they feel they have decided upon it. Good educational points can make them feel empowered to comment and encourage this to a point. "False experts" gone wild can kill time lines and waste energies quickly. However, they may not know where to even start when formulating an opinion. If they critique your font choices or color selections with nothing beyond their personal preferences, you have at least engaged them in the creative process. Be appreciative and back up your sales position of your preferences with research and trends to up your credibility and persuasiveness. They'll feel what the right solution is regardless but it's up to you to help them avoid weak solutions they feel are a great fit. When in doubt, provide end solutions you would be satisfied with regardless of their feedback.
8. Classes can be huge.
Departments can be a daunting arena. Approval processes and counsel may be long winding roads and messy. Learn up front who to go to and where back ups occur in the timeline!
7. ... And easy to blow off.
Going back to point 10, people may be too busy to keep up with the timelines you've assigned to them. Remind them early and often until you can count on their punctuality in meeting your needs.
6. Two thirds of the work is done outside the class (meeting) room.
Think ahead, be prepared and deliver. That's about it.
5. You set your own schedule.
Between meetings, you've got to do as 6 says and really prepare material to continue forward motion. Even if you're the only one who does so between meetings, you will be the constant contributor, increasing your value!
4. There are new subjects to be learned.
I never thought I'd be researching dietary needs and imagery but the end result dictates the work process. Enjoy the learning opportunities outside of your field and hone in on supplemental instruction that applies to your field. I've arranged to attend web design and CSS workshops through the university. I may not be using those skills right away but they're a great thing to keep in your pocket.
3. Learning at college is cumulative.
The new kid on the block has to figure out who the go-to folks are. Build a relationship with them so they're happy to help you. Reinforce it! Learning the behaviors and history of the school is as big a part of success as meeting their design needs. You can't help a client you don't know. Once you're acquainted, it only gets easier.
2. You have to choose a major.
You can't be an expert in everything so don't talk big unless you've got the experience to back it up. Seek out opportunities to expand your knowledge base and document it for reference. Working with a dietician (like I am?) then copy down some quotable facts from them. It'll help you approach related projects in a more familiar way and serve for talking points as you network.
1. You can be free of your parents.
Working on a college campus gives you the oasis feel of your own little city in the middle of a bigger country. During the day you tune in to the local environment, inserting the outside world as necessary, but all the while keeping the natives happy and attended to. Family and friends take on an after work roll and coworkers become the team that you attach yourself to. There's strength in numbers and the identity that comes with working for a large university or corporation can empower you to contribute to great things while feeling less exposed than at a smaller agency.
Carry on, fellow designers and higher ed folks!
5.13.2009
Tiberius would be proud
Star Date: 2 months and 10 days
Mission:
Obtain selection preferences and approval of 3 refreshed designs for food concepts.
Checkpoints:
Accomplish approval in under an hour.
Avoid wasted time prepping what may be thrown out anyway.
Make allies.
Outcome:
Completed. Casualties were avoided.
Manifest: Weekly meeting went smoothly and people left smiling. The antagonists are hiding for the time being and a team is emerging. Inspiration shared, forward motion made. The inertia of the meeting is carrying us towards a bright portion of the process and I can only hope to keep our coefficient of friction to a minimum.
(By the way, the new Star Trek movie was AWESOME! But I couldn't tell you what's happened in the TV show for almost a decade.)
Mission:
Obtain selection preferences and approval of 3 refreshed designs for food concepts.
Checkpoints:
Accomplish approval in under an hour.
Avoid wasted time prepping what may be thrown out anyway.
Make allies.
Outcome:
Completed. Casualties were avoided.
Manifest: Weekly meeting went smoothly and people left smiling. The antagonists are hiding for the time being and a team is emerging. Inspiration shared, forward motion made. The inertia of the meeting is carrying us towards a bright portion of the process and I can only hope to keep our coefficient of friction to a minimum.
(By the way, the new Star Trek movie was AWESOME! But I couldn't tell you what's happened in the TV show for almost a decade.)
4.17.2009
From Office Zero to Workplace Hero
Lesson #9
Always leave your business card in the fishbowl at a restaurant.
You just might win free food.
Take me for example, I placed a card in a tiny bowl at Chipotle and next week my Marketing Department gets free Chipotle because of it! Looks like the new hire is a rockstar.
Amazing! This could be you!
Always leave your business card in the fishbowl at a restaurant.
You just might win free food.
Take me for example, I placed a card in a tiny bowl at Chipotle and next week my Marketing Department gets free Chipotle because of it! Looks like the new hire is a rockstar.
Amazing! This could be you!
4.10.2009
Color Awareness and Social Commentary
"That color is called Lift-Off Lemon. Woohoo!!"
A very positive and energetic director in our department, outside of the marketing crew, loves picking colored paper for handouts in meetings, posters, and power points. Variety is not always something you should take advantage of. After deciding that the screenshots she is printing needed to be on white paper, she picked a -fun- color for the rest of it. "Oooh! That's a fun yellow. All bright and lemon!"
:facepalm:
The battle of making people aware of appropriate choices of color is never ending. I didn't even open my mouth this time. Since it was something I heard over my cubicle, I was not involved in the process. But how many pages of text would you want to read on neon yellow paper during the course of someone's presentation? If you said none, that's what I thought.
And with the click of a mouse, my blog entry content feels shallow and empty in comparison to the tragic deaths of the 287+ who died in an Italian earthquake several days ago. See CNN's article. I was distracted for about 15 minutes from writing this entry by the news of the mass funeral. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone presided over the Mass and said the funeral was a "precious moment" to understand the meaning of life and death. "Everything can stop in a second -- projects, plans -- everything finishes. All that remains is love," he said.
I was poised to talk about how in my newest project and the sheer scope of what we aim to accomplish very quickly. The talk of how even the grandest schemes can be halted at any time for any reason made me take a moment and reevaluate my wording.
As my first large undertaking at my new position, there is a lot I have been entrusted with. I have to research, plan and present color and typographical choices for the rebranding of our University's Dining Services. Originally I was going to mainly talk about the difficulties I've had with convincing the other members of the team that my research and training are pointing to the solution. But it seems trivial in light of the earthquake.
And then a Tweet with a link came along about how constant information streams can harm our ability to sense others' feelings and read emotional situations... http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/04/14/twitter.study/?iref=hpmostpop
This pretty much can explain the disconnect I felt with the process of color selections, judging others' reactions and my relative inablity to sit down and write a blog entry in the middle of the day. Desensitized to the pain and suffering of humanity, we don't take the time to consider things. We just move, move, move. Projects that take place under expedited deadlines are treated in the same manner as a barrage of news stories about murders, deaths and kidnappings. You just keep moving. If you pause to consider good or bad, there is a great deal of value in the thoughts generated. But when is this option awarded? How are we morally growing in the face of streamlined execution?
I succumb to writing about writing and thinking about thinking. An uncharacteristic post leads me to revisit my banter surrounding my challenging project. I'm going to sit back a bit and let some of the reality of the world stew in my brain. I'll get back to art in a little while.
CM
A very positive and energetic director in our department, outside of the marketing crew, loves picking colored paper for handouts in meetings, posters, and power points. Variety is not always something you should take advantage of. After deciding that the screenshots she is printing needed to be on white paper, she picked a -fun- color for the rest of it. "Oooh! That's a fun yellow. All bright and lemon!"
:facepalm:
The battle of making people aware of appropriate choices of color is never ending. I didn't even open my mouth this time. Since it was something I heard over my cubicle, I was not involved in the process. But how many pages of text would you want to read on neon yellow paper during the course of someone's presentation? If you said none, that's what I thought.
And with the click of a mouse, my blog entry content feels shallow and empty in comparison to the tragic deaths of the 287+ who died in an Italian earthquake several days ago. See CNN's article. I was distracted for about 15 minutes from writing this entry by the news of the mass funeral. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone presided over the Mass and said the funeral was a "precious moment" to understand the meaning of life and death. "Everything can stop in a second -- projects, plans -- everything finishes. All that remains is love," he said.
I was poised to talk about how in my newest project and the sheer scope of what we aim to accomplish very quickly. The talk of how even the grandest schemes can be halted at any time for any reason made me take a moment and reevaluate my wording.
As my first large undertaking at my new position, there is a lot I have been entrusted with. I have to research, plan and present color and typographical choices for the rebranding of our University's Dining Services. Originally I was going to mainly talk about the difficulties I've had with convincing the other members of the team that my research and training are pointing to the solution. But it seems trivial in light of the earthquake.
And then a Tweet with a link came along about how constant information streams can harm our ability to sense others' feelings and read emotional situations... http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/04/14/twitter.study/?iref=hpmostpop
This pretty much can explain the disconnect I felt with the process of color selections, judging others' reactions and my relative inablity to sit down and write a blog entry in the middle of the day. Desensitized to the pain and suffering of humanity, we don't take the time to consider things. We just move, move, move. Projects that take place under expedited deadlines are treated in the same manner as a barrage of news stories about murders, deaths and kidnappings. You just keep moving. If you pause to consider good or bad, there is a great deal of value in the thoughts generated. But when is this option awarded? How are we morally growing in the face of streamlined execution?
I succumb to writing about writing and thinking about thinking. An uncharacteristic post leads me to revisit my banter surrounding my challenging project. I'm going to sit back a bit and let some of the reality of the world stew in my brain. I'll get back to art in a little while.
CM
2.18.2009
Fresh Start
I got a call at the beginning of February.
My response..."Sure, I'd love to set up an interview."
I cleaned up my portfolio and dropped a few spotless samples in the pockets. Off I went, scared out of my mind over what might happen if my current part time job found out I went to an interview AND if I didn't get the job where I interviewed. I'd never been in a spot like that before. I'd only left jobs due to graduation or because of a lay off. Never had I felt I was in such control.
Laughing as we wrapped up, I felt great about the position and the people I could be working with. It was also nice to know that while I graduated from the school that was this employing location's rival, it wouldn't completely be held against me...
A week and a half later, after my references had been verified and contacted, I got the call with an offer. I pondered it for a few days with my husband.
Factors and questions that weighed in most heavily were:
- unknown status of a potential graduate assistant position and its funding at another university that would eventually provide tuition reimbursement for an MBA
- unknown job location of soon-to-be graduated husband as he begins his career
- relative emptiness of savings account + bills coming due
- potential to remain on the board of my local AIGA chapter
- deeply rooted school rivalry
- potential to commute within a 45 min radius if husband finds job
All of that was dissected and analyzed, and my husband and I decided that this was an opportunity not to be missed. The economy said so. An available job, with included benefits, that I was specifically qualified for would have been a blessing in normal economic times... right now it was nothing short of a miracle.
The job is in the city that I currently reside, unlike my past 2 jobs where I commuted up to 2 hours one way daily. I can gain close to 16 hours of my life back every week. I can't wait for my start date of March 2 to come. Applying for tons of positions in November and not really hearing back from any was difficult, and common from what I hear. But it all seems to fade into necessary white noise after accepting the new job.
I'll be working at a University in the department dealing with student housing and dining services. Serving as graphic design specialist, I hear I'll get to hit the ground running.
I courteously let my part time employer know that this job opportunity had arisen and a decision had been made. They let me know that they didn't need me the rest of the two weeks. Only 5 days later, I was done... with a week and a half between employers.
In the mean time, I'm updating my LinkedIn, Careerbuilder.com, Monster.com, AIGA, Twitter and Facebook accounts to reflect that I'm no longer readily available for full time employment opportunities. I'm still open, just not immediately available. That's the one thing I learned from this process. ALWAYS seek employment, whether you can take it or not. You never know when you may need an option or several.
Wrapping up freelance work I'm currently under contract for, and launching my own website for design services and goodies related to weddings and new babies, ten days should evaporate quickly.
More to come as design gears shift!
CM
My response..."Sure, I'd love to set up an interview."
I cleaned up my portfolio and dropped a few spotless samples in the pockets. Off I went, scared out of my mind over what might happen if my current part time job found out I went to an interview AND if I didn't get the job where I interviewed. I'd never been in a spot like that before. I'd only left jobs due to graduation or because of a lay off. Never had I felt I was in such control.
Laughing as we wrapped up, I felt great about the position and the people I could be working with. It was also nice to know that while I graduated from the school that was this employing location's rival, it wouldn't completely be held against me...
A week and a half later, after my references had been verified and contacted, I got the call with an offer. I pondered it for a few days with my husband.
Factors and questions that weighed in most heavily were:
- unknown status of a potential graduate assistant position and its funding at another university that would eventually provide tuition reimbursement for an MBA
- unknown job location of soon-to-be graduated husband as he begins his career
- relative emptiness of savings account + bills coming due
- potential to remain on the board of my local AIGA chapter
- deeply rooted school rivalry
- potential to commute within a 45 min radius if husband finds job
All of that was dissected and analyzed, and my husband and I decided that this was an opportunity not to be missed. The economy said so. An available job, with included benefits, that I was specifically qualified for would have been a blessing in normal economic times... right now it was nothing short of a miracle.
The job is in the city that I currently reside, unlike my past 2 jobs where I commuted up to 2 hours one way daily. I can gain close to 16 hours of my life back every week. I can't wait for my start date of March 2 to come. Applying for tons of positions in November and not really hearing back from any was difficult, and common from what I hear. But it all seems to fade into necessary white noise after accepting the new job.
I'll be working at a University in the department dealing with student housing and dining services. Serving as graphic design specialist, I hear I'll get to hit the ground running.
I courteously let my part time employer know that this job opportunity had arisen and a decision had been made. They let me know that they didn't need me the rest of the two weeks. Only 5 days later, I was done... with a week and a half between employers.
In the mean time, I'm updating my LinkedIn, Careerbuilder.com, Monster.com, AIGA, Twitter and Facebook accounts to reflect that I'm no longer readily available for full time employment opportunities. I'm still open, just not immediately available. That's the one thing I learned from this process. ALWAYS seek employment, whether you can take it or not. You never know when you may need an option or several.
Wrapping up freelance work I'm currently under contract for, and launching my own website for design services and goodies related to weddings and new babies, ten days should evaporate quickly.
More to come as design gears shift!
CM
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