What was YOUR newbie mistake [Archive]

wienerdog

01-04-2006, 06:14 PM

I just got to thinking of how many designers with experience honestly try to help those with less experience. That's greatly appreciated by us newbies (I am getting to be less of a newbie since joining this forum).

What gets me are all the designers who mock newbies truly trying to learn. Everyone learns from making mistakes, so here's where you confess your earliest or worst newbie mistake.

I remember working on a personal stationery project doing letterhead, biz card, and envelope in my first desktop publishing class. I created it in Quark, having used it for the first time in this class, and was printing it out to turn in over the weekend when the teacher wasn't around. It looked 'great' on screen, but every time I printed it, the blue areas looked WAY purple, not even CLOSE to how it looked on screen.

I kept printing and printing, changing one thing after another for an hour. I'm not sure when it was, but somehow I learned (probably through a help menu) that my BLUE color was an RGB swatch, and after reading further, I finally learned that "BLUE" cannot be printed as I saw it on screen.

Rocketpig

01-04-2006, 06:27 PM

One of my worst newbie mistakes was creating a 15 page website, locking the fonts at a certain size and not realizing that Macs and PCs display fonts at different sizes.

Needless to say I now check a test page in every browser I can use on both Mac and PC before proceeding with a site.

Patrick Shannon

01-04-2006, 06:43 PM

My first mistake actually turned out to not be my own.

We had gotten an order for business cards for hockey player Tony Twist. To make the story short, a typo was on the cards. I remember my friends joking that Twist was going to come and kick my ass for that.

So mein fuhrer comes walking in yelling and screaming at me, and said something like "where in the heck did you come up with this zip code?" I showed him the information that I received to put on the cards.....I had the zip code correct. I was given the wrong zip code to begin with......and the zip code was in HIS handwriting. :D

I never got an apology for that outburst, instead he gave a cop-out speech about him "being his own worst enemy." Anyway, Twist got his cards reprinted and no one got beat up for it.

morea

01-04-2006, 06:53 PM

this isn't a design mistake, but sticks out in my head as a learning experience...

In the early days of my stint working at the print shop, I had one client who kept making changes to her 4cp art (for business cards). She was really the distributor, and was serving as a middleman between my company and the end user.

I can not even remember how many times she asked to change the tiniest little things... but she had me do some changes, then fax the proof to the end user so many times that it became mechanical.

Of course, this was a RUSH order, so I was pretty much this person's indentured servant while the job was in house.

Well, finally, the job was done and loaded onto the truck. I called the client and let her know that it was on its way out the door (as she had requested). She told me to fax a copy of the invoice over to her, which I did gladly, relieved to have this nightmare order off my plate.

Of course, I made the mistake of faxing the invoice (showing the dealer's price) to the same fax number I had sent all the proofs to - the end user, who was *not* pleased when she compared the dealer price to the price she was paying.

Ooh, the fallout from that one wasn't pretty. :o

Jimeda Fork

01-04-2006, 07:08 PM

Building training manuals without the knowledge of automatic page numbering.

Just Satch

01-04-2006, 07:08 PM

I was doing an invite for a high end party, it was a fairytale theme and we had a little story (which made a small, 4 page book as the invite) well we refered to the bad guy as the "black knight" after it was almost ready to print my boss said that black might be offensive so she wanted me to change it to the "evil knight" - so I did a quick find and replace black - with evil not a big deal... well I forgot we refered to him as the evil black knight one time, it slipped through the proof and it printed saying evil evil knight - the copy wrighter was pissed (he was out when we did the final proof) He still brings it up to this day!
S.

morea

01-04-2006, 07:09 PM

once I paginated an 800 page book and left out a blank. Fortunately the pressman caught it before the job was run. :eek:

jlknauff

01-04-2006, 07:16 PM

I worked for an ad agency many years ago and was asked to do an ad for a publishing company owned by them to run in a trade pub. The ad came out great, the owner loved it and it ran. Well, about a week later I was told to put an ad for the publishing company in one of the chamber of commerce pubs they did. I wasn't really thinking to much about it...just dropped the last one that everyone loved so much in. It never ocurred to me that the trade pub and the COC pub were both geared to totally different people...until I got my ass chewed for it (becase the owner saw the wrong ad AFTER the printer delivered the books).

That is the type of mistake you only make once!

Logo-Mechanix

01-04-2006, 07:26 PM

I mentioned this in an earlier thread today but this is where it really belongs: In my first job at a small printing company I was doing color seps using negatives (yes at one time this is how it was done for you youngsters). Well a piece of rubylithe somehow got stuck to the negative covering a large part of the logo. The pressman never even looked at the job as he was running it and ran all 10,000 of them like that. Well the owner wasn't happy but thankfully he laid some of the blame on the pressman. The fact that I was working 10 - 12 hour days and this was at 7:00 at night after working since 8 am I think had something to do with it.

ecsyle

01-04-2006, 08:31 PM

Boss: Hey we are going to do a huge rewrite to this massive lawyer site, can you do it?

Me: Sure thing boss.

Boss: Great, however, because they are lawyers we got totally screwed on the contract, now we have this terrible schedule and if we don't meet it we lose a lot of money for each day it isn't done, can you still do it?

Me: Sure thing boss.

*Meanwhile; Our lead designer and programmer quit and all their projects were dumped on my lap, 30 - 35 total, each with about 3-4 weeks to complete.

Me: Oh shit.

Boss: Hey, do all this little shit first, even though the lawyers are more important

Me: :(

Yeah, I got totally screwed, the company lost a lot of money, and I quit. I have never had migraines before. I have never had to manage so many projects and do so much work at one time before. I am amazed I got as much done as I did. I was also very new to the industry. I have since learned that you have to be very upfront with your employer, especially if they have no clue about design and development.

that mike guy

01-05-2006, 06:23 PM

This was about 6 years ago...

Was making graphics for a training manual... I was making them in paintshop cause it was the coolest, lol.

Anyhoo, I couldnt figure out why each time i finished one of the jpg graphics, when i reopened them the quality went to poo.

So I figured, hey maybe thats normal, i'kk just use the sharpen tool to fix them up.

Yet again, when reopened, the quality was downgraded some more.

It wasn't till after the graphics were printed (you can guess how they looked) that I learned about the little File Compression slider when saving an image.

Turns out the compression default level was set at 20%. I was clueless about file compression until that day.

thecat@

01-06-2006, 12:47 AM

One of my first (it was awhile ago) was to move to a country and get into design without researching what software the local printers used. I spent several months learning the wrong ones, then had to back out and learn adobe products on top of everything else (how to deal with clients, etc).

Another mistake was to suggest how great it'd be if my client had a mac so we could look at the designs on screen at their office. Talk about being micro managed by the manager from hades! 'Move that line over a bit ... no ... more' 'and how about green? Can I see it now in green?'.

Another ... telling my clients that it was ok to call me on the weekends and after 6pm during the week. 'No problem!' Yeah, right.

Luckily I made enough good choices that I stuck around.

LeftBrain Artist

01-06-2006, 01:29 PM

Newbie mistake? Other than picking graphic design for a profession? The only thing that sticks out is when I first started going back to school for graphic design in 98. It had been 3 years since I'd touched a Mac - I walk in the classroom a bit early, other people are there noodling around on the Macs, so I think "might as well fire it up and start dinking around". So I reach in back for the power switch (where I'd been used to it being) - not there. After about 5 minutes of contorting and searching for the frickin power button, someone clued me in that it was the unmarked button on the upper right corner of the keyboard. Daerhhh.

JStephens

01-06-2006, 03:01 PM

One I will never forget. I was laying out a 200pg program for a trade show. Just as I was about to send it to the printers they came back and told me I had to build 20 more ads for it. Well I rushed though them without double checking and got them done in under 2 hours so they could be printed in time for the show. One of the ads I made was for the t-shirts that they were selling there and I left out the r in shirt. :eek: Luckily the printer caught it.

Logo-Mechanix

01-06-2006, 03:03 PM

Now thats a great printer, I am sure you thanked them up and down and sent them a nice basket of fruit.

morea

01-06-2006, 03:06 PM

cheers to that printer, indeed!

D-Frag

01-06-2006, 03:17 PM

JStephens

01-06-2006, 03:22 PM

Now thats a great printer, I am sure you thanked them up and down and sent them a nice basket of fruit.

Yeah he got a big thank you.
On top of it he let be resend the file without letting my boss know anything about my mistake.

Logo-Mechanix

01-06-2006, 03:29 PM

I still make mistakes to this day, now the time between them has gotten farther apart, but everyones human.

What irks me about newbie designers is when I specifically tell them to do something a certain way, and they don't do it. Its like they get lost in all the pretty colors or something.

I just made one the other day, saved the wrong file for emailing and the job was printed wrong but they are few and far between and usually now a days there are underlying factors (a good way of partially blaming someone else) LOL.

kerrysmagicshirt

01-06-2006, 03:56 PM

It's great knowing we are all only human and that mistakes do happen.

I'm always getting emails back from printers who have spotted type-o's on my work - i'm dyslexic you see. Can't think of one really bad mcuk up tough.

wienerdog

01-06-2006, 04:48 PM

Logo-Mechanix

01-06-2006, 04:53 PM

Tony Twist was one mean mutha I remember him breaking a guys helmet punching him.

wienerdog

01-06-2006, 04:58 PM

Newbie mistake? Other than picking graphic design for a profession?

Do many designers feel this way? I don't know, it has it's moments, but I wouldn't want to do anything else. Other than make my own illustrated stories and people pay me for them and make millions, that is.

PersonasBinar

01-06-2006, 05:35 PM

It's amazing seeing your work in public. I really enjoy design, the more I do the more the horizion expands. From print to web, advertising and now I'm looking in the direction of industrial design. An ever changing landscape where I can apply all I've observed and learned over the years. As for newbie mistakes.... man O man, how many times have i had to reprint film or screwed up an imposition when I was starting out.

Logo-Mechanix

01-06-2006, 06:34 PM

I wouldn't change what I do for anything, I love graphic design and art in general. It's kind of weird I don't think of it as a profession because it's something I love to do and have loved it my whole life. If you had told me when I was 8 years old I could make a living doing this I don't think I would have believed you.

greyghost

01-06-2006, 06:43 PM

Do many designers feel this way? I don't know, it has it's moments, but I wouldn't want to do anything else. Other than make my own illustrated stories and people pay me for them and make millions, that is.

I don't feel this way - as a kid I always wanted to be involved in art in some way. Graphic artists starve less than paint/pencil artists... so that's where I am.

What I have always wanted to be is a cop. When I was 15 I announced that to my dad, who said he'd disown me. Later when I wanted to quit my corporate job, my hubby asked if there was something else I wanted to do. I said "be a cop" and he said (honestly) he didn't know if he could handle the stress from worrying about me all the time.

So here I am.

emmerse

01-06-2006, 11:00 PM

just yesterday one of our salesmen was putting up some signs in his account that read:

"24oz NFL Pint Glass" ... I'll let you pick out the mistake

Thats what I get for trying to clean up his "all 32 team logo cup" wording. Eh, little things like that slip through the cracks once in a while.

My highest ratio of errors happens in one particular account. Mostly because I get the info at 3:30pm and the signage needs to be on the delivery truck at 3:30am. Easy stuff to do, but I just can't stand the lady so I really don't pay attention to accuracy.

Inspire!

01-08-2006, 03:36 AM

I really don't remember any mistakes I made. What I do remember is laying awake for hours at night worrying that I did have a mistake on a jobs that were sent to the printer and too late to make changes. And being relived that the finished pieces were just fine.

I also remember how stressed I was about trying to learn all I could so I wouldn't look like a dingdong.

Nowadays I'm a pro. I have caught printer mistakes. In all cases the printer's RIP (Rastor Image Processor) direct to plate didn't play well and my jobs would have parts of the layout missing or blocks of color that were not suppose to be there or the font was screwy. The font problem stumped all of us. I used Quorum and the letter "s" on all the text throughout the layout was dropped lower than the rest of the letters. Really weird. Never had a problem printing that font with other printers. Sooooo there I was standing there late at night with 5 of their people trying to figure how to solve the problem. I was not happy about it at all. In the end I had ALL the text outlined which is a big no no with small type. Thank goodness it turned out ok. I did four 32 page brochures that day/night at 150,000 each on web presses and had problems with just the one. I'll never do that again. Talk about burnout.

A word of advice, ALWAYS personally go to press checks. If I relied on my printer rep to make sure the job was done right all those printer mistakes would have been left as is and I would have had to have them reprint the whole job again wasting not only paper and ink but also man power and time. Even though you have seen and OK'd the proof if your job goes direct to plate check it thoroughly at the press check AND don't be afraid to stop the presses to fix a problem they caused.

I think I got off topic. :-o

Logo-Mechanix

01-08-2006, 01:43 PM

C'mon Inspire no mistakes? Your making the rest of us feel inferior, surely you can remember at least one.

Inspire!

01-08-2006, 10:52 PM

Sorry to disappoint you Logo-Mechanix. But I really don't remember any mistakes that I made. I think I was soooo damn paranoid that I double, tripled and quadrupled checked all my jobs. I can show you all my ulcer war wounds though :-)

I was getting experience with designing and working with printers while in school. I think having that experience really made a big difference after I graduated and was out in the real world.

Oh wait..... thinking back.... I do remember one time when trimming, this was when I was still in school, a job with crop marks. I trimmed one side then the opposite side and stood there thinking how the heck do I trim off the other two sides when I just whacked off the edges that had the crop marks... duh! My brain just couldn't figure that one out and someone had to show me how to correctly trim out a job.

lext

01-18-2006, 02:26 AM

We are humans. If doctors make mistakes, of course, we make it as well

When my doctor asks me to take a medicine I always search in the internet about my illness and the medicine, I don't trust him or her at all.

I hope the clients do the same with my work.

Neballer

01-18-2006, 06:30 AM

Trusting my "Director of Brand Marketing" with proof reading catalogs.

Vikia

01-18-2006, 10:51 AM

My newbie "firsts" predate computers so I will simply start by using my computer newbie first mistake.

NOT USING SPELLCHECK!

Jason Fraker

01-18-2006, 11:49 AM

I OK'd a color key proof of a 4/4 trifold brochure which had an image of a construction hard hat on it. The hat was red originally, and I changed it to yellow in photoshop. The color key hat looked a little green, but I told them to run it anyway because I was concerned about the extra cost of getting a new proof made (geez, why did I do that?). The printed brochures had a LIME GREEN hard hat (the shadows were mainly cyan, so the yellow hat looked green), and the whole job had to be reprinted. Hmmm, a $50 color key or a $600 (our cost) rerun...

chris_bcn

01-18-2006, 05:22 PM

Working in Spain - my first webdesign job for a group of language schools. I got a word document, pasted it in (paste special of course!!!) and all the bullet points turned to q - NOt a problem - I'd found out about global search and replace in Dreamweaver - replaced all the qs with nothing. In the entire site. Over 400 pages without any qs; and in Spanish, that's a very common letter. Boss wasn't too happy

Wing1

01-19-2006, 05:41 PM

My newbie mistake:

An big deal, environmental awards ceremony, $200/plate dinner attended by some of the biggest corporations in the province. We did these huge banners that were hanging from the rafters in the convention centre. I'm sitting with my boss at the table and suddenly, someone looks up and says, "how do you spell "environmental?"

It was spelled incorrectly on all these banners.... I was mortified!

greyghost

01-19-2006, 05:59 PM

What I do remember is laying awake for hours at night worrying that I did have a mistake on a jobs that were sent to the printer and too late to make changes. And being relived that the finished pieces were just fine.

I also remember how stressed I was about trying to learn all I could so I wouldn't look like a dingdong.

OMG, my first six months at the Tribune were like that.

I did make a couple of mistakes, but right now I really don't remember what they were. I had the knockout turned off once in Quark... I had done who knows how many ads like that... and then this ONE turned up with colors bleeding through, I didn't know why until someone figured it out for me. It took months to find all the ads that didn't have "knockout all" selected - and every time another artist found one, they made sure to tell me about it.

Logo-Mechanix

01-19-2006, 06:06 PM

Artist are great about pointing out mistakes of other artists.

greyghost

01-20-2006, 12:38 PM

Artist are great about pointing out mistakes of other artists.

Well, I've thought a lot about my first year at that place, and realized I would have handled things differently than they did. Maybe I'm just nicer - but if you hire a wet-behind-the-ears artist, you should know they aren't going to know EVERYTHING, and constantly pointing out a mistake they know has been corrected, or bringing up the mistake in bad ways (like being called onto the carpet for something minor), isn't going to help the newb, it's going to make the newb feel worse and he/she may make MORE mistakes. Which, until a management shift took place, is exactly what was starting to happen.

Management of early 20-somethings shouldn't be given to another early 20-something with out a LOT of thought.

Logo-Mechanix

01-20-2006, 12:51 PM

Yeah, there is nothing worse than hiring someone you know doesn't have alot of experience and than letting them know what they did wrong in front of everyone else, thats very unprofessional. I managed an art room for a printing company and whenever I hired a newb and they made a mistake I would always let them know in a one on one conversation. My guess is only mean people do that and you know what they say about mean people, they suck.