My Website.

Ok so I thought it would take me a couple of days, but my redesigned website is now live!

I've moved the navigation links to the left hand side, with individual pages for each project relating to graphic design/ photography/ illustration etc.

I think it's much easier to navigate now. Although with the previous layout people were more likely to see more work because it was all just on one page relating to each area, with this layout I think it's easier to understand what each project is about.

It annoys me that I can't change the orange text, but at least it goes with my logo ;)

Individual pages for each project comes out from each subject area, for easier navigation through the projects.

Each subject area has a main menu page.

The project pages all have return links to their appropriate menu as well (these took a long time to add in!)

Each thumbnails open out into a large image so they can be seen more clearly.

I also added a facebook like and tweet buttons.

There's still a few changes I would like to make, and some more photos to dig out of my archive to add to a few of the projects, but it's pretty much there :)

My Website.

I'm not really sure why, but I decided to completely re-do my website.
I think I wanted to have work separated by project, rather than by subject (i.e. graphic design/ photography/ illustration etc)

It'll probably take me a while to get it done, but at least it'll give me something to do!! Haha I want to dig out some more design work from my university sketchbooks and stuff as well because I don't feel like there's enough there and as that's what I'm trying to do for a career, I feel I should demonstrate a broader range of what I have done/can do.

Having One of Those Days...

Where I don't feel good enough. As a designer, as a human being.

It's such a hit to your confidence and self worth to get so many knock backs, feeling as though you're not good enough to do anything. I just need one person. One person to take a chance on me. I know I can do it. I've not studied graphic design for three years for nothing.


I won't give up though. I can't. There's no other option.

Charity Christmas Cards.

The christmas cards I designed for the NET Patient Foundation are available to buy here :)

My mum ordered a load and they arrived today! They're a lot bigger than we were expecting, but still normal delivery size so that's good. And something clearly went wrong before they got to print because the quality's not great, and it definitely wasn't my design that was LQ, but never mind, they still look good :)

It may be in tiny letters on the back of the card, but my name is on there! That's what I was hoping for :)

Now let the commissions roll in.......haha!

~

The other design that was available along with mine that was by Baudine (see it in this post) has now sold out. I guess people favour the more traditional when it comes to Christmas, which is completely understandable, but I'd like mine to sell out too! Haha but seriously, it's really good fundraising for the charity if more can be sold. I think some of my friends will be buying some, all my family will be getting them from us and I know my brother's girlfriend has ordered a pack, so it's all really good awareness for the great work the charity does :)

Internships.

My parents have never been shy in expressing that internships are nothing short of slave labour, but I've always been split. Yes I think internships should be paid, or at the very least given travel expenses (because really, how else do they expect people to afford to get there?) I also see the value in internships - it's the only way to be considered in a design job nowadays, unless you're just brilliantly unique with an exceptional portfolio, which has to be a very small number of people.

I was reading about this on the Guardian website (main article here, a second one here, and a success story of an intern winning compensation for their unpaid work here) There was an interesting point about if the intern is doing actual work, rather than just being trained, then they should be treated as a worker and paid accordingly.

This very much made me think of the internship I did at the start of the summer, which really wasn't an internship the more I think about it. I was definitely doing real work. I barely got any training. I actually think I got almost none at all. I was taught one trick in Photoshop, ended up teaching myself Illustrator and QuarkXPress, and the admin stuff they really didn't help at all, just expected me to know it all. It's no surprise that by the end of the six weeks I hated it, and I'm so glad I didn't take the "Office Junior for 12k a year" job they offered me. They said I came across shy, which I'll admit I am a bit, but they did nothing to make me feel welcome, they barely spoke to me, they would tease me if I didn't do something right (I remember one time I was putting text/photos into a quark template, and the photos were as jpegs, not tiff files, and they said "you forgot to save them as tiffs" (queue other 3 designers laughing) ...err, HELLO?! you never, ever told me to save them as tiffs. I don't know if this is something I just should have known, but I'd never worked in a commercial design environment, and they knew that, so I'd never had to do that before)

Ok so I've made up my mind now. I hate internships. It is a real shame that getting a job in design now is based on experience rather than talent. I mean I understand companies want someone who knows what they're doing, but they won't even take a chance on someone who may not know exactly what they're doing, but is so keen for the job and desperate to prove themselves and learn how to do it all, that they'd probably make for a better employee anyway.

Rant over now. I need to go and calm down!