I’m still having a couple issues of course, that I’m trying to figure out (mystery htaccess file issues, CSS tweaks, ) but I’m sure I can get these figured out in the next little while. Anyways, on to things that are important to people other than me.

So I’ve finished my first year at Mohawk College, something I mentioned before that I had gotten into. Overall it’s been a good experience, with a couple colourful exceptions. I’m learning a lot, but I maitain that doing additional reading on the subject of graphic design has been a momentous help.

One part of the course that I am unimpressed with was the web coure(s). Having been on the Internet for as long as I have (10 years, at least) I’ve gained a certain amount of knowledge when it comes to web development. Heck, my resume happens to say that I was paid to do just that. As a result when I heard we were doing web design courses, I was ecstatic. Then I sat in on the first web course and had one of those “oh bugger” moments.

Now I mean no disrespect to the teacher, but I outstrip him in knowledge hands down. As a result I ended up becoming a peer tutor on the subject. I was the only first year peer tutor, may I add (ego stroke ahoy!).This saddens me a great deal, because as my aim is to go into web design when I get out of school, it’s a little upsetting to know that that part of my education is going to have to supplemented almost exclusively by the Internet. That’s never something you want to utter out loud. Trust me, it sounds scarier.

Who knows, maybe after I graduate and see the world somewhat, I’ll come back and offer to teach the course. I’m sure I’d at least get an interview.

The only other thing that’s been irritating me was the photography course. Photography is not an area I know much about. I understand some of the very basics, but I can’t tell you what anything on a DSLR does. As a result I was really looking forward to the class. What I was given was a crash course that left me with nothing to show. I am unimpressed to say the least.

Everything else was pretty much golden. I’ve come out two bursaries richer, and am sitting with a 94% average. This is basically unheard of for me. I was a man who was happy to get a 70, and was okay with having a 60. I never really aimed all that high when I was younger. Now? I don’t know what happened, probably the fact that I’m older, far more jaded, and paying for it all myself. I’m not bragging or anything, believe me when I say that it’s as shocking to me as it is to others who know me.

Also, watching TV while trying to write something is a sure-fire way to sound like your rambling. As punishment to myself, I’m going to leave it as is, just so I can know how terrible I am at things when the TV is actually turned on.

Honestly I never watch the thing, so the fact that it effects me so deeply should be understandable.

ANYWAYS, I’m off to alter my layout some more, play some Super Princess Peach (I hate this game, but I must finish) and My World, My Way (which borders on utterly fantastic).

Now you worried about your faith,
kneel down and obey.
You’re happy you’re in love,
you need someone to hate.
An ordinary girl, an ordinary waist
but ordinary’s just not good enough today.

Superman’s Dead – Our Lady Peace

Such is the life of a student.

First off, I’ve become a Peer Tutor at my school. Not only does it land me some extra cash (always a bonus, given the current financial psudo-crisis I am finding myself in), but it’s additional work experience, and I get to help people. It could come to a shock to some, but I actually do enjoy helping others when they are willing to take it. I happen to be the web design specialist, and I think I’m the busiest tutor of the bunch. Not that the others don’t work, but I’ve helped a good amount of people by now.

Not that I’m complaining about that.

Oh yeah, I landed myself a trip to Japan that happened half way through March. I don’t have my pictures up or even accessible at this point, but when I get them I’ll be sure to dump them on the website and make everyone jealous. Let me just say that Japan is a brilliant place that I would visit again at the drop of a hat; it’s clean, it’s pretty, it’s polite, it’s so short. There are Shinto shrines in their outdoor shopping areas; just in case you need a blessing or two before you drop some Yen. My friend has a series of blog posts about the trip. If you’re curious, have a look.

Ironically it was this trip that got me back into learning Japanese (one of my silly life goals.) I’ve wanted to ever since I was a young kid into anime, and though I don’t watch anime very much anymore, the desire to learn the language remains.

Of course, by leaving for a week, I had a weeks worth of assignments to catch up on, as well as a loss in time for any assignments that had due dates in the future. It’s not a joke when I say that within a day of my return, I was doing assignments like it was going out of style. By the time Wednesday (landed 11:45 on Friday) had rolled around, I had finished 5. by Friday, I had 9 done. I was very burnt out by the time I was caught up, let me tell you.

During my flight, I finished Apollo Justice (review coming this Thursday) and picked up Front Mission for the DS again. I have successfully finished the first half of the game, and I’ve givin at least 30 hours of my life to it. The second half is even harder, apparently. I await the many Game Over screens with glee. It’s not as robust as the Play Station variations, but it’s still as mind-bendingly difficult. It’s not uncommon for battles to last over an hour. Never mind the down time when you are buying equipment and running through the arena to make enough money to upgrade everyone.

Ugh. I’m never going to play it again once I’ve defeated it. It’s a game I can live with never picking up again.

I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not, But I’ve actually also picked up the new Star Ocean. It’s got a pretty quick learning curve, and it’s just as difficult as the previous versions were. Seriously, two hours between save points? This was a good design process? Well at least they droped the ‘MP Death’ from this version. What a terrible idea that was.The graphics are solid, the game-play is too. My only major issues with it are the fact that it wants to be widescreen, and so the menus are slightly cut off on my TV, and the voice acting.

Oh God, the voice acting. It’s terrible. seriously, it’s like they went to an acting school, found the people who were the bottom of the class, and threw them all into a recording studio with 15 minutes to read the script. It’s utterly terrible. Really makes the (many) cut scenes that much more painful.

I’ve also picked up Alien Hominid, Carcassonne, and Aegis Wing for the 360. Here are my brief rundowns of them:

• Carcassonne: I recently fell in love with Carcassonne at a friends house, so that was a required purchase. I’m sure I will come to hate it like Settlers of Catan.
• Aegis Wing: it’s a free download, and was made by the Microsoft Intern Team (3 guys). I’ll let that stand on it’s own. It’s free, at least.
• Alien Hominids: I’m a big fan of Castle Crashers, so I opted to pick up Beheamoths first game while it’s on the cheap – 50% off – and try it out. The first 4 minutes of the game proved to me just how much more pollished Castle Crashers is. I’m already not a fan of Alien Hominids, but I’ll at least give it the ol’ college try.

If anyone wants to friend me on the 360, my tag is “Jack Dutson” and feel free to do so.

Oh yeah, I work at Shoppers Drugmart, quit working at the Revolution Night Club in Kitchener – didn’t agree with the direction management was going – and I’m working on a sweet redesign of my resublogfolio.When I can find time to finish and slice it, It’ll be pretty sweet.

So that’s the last month summed up, here’s hoping I can post with a little more regularity for the coming months!

Corey signing off.

Cause the static singes the speakers like
A thousand Hymns of inspiration.
And the road just winds through the canyon like,
A big black snake heading for salvation and I’m getting closer to the truth
And further from the sky.

Butch Walker – Closer to the Truth and Further From the Sky

In my case this revolves around:

• My portfolio
• Posts with real content
• Reading books
• Spending time with Theresa while she is down from that god-forsaken place North Bay.
• Aimlessly trying to catch up on my games

Now since only a couple of those are actually proactive (I’ll leave you to decide which) I have to pick and choose what and when I do these things. What is the result? Well to give you a glimpse, it’s almost 2 AM as of the start of this post. This is after I applied to many, many bursaries through my school. Who knew that working two jobs wouldn’t be enough to actually stay out of debt? Guess I’ll have to get some more!

My financial woes are not what I plan to talk about today though. I plan to talk about what I can take away from my first semester.

Okay, technically this would be my seventh semester if you are counting the six from the last time I was in school. That is also part of this so read on!

1. Being lazy sucks

This may come as a shock to some of you, but I was not always a star pupil. Oh no, in fact I used to revel in my ability to half-ass almost any project and end up with a 65-70 (that’s a C to a B- to the rest of the world) on any given assignment or project. If I didn’t like the course, I would try even less and be happy with a 55-58 (D to D+). My parents browbeat me, my teachers clucked their tongues and shook their heads, but I just breezed though my University-level (that’s Canadian fancy-talk for advanced) courses. By doing the University-level courses and applying to College, my average was bumped up considerably, and I got into College.

So you would think that since my parents were paying, and I had just managed to squeak by, that I would learn the error of my ways, straighten-up and fly right.

You would think wrong, of course.

By the end of my college stint, with the exception of a couple of classes (Web Development 1,2 and 3 pretty much) I was still hovering around that 70. The only thing that landed me the job that I got was through determination, charisma, and steaming piles of luck.

This kind of thing only works so well and for so long.

Working this job changed a lot of things. First, I learned how to stay up for long periods of time. Second, I learned to hate take-out food (don’t worry I’m getting better now). Third, it beat the lazy out of me with the Crowbar of Client Dead-lines. I learned that being lazy when people are paying you is a very good way to get your ass fired. I wasn’t fired, but believe me that there was no alternative to hard work. In many ways I am thankful for this.

When the opportunity came along for me to go back to school for something that interests me way more than keyboard-jockeying, I took it. With that decision came many things in quick succession:

1. Getting a second job
2. Saving like a bastard
3. Tuition, books, and other school bills
4. Losing my full-time, nicely-waged job
5. Homework
6. More goddamned bills
7. Tests, presentations, and apparently a video

If this had happened the first time I went through school, I probably would have killed myself, my family, or everyone I know in a murderous rage by now. Thankfully, through my on-the-job experience, I had learned how to organize my work, get it done, and still manage to find time to sleep.

I’d like to point out that because if this skill, I have managed to work two jobs while maintaining an average of 90% + overall so far. I don’t know how to explain this any better than I already have: being lazy sucks. If you have issues with being lazy, procrastinating, or otherwise messing-about, believe me that you have to work constantly against those urges. I have to all the time, but in the end you only screw yourself if you get lazy.

2. Keep your stuff safe

Dropbox. I love Dropbox. I could sing praises for this system for hours. Well okay, probably more like 15 minutes max, but that’s not the point here. Dropbox allows you to synchronize files within a certain directory (the Dropbox folder, shockingly) to their web servers. What does this mean? It means that everything in that folder can be accessed through their online web interface. and what does that mean? It means that if your are ever separated from your computer, your computer explodes, or anything in between you can still get to the files stored on their servers. You can also hook multiple computers into the same account, and it will sync the files between them as well. This allows you to share files between computers that may not be anywhere near the same network.

I’m not trying to sell you anything (it’s actually a free for the basic level), but it does assist in my point. Keeping your stuff safe is as important when it comes to school as it does ot your home. Thankfully, I didn’t have any horrible experiences with exploding computers or file separation, but it was still a good practice. By using this system, I safeguard myself against very bad situations. Colleges and Universities really don’t care all that much of your personal plights. In fact many teachers I’ve had I’ve overheard them say “well that sucks, too bad.”

You can’t stop every bad thing from happening, but you can take preventative measures.

3. Organization actually works.

I hate organizers. I still do! With their paper and their spiral binding, bah! Thankfully, I found alternatives that work. As it happens, I use Thunderbird. The nice thing about Thunderbird, much like Firefox, is the ability to use add-ons. Lightning (an add-on version of Sunbird) and a Provider for Google Calendars have allowed me to get my shit together without the use of those silly paper-based organizers.

Please note that I have met many people who prefer the paper-based organizers: I was basically born with a mouse in my hand, so I’m inclined to use technology whenever possible. It’s a failing I live with.

In any case, Lightning allows you to have a calendar built into Thunderbird. It also provides an interface to create tasks as well, though I don’t use those. The Google Calendar plugin allows you to use Lightning with Google Calendars. This means that much like the Dropbox argument, you can still access your calendars if your computer explodes. I have made a personal, work, homework/assignment, and school schedule calendars. For the first time, I actually know what things are due when, and how to schedule my time around work and other things. It’s silly to think that it took me this long to figure out that organizing things actually helps get things done faster.

If you don’t use Thunderbird, Google Calendars, or computers in general, you can still work to get yourself organized. I can honestly say that once I introduced the organizer strategy,

4.Go that extra mile

I spent five hours working  on a typography exercise that involved me making an apple. Five hours of tweezers, 12 point font, and rubber cement. Sounds insane, doesn’t it? Well, it probably does but it also shows a determination to really put out something that is more than “alright.”

This one comes with at least some backup facts. I’ve only got three of my marks back (out of six), but everything has been above a 90. I’ve been known to spend hours and hours on things that others have put together in one or two. Does that mean I’m overdoing it? Very probably, I have no illusions that I may be going well beyond the call of duty here. That is also my point though: Spending that extra time can (in most cases) result in a more polished product.

This is something I’ve learned over time. Back when I was lazy, I was the master of doing everything last-minute. This wasn’t a lack of organization or anything, I chose to do everything at the last minute because part of me felt that I operated best under the pressure. As it turns out, I do alright under pressure and there is nothing wrong with that. But I do amazingly well, as it turns out, when I have the extra time to self-critique, improve, revise, and even experiment.

Is there anything wrong with only spending two hours on something and getting a 75% (B) on what you did? Not at all, if what you’re looking for is a 75%. Since that’s no where near what I want out of the education I am paying for (and it’s not cheap, though I’m sure there are some angry University students that would love to talk to me), I have to put in the extra time myself. I want to be the best I can, and school only gives you the tools in which to do that; it’s up to you to use them to the best of your ability.

5. Don’t be a Dick

Note: I am so sorry for the amount of times ‘dick’ comes up in this section. This is going to play havoc with my SEO.

This sounds simple, but it’s actually harder than one would think. The issue is that it goes two ways, and it’s easy to act like a dick when you don’t even realize:

Being the Dick

This is pretty simple. If you act like a dick, you are being the dick. Acting like a dick can be, but is not limited to the following:

• Boasting about any/everything you do.
• Trying to out-boast anyone else (they may be dicks, but you’re a bigger one).
• Rubbing marks in peoples face.
• Saying how awesome you are at something, and then criticizing the teacher (publicly).
• Being snooty, arrogant, or otherwise acting “better” than others.
• Making fun of people (grow the fuck up kthnx).
• Picking fights, either physical or mental.

When you do things like this, it may make you feel better. It may make you feel confident and self-assured. It will make everyone around you loathe whenever you open your word hole. Friends that you have will come to resent you, and you will end up with fewer contacts coming out of school, and less leway with people when it’s needed.

Returning the Dickness

This is the one people don’t realize. you may think that “an eye for an eye” is a good mandate to follow, but when other people want to start gouging your eyes out, there’s an issue. Here are easy ways to return the dickness without realizing it:

• Trying to shut up a dick by attacking their person, ability, etc.
• Trying to out boast someone to shut them up/put them in their place (once again, you are the bigger dick).
• Faux modesty (you’re not fooling anyone).
• Following suit with a dick (joining in with mocking, criticizing etc.).
• Being a dick to a dick because their a dick.

Some of those are fairly obvious, but a couple are less obvious.

Trying to act modest just annoys people. You’re really not fooling anyone. When someone gives you a compliment, take it, and return something in kind. Don’t elaborate on your greatness, nor say that you suck and don’t know how you got the mark you did. That will make them feel even worse, they’ll think you’re a liar, and you may even start to believe it yourself. Undermining your own self-confidence doesn’t help anyone.

When being a dick towards a dick, you may think you are giving them a taste (heh) of their own medicine. You may know what you’re doing, but those around you may not perceive it the same way; they may just see two dicks trying to out-dick one another. On top of that, the dick you are being a dick to may not even realize you are being a dick towards them. The result of this is that you look like a dick, but got none of the supposed revenge.

Not being the Dick

This should be fairly apparent, but for the sake of completeness, I will include a list for this anyways. I’m always a fan of things being full-circle. Anyways, how to not be a dick:

• Be helpful. When people ask for help, help them if you can.
• Give constructive criticism. “That sucks” isn’t doing anyone any good. “You could try doing this for this reason” will glean a much better reception.
• Be kind. Don’t rip on people when something isn’t good. You can be kind with constructive criticism as much as you can with compliments.
• Accept compliments, and return in kind.
• Don’t single people out to rip on them. It doesn’t help anyone.
• Be courteous. There’s nothing wrong with “please” and “thank you”.

Generally to avoid being a dick, you have to be a generally good and nice person. I’m not saying I exhibit all of these traits (far from, really); what I’m saying is that you should try to exhibit as many as you can. It’s a process of continuous improvement.

6. Do your work

This doesn’t even need a large section, and by all accounts it shouldn’t really have to be on here. Make time to do your work, and for crap sake, do your work. I can’t tell you how many people I know in my section that lost marks simply because they didn’t do assignment. Generally speaking, you cannot lose marks for trying. If you don’t hand something in, you get a zero. If you hand in crap, you can get a one. One is infinitely better than zero (quiet, math nerds), and handing assignments in can only help your cause.

It is this point that probably caused most of my lost marks. Many assignments in my last stint in College went completely undone; ignored for the sake of ignoring them. I can’t honestly say that I even had better things to do because I was just lazy back then. Teachers even told me that if I just handed something in, it would help my marks, but I scoffed at their wisdom, and ended up (in some cases) with a 58%. I have no defense for it, and now I understand what they were saying.

7. Figure out how to study

This one was probably the hardest for me, and of course it is also the point that gave me the most. It was by a freak accident that I found out how to study effectively. I was in the school lounge one day when someone asked me if I had studied for the test. “What test?” I responded (this is before the organizer thing). I then had two hours to learn 1/3rd of my textbook. It may sound insane, but I figured out a process of reading and constant quizzing is actually how I learned best. I’ve refined it a bit since then, and it now involves me writing the points down, highlighting them, force memorizing them, and having people quiz me on things in random order. By the end of the session I will have forgotten my name, my address, and how to drive, but God damn do I know the course material.

I never used to be this way. I used to depend entirely on my ability to recall from memory. As it turns out that works, but it’s not 100% for me. By combining my passive ability with active studying, I can make sure I know what I need to.

I’m not saying that this will work for you. Hell, some people would look at my method and crap themselves. Others would look at this (my girlfriend comes to mind) and say that it’s not nearly enough. I’m not here to sell my method, though if it works for you go nuts, I’m simply saying that studying is worth it in the end.  Find the best way for you to study, and go for it. It might take a couple takes to get it right, but there’s a way for everyone.

8. Take time to relax

At first glance, you would think that this point would directly contrast others that I have made. You would be wrong, but I can totally understand how you would do that. Let me explain:

Taking time for yourself is not being lazy, it is not skipping out on work, and it is not aiming for the average. It can be if your relaxation time is way too large, and causes those points to happen. It all comes down to balance with relaxation time. All work and no play make jack a dull boy. It’s very true, you know. When you don’t take time for yourself, you will eventually become frustrated, irritable, and probably end up shooting the mailman.

Taking time to relax and recharge has benefits that I don’t need to voice. I’m sure a brief search on the Internet will tell you more than I ever could. It makes you feel better, which will help you work better. It also takes your mind off of things, which can result in you having a flash of brilliance on a problem you were having. I’ve always found that taking an hour for a bath and a book (shut up, I don’t need to hear what a wuss I sound like) leaves me feeling way better.

I’m sure I’m missing many points that I could probably rig up, but after 3000 words, I’m running out of brain and witty banter. I hope that my points on my education can help, maybe even educate, some others. If you have your own points to add, feel free to comment with them.

All that aside, I think I’m going to enjoy my two years at Mohawk. They’ve already done a far better job making me like them than Conestoga ever did. We’ll see how I feel y the end of the two years, but if they keep this up I’ll be a happy camper.

To segue into something totally unrelated I’m rocking the Avenue Q soundtrack pretty hard right now. If people have a chance to see this in theaters, please for the love of all that is sacred and pure, do so. It’s so god-damned fantastic that words fail to articulate how amazing the show is. Full of rough humor, puppets, and topics that land impressively close to home, it’s worth every penny. Listen to it.

SUBJECT CHANGE.

I’ve been doing some small changes around the website, if anyone has noticed. One change I’ve made is that my suggested reading is now being powered by Goodreads. I’ve made a shelf for my favorites on Goodreads and by parsing the RSS feed (thank you WordPress) I’ve got my newest 10 constantly updating from the list. Saves me repeating effort, and ups my 2.0 web ePenis a notch.

I’ve also made the colour switcher a bit more obvious. The for squares in the top left corner of the layout actually do more than just look damned pretty. They actually change the colour scheme of the website. Apparently I’m the only person that actually knew this. I was sort of happy to have it be an easter egg for the site, but after some consideration I’ve opted to make it more obvious so someone other than me can enjoy it as well.

Feel free to click them at random. They are cookie-enabled so if you’re rocking cookies in your browser(s) my site will remember the preference and keep your color preference. It’s somewhat pointless, but there it is.

I’ve also got my resumé page up and running if anyone wants to take a look at that. Much like my current layout, it is a completely grid-designed, and I went for maximum contrast so there’s very little in terms of colours.

To end off this utterly random post, I’ll mention that today I bought a Wacom Bamboo. It’s pretty and black and I’m a fan of having a mouse and a pen to choose from. Having said that, I feel like such a stereotype by buying it and being in a Graphic Design program. It’s just so typical; all i need now is some black-rimmed glasses and a wicked designer beard.

It took me way too long to write this. I’m getting rather distracted tonight. Honestly, this took me hours. There’s no excuse for that. Well not a valid one.

Corey signing out.

“Take her home!
She’s wasted!
YAY!”

The Bad Idea Bears – Avenue Q

Not at all.

For those who bother keeping up with my site, you will have noticed that I’ve recently been accepted to school for graphic design. Now I never actually saw any requirement for purchasing a laptop, and I prayed that I had dodged that financial bullet. Turns out that I did no such thing, as I was alerted via letter that I would have to purchase a MacBook for the course.

I was … unimpressed to say the least. Not only did I not know I had to purchase one (which would have affected my saving plans just a touch… roughly 1400 dollars), but I was being told that I had to get a device that I have little knowledge of or about. This does not make me a happy camper.

The start of it all

I bit the bullet and bought the standard MacBook (which I notice they’ve “cheapened” since my purchase. Had I waited I would have saved roughly 60 bucks. Woo.) I didn’t get any bells and whistles, as I figured I’d get them as I needed them. I placed my order, felt my wallet give a death shudder, and felt rather dirty. Please note that this was on a Saturday. It’s important to the story. It told me that my new MacBook would be shipping within the next 8 days (free shipping! YAY!) and I could expect it 8 days after that. Fair enough, I thought.

So Monday morning rolls around and I get an email saying that my Mac has been shipped. “Wow!” I thought, “that was fast.” Alright I’ll get it next week, which will give me loads of time to get used to the bastard. Tuesday after work, my mother hands me a letter saying that Purolator had come and missed me. “That can’t be my MacBook. It’s only been a couple days!” Wednesday morning I woke up early, swung by Purolator, and picked up my mystery package.

It was my MacBook. My order went from 16 days down to 3 days (4 if you include me getting it the next day). I have to admit that turn-around time like that is nothing short of herculean. My mind was blown, and I figured that Apple was working extra hard to try and convert me.

So what do I think of my new computer-turned-art?

It’s pretty.

From the second I opened it, to my current use of it (this blogpost has been entirely done via the new Book, as a bit of training for me) the whole thing has just been so damned pretty. no, not pretty; sexy. Sexy like that 23 year old teacher with the low cut tops. Sexy like the rich guys car down the street that he bought to make up for his useless penis. Sexy like those dreams that you don’t tell anyone about while you’re washing your sheets at 3 in the morning. That sort of sexy.

Everything works pretty much the way you expect it to.

It took me five minutes to get it all setup and started, which is something that the PC user in me geeked out over. The wireless setup was simple, and within moments I was up and running. Programs run smoothly, and I’ve yet to experience any crashes or oddities. All the weirdness is reserved for the input devices.

New buttons ahoy! Fuck you normal other buttons!

Where the hell is my Home key? How about my End key? Paging? nope, not there. Oh wait it’s all multi-key combos now? Excuse me while I blow my brains out. Why the hell would you remove common keys like that? Stupid users (like me) are used to them on their keyboards! I’m still getting used to using the function, alt, control, and option keys to do different things.

Now to rag on the mouse.

Whether it’s mighty or not, the mouse for the mac makes me want to kick puppies while flipping off an old lady all while stealing money from a blind beggars money can. The fact that I have to use the mouse in conjunction with the keyboard angers me so very, very much.

I’m a lazy person, I shouldn’t have to plug in a third party mouse that has a left, right, and middle clickwheel just to get what has become standard functionality. Even with the improved “two-finger” options built into the touch pad, I still find myself having to jump between the two inputs. This is not what I call simple, nor sexy. This failing sits in the “granny-panty” section of the sex market.

Built in programs are … cute but useless

iCal: sucks. TextEdit: Weak. Mail: Sucks, Front Row: totally useless. Preview: Waste of time. The list goes on. Don’t get me wrong, I like that there are basic versions of commonly used things… but there is such a thing as too basic. I ended up having to get more robust programs to handle everything. Not a bad thing, but somewhat annoying.

The battery lasts for-fucking-ever

Seriously now. When a battery can clear the 4 hour mark while playing music? That’s just impressive.

Overall I think I like it, though I’ll reserve my comments for until after I’ve had to do some serious work with it. I’m sure I’ll swear at it as much as I swear at PCs.

As I’ve voiced my opinion over and over (and over), applied my own twist to things, and finally catching the ear of the designer at my current job, I’ve finally got my foot in the door for doing some graphic design work. Together, the designer and I were really going to blow away the old designs with a fresh look, new design rules to apply, and a good application of experience.

I was going to finally get my chance to do what I’ve been asking to do for almost two years! So why did I give it up?

The Paper

First and foremost, unless you’re a prodigy of design, the messiah of the layout, and the master of typography, people aren’t going to pay much attention to your opinion unless you’ve got some documentation backing you. It’s the sad truth, and it’s one of the driving forces behind my decision. You can be as good as you possibly can, but without that little “G.D” title under your list of can-dos, you have to work that much harder just to prove that your the designer for the job.

Once I complete my stint at Mohawk College, I’ll probably upgrade via a distance course so that I can work in the field and gain experience while upgrading my educational status. That part’s going to suck socially, economically, physically, and mentally but I’ll manage. I just remind myself that perpetual learning is the most important thing in life you can do for yourself and your community.

The Experience

I want to learn about design in a structured environment. I know I’ve been reading like a fiend since I started on this road, but reading books only gets you so far without proper application of knowledge. I’m hoping and somewhat expecting to get this foundation from school. I don’t want to be just another designer; I want to be a bloody-good designer. I want people to look at my work and say something akin to “Fuck. Yes.”

I know I won’t be able to do that without a strong foundation and understanding of the rules of design. School can help me with this.

The Direction

My work’s been rewarding. Sure I’ve worked 40 hour-per-day shifts, been sat behind the eight ball more times than I’m willing to count, and I’m sure I’ve lost hair from the whole ordeal. I’ve also been taught some rather good habits about how to work under pressure, know just what my abilities are and how to push them, and I know just how much I enjoy my work.

Having said that, being a code-jockey for the rest of my life is not what I have planned. I enjoy coding, and I like it being a part of what I do. I do not want it to be the main focus of my work because over the last two years I’ve come to the conclusion that I like design work more. It appeals to me, and I appeal to it. I would be short-changing myself if I waited too long before getting my formal education in the field.

As it turns out, my place of employment have actually offered me a part time job where I set my hours weekly. If I can’t work, it’s no big deal. They’re also willing to pay me my current rate of pay in an hourly format. That’s.. roughly 30 dollars an hour in a part time job. I admit that it’s tempting, and I’ve got to give that some thought.

The Drive

I want to do this. I want to become a designer and there’s nothing anyone can really say to dissuade me. I know becoming a designer will require a pay cut, at least at the beginning. I know that it’s a flooded field at the moment since everyone and their mother thinks that they can design. I know that it’ll be hard for me to stand out, but I will.

I will do this.

I will complete my schooling.

I will distinguish myself.

I will be a designer.

I will be proud of my work.

• Leading vision
• Colours and moods
• Focal Points
• Golden rule
• Dynamic Photos
• When Does it All End?

“What about leading the viewers vision?”

Leading the users vision can really be taken a couple ways, and I figure I may as well explain both. The first is literally leading the persons vision to where you want it to go. This basically means drawing attention to the focus of the picture. This can be done in a multitude of ways including leading lines, colours, character actions, the landscape, etc. There are literally endless combinations to lead the users vision around a picture and I found some lovely links to explain it better than me. That’s how I roll people.

Things to read:

• Easily the most complex and in-depth version of leading with colour that I could find. Thankfully, it does a very good job of explaining how color use and contrast work together to bring focus.
• A good explanation of how composition works for leading vision. I’m aware that this is for photography but the principles are still the same.

The second way I wanted to explain it is sort of on an unconventional level. That is to say that I’m using this as a thinly veiled excuse to talk about flow. This has more to do with online designers, though I can attest that there are many, many articles on flow for print.

The idea of flow is pretty simple. Basically: “Does it flow?” When you are reading a news article, does it flow constantly? or are there giant, invasive ads every other paragraph? If it does, it probably doesn’t have good flow, or any at all. The idea is for the user to be able to go from start to finish with as little pain as possible. When you dump a large ad, image, or something otherwise unrelated in the way, you interrupt the user. Another example is web forms. When a user is filing out the form, is it easy to read, and do the fields and sections generally lead from one to the other? This is a fantastic article explaining exactly what I’m talking about.

Basically, the idea is that if something flows well the user will have a more pleasing experience. Flow can also be described how well a process works, such as registering as a user, submitting a story, or buying an item. If something has good flow, then the general word attached to the whole ordeal is “easy” or “simple” regardless of how easy or simple it actually is.

Things to read:

• A List Apart recently did an article that explains this fairly well. Hell what am I saying? It’s A List Apart, they know what they’re talking about.
• This whole article is pretty much fantastic, but the parts on flow are what I’m actually talking about in this instance.

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“Oh, and how about how colours affect moods,”

Colours effect moods. This is not up for debate, this is actual fact. Humans are psychologically affected by colours when presented with them. Some people have an active reaction to them, such as having favorites and detesting others. Everyone though, is affected by them whether they realize it or not. Goths wear all black for a reason people! I’m not sure what that is, having never been one… but they do!

The point I’m getting to here is that behind all of your colour choices are the effects of your influences. Why do you think that blue is such a common company colour? It’s a generally safe colour to use, as it doesn’t really bring about offense to people. If you know how to use colour properly and not for just what fits at the time, you will find that you will be able to actively give your images more power. Remember that colours have different meanings in different cultures, so it’s a good idea to keep that in mind when designing.

Things to read:

• A nice overview of colours and their general affect.
• Yet another overview.
• About.com delivers with a whole section on colour psychology.

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“Do you understand focal points,”

A focal point is related in many ways to leading the users vision (scroll up). The focal point or points of something are literally that: points for the user to focus on. I know that sounds a bit simple, but believe me when I say that they are important. Having a strong focal point is like having a solid story for a book. It doesn’t matter nearly as much as to what’s going on in the book so long as the story moves forward clearly. When you lack focal points, you lack focus.

Try and picture it this way: imagine painting a wall black and then painting a white square in the middle of it. Now ask people to look at it. They will focus on the white box, whether they mean to or not. Now granted, it’s a white box and will only hold attention for so long, but it will hold it for as long as a white box can do so. This is your focal point, which you generated using a simple use contrast.

Now picture this: imagine painting that same wall, but this time you just went nuts and splattered every colour you could find on it with out any rhyme or reason, effectively creating a wall of colourful static. Now ask people to look at it. They’ll probably take one glance, and then ask you what they should be looking for.

This is what focal points are all about. Focal points give your viewers something to work from; a sort of base of operations in which they can take the picture in from. If your imagery fails to have focal points, the user will be wandering around the vision aimlessly and then walk away.

The same can be said for any of design, whether its traditional, print, or even digital media. Without focal points your user will become dis-interested and lose interest. This is generally bad, unless it’s all part of some secret plan to get the user to look away and focus on another piece completely. I guess that would be focal points on a grand scale!

Things to read:

• This article deals more with photograph-based focal points, but the idea is still the same.
• This is a solid explanation of how important focal points are.
• Another link for cameras, but I assure that there are so many photagraphy tips from this link relate to focal points that I simply couldn’t pick a single article

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“or how certain positions feel better on a fundamental level? / The Golden Rule”

Ahh the Golden Rule, or Golden Ratio, or Phi. It doesn’t matter how you put it, using this ratio can drastically improve how your user perceives your work. Anyone who is a fan of The DaVinci Code will know what Phi is, but for those who don’t let me elaborate: Phi is pretty. Though there is a bazillion things you can read to explain Phi and its many, many uses (see below) the concept is simple: The human body has many instances of applicable Phi (ratios all over the place) and so people have theorized that because of this we then intemperate this ratio as being naturally ‘good’.

What does this mean? In the most basic sense, using this ratio in your design will make it more pleasing to the end user. Now granted that if you use light gray text and tartan backdrop that shifts through the color spectrum, all the golden rule you apply wont take away the pain.

There are many good examples of how the golden rule has been applied throughout the ages, just go ahead and search it. I can wait. See what I mean? If you didn’t search for it you’ll have to take my word for it.

Things to read:

• Wikipedia strikes again! Seriously this article is huge and encompassing.
• This is a totally mathematical explanation of Phi. It is as boring as it is informative.
• How can I forget to link something to the practical design applications of Phi? I can’t obviously.

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“or how to make photos more dynamic?”

This one’s a bit of a cop-out since “dynamic photos” is really bordering on buzzword territory. What I was implying was simply “do you know how to make your photos as good as they can be?” Unless you’ve been doing photography for a long time like my friend, you probably do not know that much about how to take good photos. Hell, you’re happy if your point and shoot manages not to blur the photo most of the time. There are many ways you can improve your shots but I won’t bother listing them.

I have external links to do that!

Things to read:

• Digital Photography School is a great resource (probably the best, in my opinion) for anything related to a camera and tutorials. This is a solid example of what I’m talking about.
• This is a shameless plug for my photography pal, but as it turns out he really knows what he’s talking about. Have a look at this article on concert photography.

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When Does it all End?

Short answer: never.

Long answer: sometime between never, and never ever. If you are willing to dispute that fact, then either you don’t believe me, or you feel you have indeed seen the end of your design education. If you feel that you have in fact learned everything there is to learn about design, then why are you reading this? I’m no help to you, as you are no longer willing to learn.

You see, it can’t end. Mankind evolves, and as it does so will our ways to express ourselves. We’ll never be out of the job, though our tools will change. If you have stopped learning you have stopped trying. It really is as simple as that. You may find it harder to find new things to learn, and that’s almost excusable and all I can say is that you will just need to look harder.

It’s that drive that keeps people creating.

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This is the sixth part in an ongoing series of articles that depicts my process to becoming a graphic designer. Coming up next: Part seven where I basically link a snot-load of resources.

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six (Currently reading)
• Part Seven

Understanding design is about understanding people.

Table of contents:

1. All the Hard Stuff Out of the Way First
   1. Composition
   2. Contrast
   3. Weight
   4. Spacing
   5. Kerning
2. More to Come

All the Hard Stuff Out of the Way First

Alright, so being the idiot that I was when I started this series (the same idiot that I am now, as it turns out) I asked a whole wack of questions to make you, the reader, think. I did not think at the time that I would actually have to come up with answers to them. Thankfully, I found a loophole: I don’t have to. That’s right, I’m not going to answer anything. The reason for this is that I’d probably be wrong, or explain something incorrectly. What I can do is list those same questions out, give what I think is a good explanation, and link a bunch of sources so that you can draw your own conclusions!

I’m amazingly lazy brilliant. To add to my brilliance, I am going to splice this post into two separate posts. The reason for this is that I tend to write a fair amount, and I don’t think having a one-page novel will be useful to anyone

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“Do they understand composition?”

This one is a little hard to field, because composition can be applied to a whole range of subjects. You can define how a news article is composed, how a photo was composed, or the composition of a magazine spread. The general idea is this: Composition is how you set up something to affect the end-user. In a way composition is an all-encompassing idea of what graphic design is. I’m going to get really lazy here, and site Websters here:

“1 a: the act or process of composing; specifically : arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic form b (1): the arrangement of type for printing <hand composition> (2): the production of type or typographic characters (as in photocomposition) arranged for printing
2 a: the manner in which something is composed b: general makeup <the changing ethnic composition of the city — Leonard Buder> c: the qualitative and quantitative makeup of a chemical compound
3: mutual settlement or agreement
4: a product of mixing or combining various elements or ingredients
5: an intellectual creation: as a: a piece of writing; especially : a school exercise in the form of a brief essay b: a written piece of music especially of considerable size and complexity“ source here

I am, in this instance referring to 1,2, 4, and 5. There are many, many sources based solely on the understanding of composition, most of which I will not list here. Google will be your friend when it comes to this one, though I will link the Wikipedia article on Composition to give you a heads up. Seriously, This is like asking “do you understand philosophy?” because in the design sense, it amounts to the same thing and I feel stupid for asking this one.

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“How about contrast?”

This one I can do. Contrast is pretty straight-forward to explain, but harder to achieve without making your design look like hell. What makes more contrast? White text in a black box or black text in a white box? technically they are the same, but what happens when you add the rest of the page into the mix? a white background-based page will make the black box with white text stand out way more. The inverse would also be true (black bg page). Contrast, for all intents and purposes is how much something stands out against everything around it.

Another example is using large, bold text to highlight something. An example I will use is headers in html. H1 is somewhat large, and helps distinguish text from everything around it. This is a contrast through size and weight. It stands out from everything around it and draws the users eyes to it. From what I gather, this is the main (but not the only) purpose of contrast: to draw attention to something/make something stand out (which is the same as drawing attention to it!0

Contrast can be achieved a couple of ways: Colour, White-space (I go into this later), Size, and probably others but I am unwilling to list them.

Resources to look at:

• This is a lovely article written by The Go MediaZine on contrast.
• A good article about contrast on the web by Web Design From Scratch.

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“Weight?”

Another one of those ‘should have specified’ sort of items. Since I didn’t I shall cover two items: font weight, and paper weight.

Paper weight. What’s the point? First off, there is way more science involved in paper weight than I had originally thought. I refuse to explain said science, but I will be extra helpful and link some helpful articles that you can peruse at you leisure to better understand how paper density(weight) is defined.

What I will explain, though sadly I am unable to site any of this and so I am going from what I’ve learned over time, is the effect paper weight has on people. From what I’ve seen at work when you want something on paper noticed, use a different paper. People are very physical creatures, whether we deny it or not. Just like your old school councilors who used to advocate printing your resumé on a different colour of paper, the same can be said for the type of paper that you print it on. A heavier stock will gain you notice right from the get go, and the originality therein will allow your work to be read with at least some amount of interest. Using a heavier stock can also work When you want to give something a cover without giving it a cover, if you get my drift. I’m not saying that you should now print everything of worth off on a heavier stock (which can get tricky) but it’s a good way to stand out.

Font weight can be (and is) used in both traditional and digital print. It walks hand-in-hand with contrast, leading the user, and focal points (actually they all work together, but whatever). Font weight has much to do with how people interpret text. When something is bold or emphasized you will instantly pay more attention, if only because it’s different from everything around it.

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“Spacing?”

Spacing is a whole sub-culture that I could probably write a whole article on by itself. I’m not going to do that though, because I am lazy and pressed for time. Instead I’m going to outsource a good portion of this to PSDTuts.com and their new article: ‘9 Essential Principles for Good Web Design‘.

The points made here basically summarize on the web front how spacing can effect your layout. The third point (White Space) can apply to both Print and Digital designers. Using spacing properly can help create contrast via negative-space and helping to emphasize areas. Utilizing spacing properly will also allow for the user (or viewer) to read text more clearly and will help to direct them where you want.

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“Kerning?”

Ahh kerning. a simple demonstration of a lack of kerning can be seen… basically everywhere on the internet. Any time you see flat text on the internet – and in this case flat text means text NOT in an image – chances are you have seen an example of bad – or in this case, lack – of kerning. Kerning is, in a somewhat simplified sense, the action of adjusting the spacing between type characters. Here is a good visual example, along with a definition! See how efficient I am?

Something you have to realize is that with flat text (flat text in this instance means any text that is not in an image, or is otherwise manipulatable via HTML) cannot really have much in the ways of kerning. I’m not saying you can’t do it, as CSS has properties you can manipulate (see: font-width); but unless you are going to manually edit every paragraph of text, then you’re stuck with what the font does on its own.

If you are doing print or image text – text that is part of a digital image, or otherwise used on the Internet) then you have to make this common practice. I can’t tell you how annoying it is to suddenly be taught about kerning, and then realizing how many creations suffer from a complete lack. If I ever get around to making my new layout, then the logo would be a great example. As for now though, take a look at the title of this page.

“WallOfScribbles”

note how far away the “a” is from the “W” Since this is flat text, I’m kinda boned. If it was an image though, there should be no excuse as to why the W should be so orphaned.

Photoshop and Fireworks both offer workarounds to bad kerning, so pay attention to it!

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More to Come

I’ll post more answers to my own questions in the next installment people. Sorry but there is no way I am writing a one-page novella. No one wants that, and I don’t want to have to sit here writing that.

This is the fifth part in an ongoing series of articles that depicts my process to becoming a graphic designer. Coming up next: Part two (six) where I explain the other half of my many, many design questions.

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four
• Part Five (Currently reading)
• Part Six
• Part Seven

1. Get Your Swag On
   
2. Man the Helm
3. Learn How Not to Suck

Get Your Swag On

First thing’s first, get your twitchy little fingers on your tools of choice. Where to start? Good question. Since I know I’m going to be using a lot of the Adobe family, I’ll be working with them as my example. Don’t be shocked if the program you want has a fully functional free trial available. All of Adobe has this, and I’m sure they’re not alone.

Here is a list of products that Adobe offers that you can get free trails of:

• Fireworks CS3
  This is my program of choice at the moment. It works much more with vectors (though in no way is it limited from bitmap) and is what I am using for my website design pieces. My reasons for this are two-fold. First, it is the program my workplace uses for all of our designing, and therefor is worth learning if only for practicality reasons. Second, It’s gradient/vector happy, and though I feel that 2.0 is a style that is being beaten to death far too fast some of it’s aspects are solid.
  
• Flash CS3 Professional
  It’s flash. I don’t think I need to get to much into this. If you do web development, this is at least worth a cursory glance. There will probably come a time when your customer will want flash in their solution, and you’ll have to do it whether you want to or not. It’s come a long way since I’ve used it (last time Macromedia had just come out with Flash MX)
  
• Illustrator CS3
  Vector drawing to the max. This program is pure vector imaging and works great with type. This is a great tool to have if you are doing print or web, as it allows you to create vector-based graphics which allow for way more flexibility in your reuse library. I have not used it much, and so I cannot give it the credit it is probably due.
• Photoshop CS3
  Who can forget the classics? Photoshop has been around for as long as I have been on the Internet. Countless jokes exist of people “Photoshopping” images and thousands of Internet Memes exist as a result of its existence. Getting past that, Photoshop is a fantastic tool which offers so much in functionality that most people don’t even know it exists. The only limitation with this program is that it is a bitmap-based program. I am sure there is the ability to work with vectors, but I have yet to really play with or even find that. Like I said previously, I use Fireworks for my vector work. I don’t need to sing the praises of this program though, since it’s utter integration into Internet society should state that it does it’s job well enough.
• And a whole list of programs, most/all of which have fully functioning trials.

As for the other listed programs, ArtRage 2 has a free version available, though it is locked down and does not have all the features available. I suggest downloading the free version and trying it out. If you enjoy it, you may as well spend the 25 bucks for the license. (That’s gone up since I last checked. I used to be like, 18 or so. Yay capitalism.) If you really like it, you can get the 40 dollar version which comes with a manual, tutorials and videos.

3ds Max and Maya both have trial versions available, and so If you are going to be using these (I have seen tutorials that do to get some sexy effects) then you can at least play around with them here. I’ve never used them myself, so I don’t know the learning curve but I can imagine them starting off easy and getting progressively more complex as you get into them.

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Man the Helm

Now that you’ve got your weapons of choice selected, it’s time to use them. My personal experience has taught me to open the program without looking at the manual, and just screw around. Learn the controls and see what you can create. It’ll probably look like hell, and that’s okay. Screw around and see what you come up with on your own. The point here is to wet your feet a little, and get a feel for the program. I’m still getting used to Fireworks, and I’ve been using it for at least a month now.

The reason I suggest this is just from my personal experience. I tend to learn better by figuring out the controls myself. Sure I need guidance with the obtuse controls, but I commit things to memory far better when I do it myself. Some people learn better from instruction or reading, and that’s cool too. I am merely pointing out the method of learning which works best for my brain.

Try not to get upset when the programs or the results created therein. Remember that you’ve only just started working with the tool, and no one expects you to be a savant. If you don’t like what you see, ask yourself why and then try and create it again so that you know how to avoid it in the future. Screwing up is only screwing up if you don’t learn from it.

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Learn How Not to Suck

Now that you’ve created some horrible works of art it’s time to learn from your peers, who are in this case most likely your betters in the field. for this, I’ve compiled a small (and in no way complete) list of sites you can go to for a little knowhow.

• PSDTuts.com – This is probably the must user friendly site for Photoshop tutorials I’ve ever found. Throw in the fact that the site is actually pretty stunning to look at, and that certainly adds to the trust level. I subscribed to their feed a while back, and I have yet to even think about regretting it.
• Firetuts.com – This is a brand new tutorial site that works specifically with Fireworks. Since it’s new it lacks in content at the moment, but If they keep it up for a year, they’ll be a reservoir of information for Fireworks users. I don’t see why they need to say that they’re trying to prove it can do much of what Photoshop can do, since the two products are really supposed to be used for two different task-sets… but regardless, they’re off to a strong start and worth paying attention to.
• Fireworkszone.com – Another site the specialized in Fireworks. They cover a couple techniques that are more advanced, and so I have yet to touch them. They seem fairly hardcore though.
• Flash Kit.com – It blows my mind to think that this website has been around for so long. It was old when I was new to all of this. If you have any questions about Flash, this is where to start. Seriously, start here and I doubt you will need to go anywhere else.
• N.Design Studio – Not only is it a stunning-looking website, but it also features many tutorials for Illustrator, Icon packs, and even WordPress Themes. It

And just because I can, I’m going to link GridMaker. It’s not perfect, and doesn’t work across many versions of Photoshop and Fireworks, but any tool you can use to speed up your own production is a good one. I’ve used this myself and it works like a dream. Now I’m using it on Fireworks 8, so I don’t know what happens in the other versions. There is also a Photoshop version, though the functionality has changed from its original.

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This is the fourth part in an ongoing series of articles that depicts my process to becoming a graphic designer. Coming up next: How to realize you know nothing, and not blowing your brains out as a result

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four (Currently reading)
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven

1. Get a job
2. Chat up your co-workers
3. Don’t screw anyone
4. Snoop around
5. Donate your two cents to a worthy cause: your future

Get a job

This may sound stupid but if you have the chance to land a job where your dream-job exists, take it. Sure you may be the mail room jockey now, but being within a company has two distinct advantages:

1. Companies tend to hire inside first. Sounds silly, but most companies will hire internally before they hire externally. There are a lot of reasons to this to which I can only start to speculate. I know that there’s less paperwork, and you’re already familiar with the company so that means less time spent on training. All that aside, it helps secure employee loyalty and help to provide an environment where one can actually move up in the ranks.
2. Utilizing what are obviously stunning characteristics that you possess, such as charisma and charm, you can chum up with those who are in or are near or influence your dream position. I don’t condone playing office politics and being friends with people only to steal their job, but I know people do that and I know it works. Personally I like the idea of just asking questions and providing input where it’s available. Eventually people take notice of you and start asking you before you have to chip in. It’s not as fast as shmoozing, but it works.

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Ask not what you can do for your company, but ask what your company can do for you

Wherever you work, and whatever you do, see what your company can do to help you do to further yourself. You would be shocked at some of the programs that exist. I found out that my company will pay for school courses, so long as I get over 80% in the course. Not the best of deals, but it’s still something that is offered to me. If nothing is currently being offered, be the trend setter and ask and/or propose your idea. If you’re going to do this be prepared to answer a slew of questions. What’s it going to do for you? What’s it going to do for the company? How much? How long? etc. . If you think you need it, write up a report on how this will assist in your contribution to the company and what the company stands to gain from it. Throw in some pie charts if you know they like them.

The point I’m trying to get at is that many companies will assist in educating you in some way. Usually there are strings attached, such as a mark requirement, or a time-lapse protocol. As always, make sure you read the fine print before signing anything. Companies usually want to help their employees but not without expecting something in return, so be wary.

Make sure to talk to the appropriate people when trying to get ahead. Sometimes asking your manager could end up getting you nowhere. If you’re company has an HR department, start there. They usually have the what’s what when it comes to employee offered arrangements.

What I’m saying is that no matter what company you are in, they are usually willing to assist their employees if they think it will benefit the company in the end. Try and figure out the best win/win for this, and you should be good as gold

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Chat up your co-workers

Though office romance may be frowned upon in the office, friendship usually isn’t. If people like you, they’re usually more willing to answer your questions or indulge your curiosity (or nosiness, whichever you prefer). On top of that, you never know when you’ll need someone to back your character or could provide you with information which could help you move forward. Make sure to note though that people tend to share only what they are willing to give away.

Having made that point, make sure you don’t shoot yourself in the foot with your new-found chummy-ness. Being everyones friend can make you a happier person, but management may frown upon your constant socializing so try and keep it in check. Beyond that, You should make sure that you only tell people what you can afford to. If you’re friends with someone, and you know they have the same career goal as you do, you have to be careful with what you share with them. Sure RSS feeds are fine, even a neat program or tutorial you found is great. Telling them about a job opening you just heard about and are applying for… well that could have adverse effects to your career growth.

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Don’t screw anyone

Again, office romance may be frowned upon, but screwing your co-workers (figuratively), though making you fly through the ranks, will leave you very alone and ripe with the smell of burnt bridges. People hold grudges for far longer than they will admit to, and if you screw someone to get ahead, they jump on any chance to return the shaft. I’m assuming the worst of people here and many may not actually be trying to actively sabotage you. I’m merely stating what could happen and to take heed.

On top of people actually trying to “get” you, you also ruin a very good resource. When you screw people over, you close the door on any information or tidbits they would have otherwise been willing to pass onto you.The more people you screw, the harder it will become for you to pull any favors. Education works a lot better when you have many options in which to pull your resources. If you’re down to three contacts, you had better hope they know everything.

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Snoop around

Don’t use credit cards to open locks. This isn’t 1953, and that never worked that well to begin with. It’s also not what I meant. What I mean is to simply keep your eyes and your ears open. If you’re concentrating so hard on how to get the boss on your side you may miss that memo that was posted on the cork board you walk past every morning. Pay attention to your workplace, and what’s going on around you. Make a habit of checking your internal job postings, if you can. Check online job posting sites to see if your company is looking for anything you could go for. This will also allow you to see what it is they look for in an employee, which in turn can use to stark advantage in adjusting your resumé to be more appealing.

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Donate your two cents to a worthy cause: your future

If you are trying to get into an area, sometimes being helpful can go a long way. I have made it my personal goal to get in on any design conversations whenever I feel I can contribute. Maybe I’m nothing more then another pair of eyes, but at least I’m helping out. Even better when you can contribute something that is taken into consideration and/or use. When I can’t contribute, I’m still listening to what they say and the observations made. If you cannot contribute to the discussion, let others contribute to your mental file-folder. I’ve learned a lot simply by listening and watching. This has allowed the commentary that I do contribute to be both more in tune with what my company wants, and shows that I’m at least slightly knowledgeable in the area.

On that note do not, for the love of God, do not comment all the time. It gets annoying and your “I only wanted to help!” argument will get you nowhere. You have to make sure to pick your battles wisely and spaced-appropriately apart.

This is the third part of an ongoing series depicting my process to becoming a graphic designer. The next article will cover tools and how to use them. Not people in this case.

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three (Currently reading)
• Part Four
• Part Five
• Part Six
• Part Seven