Nov. 9

I woke up thinking about the freezing temps forecast for tonight. Realized I haven't winterized my air conditioner and there that annoying leaking pipe out back. Hope a freeze doesn't turn expand the drip to a gusher.

Today:
8-9:40 Video editing. Review for test
10-Noon  Finish tri-fold brochure for InDesign
12-12:30 Lunch
12:30-2 Fix logo. Needs transparent background.
2-3:40 Illustrator. Work on still life
4-5:40 InDesign. Unveil brochure. Review for test
6-7 Winterize air conditioner. Check leaky pipe.

Things to do:
Still life
Look Who's Dancing flier
Portfolio website
Job fair. There's a government career fair Tuesday, Nov 15.
Intern paper
Professional meeting

Nov. 17 Vince Michael talk will cover seminar requirement

When school's over or maybe Thanksgiving week, I'll get the flat tire in the back of my pickup fixed and a plumber to fix the leaky pipe. I did make time to vote yesterday.

These 4:30 a.m. stress checks are becoming a habit.

My latest work of art, a perspective assignment for Illustrator:

Nov. 2

The end-of-the-semester rush is starting early. If I was in retail I would hire some seasonal employees.

Yesterday:
8:30-10 Updated Media Productions log

10-noon  Organized "Look Who's Dancing" (LWD from now on) material and sketched ideas for flier.
I'm thinking ribbons of music.

Noon-noon:30  Media Productions class. Passed out posters

12:30-1:30  Perspective assignment for Illustrator class. Gradient mesh of sculpture.

2-3  Job Squad. Not as many changes as I expected. Little things like, don't capitalize Website. Generic cover letter nixed. She said it should be job-specific and for job fairs cover letters aren't necessary.

3-4:30 Stopped by my house for lunch and read one story from Elmore Leonard's collection of westerns
I'm falling behind on my New Year's resolution to read 50 books in 2011. I'm on 38 with 8 weeks to go.

4:30-8  Perspective. I'm doing an art museum interior. I was too ambitious in the beginning – 3 stories, with stairs and balconies and a cafe. I basically started over and downsized to one room with about a dozen paintings, one sculpture and a couple of people.

Vince Michael poster

I think the Vince Michael poster is done.

Friday I registered on LinkedIn.

I've been swamped
Today's schedule:
8-10 a.m. - Video editing project
10-? - Talk to Matt about printing poster. Possibly print it.
11-11:30 - Lunch
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. - Finish interactive InDesign project
1-2 Illustrator perspective project
2-4 Illustrator class
4-6 InDesign class
6-6:30 Eat something
6:30-8:30 Work on cover letter and resume for Meeting with Job Squad tomorrow

Portfolio presentation II

I announced the results from my portfolio survey too soon. It turns out I'd only looked at about half of them. I found some more at the bottom of the stack, under some blanks.
The final results are, from most popular to least:
1. Seurat
2. Oz
3. Grackle
4. Grad Card
5. Calendar Snake
6 (Tie) Photoshop House, Rudolph
8. Los Muertos
9. (Tie) Ethics Chess, FiloSofia
11. Protesters
12. Chupacabra

I take three things from this:

1. I ought to drop Protesters and Chupacabra from the portfolio. They finished in the bottom two by a sizable margin.

2. For PowerPoint presentations, simple and clean trumps complex. The top four are all relatively simple compared to 5 through 9. (I would put Rudolph in the simple category, though). Photoshop House was 20 times more difficult than Seurat. But I think pieces like PS House and FiloSofia have details that are hard to see on a projector screen. Also the survey group only had about 15 seconds to look at and comment on each slide. Again, I think that favors the simpler, cleaner works.

3. It helps if you can show steps involved in the process. If I'd shown Seurat on it's own, it wouldn't have worked as well. But by showing the original painting and the original photo of the girl I inserted in the painting, it guided the viewers through the process. That can't be done with every work, but it's something to keep in mind.

Ethics Chess drew the most diverse comments. Some picked it as their favorite. Some picked it as their least favorite.

Last week, I finished a Butterfield Stage map and a how-to on how to hit a golf ball from a sand trap. I think they are both portfolio-worthy, especially given Matt's comments about demand for informational graphics.

Portfolio Presentation

I gave my portfolio PowerPoint presentaion today. It went well. No embarrassing snafus. When I tallied the scores from the surveys, there were a few surprised but nothing that offended me. I was shocked that "Oz" finished No. 1 in the polls. It was a late addition and I considered it a candidate to finish last. And my favorite, "Photoshop House" finished 8th. Shows how much I know. I realize it's not a scientific poll. Still, it's interesting.
Here are the survey results:
1. Oz
2. (Tie) Rudolph, Seurat
4. Grackle
5. Grad Card
6. (Tie) Calendar Snake, Chess/Ethics
8. (Tie) Photoshop House, Muertos
10. Protest
11. FiloSofia
12. Chupacabra

 Oz

Rudolph

Seurat

Job Squad/Résumé

Rosa De La Torre Burmeister, of the Job Squad, talked to the Portfolio class today. I worked with her brother, Joe, a long time ago at the newspaper. It's the third time I've heard her presentation. The first was in August in Technical Writing class. The second was a much shorter version a few weeks ago in Media Productions class. Each time I pick up something different. Today she reminded me I need to get references. I've been thinking about it all day. Here are a few names I've come up with: Supervisors, Jim Lawitz, Lucas Peerman, Craig Massey; co-workers, Walt Rubel, Deborah Massingale, Diana Alba, Brook Stockberger, Norm Dettlaff, Josh Byers, Chris Boland; Instructor, Abby Osborne.

In the next couple weeks, I ought to get in to see the Job Squad. I've been waiting until my résumé was more polished. But I think I'll just go with what I got, and they can help me polish it.

Accent marks (résumé) and tildes (Doña Ana) are so much easier on a Mac than a PC.

Something to ask Rosa next time I see her: Should I put "Mr." before my name? I read somewhere that if your name is ambiguous, to do that. Often, because of the spelling of my name, I get a lot of mail addressed to Ms. Jerri Wells. On the  other hand, sex isn't supposed to be a factor in hiring for most jobs. If I don't put "Mr." it could lead to confusion, but if I do use the title, it looks like I think it could help land me a job.

The best thing I got out of that Technical Writing class was how to write a résumé. Casey Gray, who taught the class, said he would be available for résumé consultation if needed. I probably won't need his help, but it's good to have backup, and it was a wonderful gesture on his part.

Project update

I can't sleep, so I might as well blog. I don't blog enough.

It seems like all my projects are coming due at once. In Illustrator, my graphic on Aggie football winning percentages is due today. It's pretty much done. In InDesign, the commencement card is due today. The card is 90 percent done. I've just got to do the little personal card that goes inside. Plus there was an InDesign test Monday.

In Media Production, I'm tying to wrap up two projects. I'm doing a poster for DACC thanking the sponsors of the golf tournament and dance. I intended to get it done yesterday, but I spent all day on it, and it's still not right. It feels like the separate elements don't go together. I'm trying to give them what they want and do something I can be proud of. Right now, I feel like it's neither.

At the same time, I'm trying to wrap up a T-shirt design for the children's theatre. It's basically three characters from the Oz play they're doing. I'm happy with Tik-Tok and Dorothy. Princess Ozma is being a pain in the butt. Her style doesn't fit the other two. It's like putting Prince Valiant in a Peanuts cartoon. What's difficult about the Oz project is I'm not clear on the story line, who the characters are and what they look like. I've found stuff online, but it doesn't always match this particular production. Their rehearsals are at a time I've got a class. So I just send them pictures and say "like this?" They e-mail me back and say, "Not really. More this, less that."

I was thinking of going to a PowerPoint workshop at the main campus today, but after yesterday's non-progress on the poster, I'll probably be working on it instead.

I'll have to work on the career goals paper on Thursday.

It's a good thing I pulled out of the motion graphics conference. I've got a video editing project I need to work on this weekend.