Freaking Out

Every year, when school starts, I start to freak out. It's been a tradition since when I went to my first day of Kindergarten. I was never nervous about leaving my family or spending the day away. What made me nervous were things like "What will the teachers be like?" "How difficult will the material be" or "Will it be challenging?" Wondering what the year would be like - all that mystery - made me anxious beyond belief.


I'm graduating in May and I'm actually asking myself these same things. For the first year, I'm more nervous at the end of the year than I was at the beginning of the year. I'm asking myself "What will my employers be like?" "Will I like my job and will it be challenging?" Even the dreaded question: Will I get a job? I hope I get a job. I hope I like my job. I hope my job pays well. Before I can leap off that bridge to employment though, there's a lot of things I need to do first. Completing this semester of classes is a must, and I'd like to do it with a 4.0 again. I need to touch up projects from my years here and compile them into an official design portfolio. I did design myself a logo and build my resume already, so those things are good to go! I also still have to design myself a website. This will be an important self-marketing tool because I can direct future employers there to see my work before I meet them in person. These days, a design graduate must have a website if they want to be seriously considered for any job applications. I also have a portfolio show on April 13. As you can tell, there is a lot of work to be done. The deadlines are fast approaching and everyone keeps reminded about them thanks to the many professors who like to stress us out (which really just ensures that we enter panic mode and get our things done in a timely manner). 


As you might guess, I enjoy over-achieving because not only does it give me a sense of pride in knowing I did well, but because it also puts me ahead of others who might not work as hard. Because of my relationships with my professors here, I've been able to learn about some subject matter that isn't covered in the classrooms and I know that will set me apart from other graduates. Graphic design is a competitive field and I want to be successful upon my graduation from La Roche. As I continue to work, I will also continue to be stressed out about what the future holds. The funny thing is: no one knows what the future holds. While I almost wish I had more time in school to delay this unknown future, I am glad to be almost done with my formal education and rely on self-learning after graduation. Wish me luck in my endeavors!

Adventures in Printing

Whether or not you look at the time of this post is up to you. As you might guess, I try not to stay up until 3 in the morning, but it's becoming my normal bedtime. This isn't because of partying or completely poor time management either. I'm actually working on developing my graphic design portfolio because I'll be graduating in May. Graphic designers use portfolios to showcase the best work that they've done in their college careers (freelance and internship work too!!) and they show these portfolios to potential employers. Preparing a graphic design portfolio takes a lot of hard work and time and requires you learn a lot. Loosely, this brings me to the point of this entry.

Today (well, technically yesterday now), I went to OfficeMax to get some revisions of projects printed for my final portfolio. As a young graphic design student at La Roche, you will probably be assigned to find at least 5 local printers. This is a really useful assignment because it teaches you how to find resources and how to talk to people professionally. Here's a heads up though: OfficeMax and Kinkos are two of the most frequented printers in the area. OfficeMax is on McKnight and has a nice selection of both paper and print staff. There's a 24 hour Kinkos in Cranberry which is convenient for last minute prints, though it's a bit more pricey. When you go to get your first project printed, you really don't realize how many choices there are to be made. Yes, you probably know going into it that there's regular paper, card stock, and photo paper, but it's more diverse than that, even at an office store. You will soon learn that you need to ask questions and pay attention to details. Is the paper shiny? Is it too shiny? Is the paper too thin? Can the paper be folded easily? These are only a few questions and they all have to do with the type of paper you're using. Additional things to consider when printing are whether or not you want it double sided or whether you want to assemble it yourself. Not to take all the fun out of it, but double sided prints are never completely lined up, so you really have to learn how to prepare your files for print. Preparing files for print is covered thoroughly in your time at La Roche. Sometimes you can even pick up tips from the staff at the printing places. Before you get too far into the printing process, one of the most important things to remember is: Always bring your computer with the original files! When you're a beginner, when you're tired, or on any given day, you might accidentally forget to do one step in the preparation for printing and it's always easier if you have a charged laptop with your files right there to fix it.

Getting away from the overwhelming nature of first-time printing, you'll quickly realize that you need to pay attention. When your print comes out, you should look at how vibrant the colors are and see if you're happy with it. If not, you'll need a different type of paper (perhaps a smoother one or one with some type of coating). You should feel how thick or thin the paper is when you're handed your print. Ask questions too! If the staff is busy, try to keep it short, but asking questions like "Do you have anything just slightly thicker than this?" will help you learn a lot. Also, if you pay attention to your receipt, you'll see there are weights listed for the paper(s) you purchased. By learning what the paper you use is called, you can directly ask for it again instead of jumping through hoops. This will make it easier on you and the sales associate both.

Another important thing I've learned from a professor at La Roche is to never take or pay for a print job you're not happy with...as long as it was the printer's fault and not yours. Sometimes it's busy or they didn't turn the paper when they double sided your piece. Things happen, but it's important to catch them early on so you can have corrections made.

At the end of the day, you'll be truly satisfied because it's always nice to see your work in it's real form and not just on the computer screen.