First yuo need to know that it's not so much crazy as it is ever changing! I personally use my Macses g5s to make unified formats for my clients( who are more often then not retarded). I get payed pretty badly and everyone doesn't understand the great work I and other GRAPHICS Deisignser do. With out the universe would impload in on itself and

For me personally i only do freelance design stuff part time. I work full time for a medical company in Operations...they are my biggest client [img]/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/biggrin.gif[/img] . So i pretty much do mostly print work, ads, brochures, business cards, posters etc. I just recently did my first official company manual for them. what a pain in the ass! Back and forth like a Andre Agasi vs. Pete Samprass match.

So there's still many things I don't know and i'm learning as i go.

I'm pretty boring at the moment.

GDF Contributor

Visit My Blog: Tyger's Den

Not much of one, Silence....I've been actually thinking about my position lately and the type of jobs I've received far more than anything else over the years, and considering most of them is just simply scanning in stuff that customers bring from 'other' shops, or simply settings several types of text on stationary, I'm just a glorified typesetter, not a designer. (Simple) business cards, envelope, letterheads, invitations, etc is all I do. Of the artsy stuff I mostly get, it's simply a tease where another design studio did it and we're simply printing it.

But I complain enough about my job as it were, and I'm tired of it myself. So I'd rather talk about something that makes me smile, would that be good enough? So what does 'Patrick Shannon' REALLY do...or would like to do? I think even though I'm down on myself at times due to my situation, I still do believe in myself being able to get a decent career in design someday. I am quite talented in laying out illustrations and drawings in Illustrator and have even added Wacom drawing skills to my arsenal lately and trying to refine that. I do a bit of cartooning on the side, but cartooning isn't my first love, nor is it my best art medium. Nor do I see any cartooning skill actually playing 'too' big of role in helping my career along, but one of these days it just might. It certainly jogs creativity.

I have become extremely strict when it comes to prepress and sending files to be outsourced. Too, too many 'designers' dump things on me and my business forces me to clean up the mess instead of kindly returning them, and that is not how I want to be viewed by my outsourcing printers and companies. I always take good care of them and familiarize myself as best I can on what they can and cannot do. While there's always the little glitch that might happen, that's a part of the business. I am quite proud to say that I have an excellent record on sending stuff out, I rarely to never hear back from the printer until they're calling to say 'We're done!'

Likewise, my clients always receive the best quality logos (well, best we have on hand) that they ask for. Because I know all too well the fustration of receiving nothing but JPEG, GIFs and Word/Excel 'logos,' and I want to be above that. It could be argued that customers could take those logos and have others do their printing, but the reality is that many clients outsource with several different companies, and we've never lost business with a client this way. Besides, it could be argued that they're so appreciative with sending out the correct format that it makes me look more impressionable in their eyes (hence they continue to do business).

I can't explain why, but things like marketing projects or P.R.....or simply getting a job that is trying to get a business established just simply excites me. On that rare, rare occasion I actually get a client at my regular job that wants me to do something 'different' for them other than bridge cards, script pads and stationary (and provided mein fuhrer actually allows reasonable time for it), I really try and think about that business and try and break down what is trying to be accomplished. 'What is the message I'm trying to send?' 'Does this serve a purpose?' 'Has this been done before?' What I don't want to get into the trap of doing is just throwing crap on a page out of experimentation, I want my stuff to have purpose.

Most of all, I want to have purpose. I want to be useful to someone. I think one of the reasons (well, among hundreds of others) I'm so fustrated with my job is because simple typesetting walk-in junk like that can be done by any idiot. Whenever I spoke on the phone or in person to another graphic artist/designer (who knew what they were doing) and we started talking 'technical graphic speak' that no one else seems to understand, even if it's under tight deadlines, even if the customer is an jackoff, I simply enjoy utilizing my knowledge and discussing with other designers the best route to take through a project. I think I feel that way because I'm serving purpose; I'm doing what I should be doing, not droning out in front of a computer and setting three lines of text. Last week, I had a dream one night where there was this really important business woman who ran a graphic studio, and I had been hired on a 'probationary period.' The dream gets kind of weird (as dreams do), but I remember sitting in on a marketing where the crew was discussing possibilities behind a marketing project, and they asked my input. And I somehow enjoyed that. The dream ends when I'm shaking her hand and thanking her for the opportunity, and I wake to my damned alarm clock ringing in yet another dreadful day at the 'copy shop.'

Graphic design isn't all peaches and cream, I know that all too well. No matter what dream job I might land, there is always going to be the nagging deadlines, idiot clients, etc. But I've long accepted that and have been realistic on that (though such situations are so much fun to gripe and laugh about), but it's everything else around it (in my current situation) that can be improved. I am a highly ambitious and passionate individual about my life and my career, and even if I'm not where I imagined and I worry that the 'bottom has fallen out,' I think I am a designer and was meant to do so. Eventually I will find that person that will see what I can bring to the table for them, and they'll lift me into the next stage of my life....allowing me to learn more about the business and become a self-sufficient adult.

That is who I am and what I do (or would like to do). Either that, or my destiny might be in porno films, never put that past me.

That went on much longer than I had intended. But if you didn't know already from my many posts, thoughts and columns on my own website, I LOOOVE to write.

Patrick Shannon

'Dear valued customer, go home and die. Signed, your friendly graphic artist.'


My War With Culture
Political incorrectness reinvented.

Television graphic artist. Full time, too.


Generally, I prepare information graphics, and OTS's (those panels that appear over the presenter's shoulder), as well as informational animations in After Effects, and currently, just starting to learn VizArtist- a high end on demand graphics suite for making graphic animations 'on the fly'. (used by CNN and Sports Central for late-breaking stuff, sports scores, stats, etc.)
Cool job, really. If you don't mind your deadlines measured in minutes.

('you need this when?!?!' )

You're a jerk, Dent. A complete *sshole.
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged.

Hey! BigNameClient!

are you okay up there?

you just kind of, stopped typi...

:on't call me Foreman, for I am your Boss::

I work on newsprint and glossy advertising for a few local publications. Every once in a while, I get some editorial design jobs too -- which are more fun. It tends to vary from being fun and interesting to being trite and dull. There's something very satisfying about seeing full page ads you've designed come out in print though, I must say...

I would've taken over the world, but I got distracted by shiny things.

Ooo! Shiny things!

My Main Area is Licensed Products...

I design and have designed Posters, Greetings Cards, Calendars, Postcards, Pencil Cases, Waste Bins, Desk Mats, Framed Prints and Diaries for the following various companies:

• Disney - Winnie the Pooh, Princesses, Witch, Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Incredibles... etc...
• 20th Century Fox - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Simpsons... etc
• BBC - Teletubbies
• Sega - Sonic the Hedgehog
• Comedy Central - South Park
• New Line Cinema - Lord of the rings
• Dreamworks - Shrek, Shrek 2
• DC Comics - Batman Begins (forgot about that one - edit)

...and many more projects including Moomins, Hamtaro, DragonBall Z and No Rules.

I have also designed and sold over 200 Greetings Cards and Posters of my own unique designs to various companies accross Britain.

I have successfully moved into the Corporate ID area and Marketing with a few clients and I also design the occasional Celtic Tattoo for my friends.

Yet I still feel I don't do enough! LOL

The difference between a Madman and me is I'm not Mad! - Dali

Post Edited (red raw) : 3/31/2005 1:45:04 PM GMT

freelance print, branding and animation/screen. i have a number of my own clients as well as a number of companies that don't cater for print who i go in and work with on pitches to give them extra help with th

[img]/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/biggrin.gif[/img]

hand: ollie@ollielindsey.co.uk

eye: www.ollielindsey.co.uk

mouth: 07966 160 983

Nice topic, Silence.

I worked for 4 years at a printing company that handled business forms and stationery, and an eventual merger resulted in the addition of ad specialty products: apparel, pens, calendars, that sort of thing. It gave me a good understanding of printing processes, and the all important (to me) WHY something is done in a certain way.

I spent another year working for a small commercial printer, where I did a lot of pagination and all that jazz. We printed cut sheets, books, newsletters, catalogs, etc. Due to some criminal mis-management, that company went out of business.

I am currently the sole designer (my title is "director of marketing" ) for a distributor of high end appliances. Basically, an in-house designer with a lot of hats to wear.

I handle all of our copy writing and design work (everything from flyers, ads, trade show stuff, referral cards, mailings, faxes, promotional pieces, even some vehicle lettering). I handle all of our advertising and marketing.

I coordinate everything with our print vendors from sending specs in for a quote, babysitting the job while it is in house, and finishing up by paying their invoices. A little bit of everything, I guess.

I also have to manage our company website, customer databases, and until a receptionist is hired, answer phones. I also end up doing our basic IT work, since most of my coworkers are not very computer literate.

.....all that AND they give you lot's of hats to wear ? do you have to have them on rotation throughout the day ? is there an order in which you have to wear them ? [img]/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/lol.gif[/img]

sloooooooow day.........

hand: ollie@ollielindsey.co.uk

eye: www.ollielindsey.co.uk

mouth: 07966 160 983

The hats I wear at work are 'figurative' hats, Bear! [img]/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/biggrin.gif[/img]

But I love to wear hats... especially big floppy ones.

We are one, our cause us one, and we must help each other if we are to succeed. ~ Frederick Douglass

yeah i noted that in the names to faces thread...that's why i thought maybe you might spend the day constantly changing hats......

hand: ollie@ollielindsey.co.uk

eye: www.ollielindsey.co.uk

mouth: 07966 160 983

I do alot of everything...Jill of all trades.
Morea - can I bum a hat...LOL

I design for a very small company that has 2 pretty successful publications here in Savannah. Been at this place 5 years in June. YIKES!

Design-wise my work includes a buttload of ad design. We have a quick turnaround so I have to be quick. It's not the most glorifying of design jobs but I have learned alot in my time here, I will say that. I also do the layout of both publications. One is a weekly pub that's been around about 28 years now, averages 64-72 pages and we print around 13,000 weekly. The other is a Spanish publication which I can't read - talk about challenge! We have had it for 3 years now and I am trying to be more positive and look for a solution as how to improve is layout. It averages 48-56 pagesm, printing 15,000 monthly. So as far as design I do ad design here, layout and all the in house things that need to be done - including forms - yuck! haha!! I handle all the dealings with the press, and I do like that as pretty much everyone here knows how important I think it is to have a good relationship with your printer.

Other than design, I also take care of computer maintenance, if a computer goes down or the server or anything technical-like, I have to deal with it and fix it. Oh yes, that includes the copier, the fax, hell - even the adding machines! Stupid ppl..lol! I do all upgrades here myself (hardware and software) including the new XServe I ordered last summer. The perk to that is spending the bossmans money! Weeeee!!

I also get stuck with all office manager type stuff - complaining customers, some decision making, ordering supplies...blah blah!

Being in a small company, when someone else is out you do whatever you have to do to help out to ensure that you meet deadline. That's how this place has always been and will continue to be I am sure.

Now - about revamping my resume.... [img]/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/smilewinkgrin.gif[/img]

'No more yanky my wanky! The donga need food!!' - heh

Great question! I've always been curious about what everyone does and it's nice to be asked.

I spent the last five years at a publishing company working on mostly NCAA and major college sports projects. Game programs, media guides, editorial design, things like that. Some Nascar stuff, NBA Hoop-It-Up, got milk? 3v3 soccer stuff. Working with sports as subject matter was awesome because you can go so many different directions. Pay was decent, but the place was truly a sweatshop.

I recently started a new job (about a month ago) at a very successful and well-respected local advertising agency as a graphic designer. I'm not making any more money, but the change is worth it a million times over. Great people, very relaxed and fun. I now work on projects for a major financial institution (my main account), the horse racing industry, a few bourbon brands, sports for the local university, a couple of restaurant chains and a few miscellaneous projects here and there. I'm also getting to learn about video and television, which is great. Plus we have a beer tap in the office kitchen!

I also have a business at home selling a graphic design related product that is finally starting to take off (after over a freakin' year!!!!!)