A good day

You know what's funny? When you wear this to work and receive more than one compliment on how "dressed up you are" today.

Secret: It's ridiculously comfortable.

Apparently I'm normally dressed like a slob. I'll have to throw on a dress and leggings more often. That's the key to a raise, right?

So, on to the real reason for this post. It's been one of those months at work where I've felt like everything I do is fraught with disaster. (No, I'm not a drama queen. Why do you ask?) I walked into work today, however, and the clouds parted.

A project that I'd been working on designing, discussing, editing, redesigning, and making changes to since April is finally complete! I don't normally discuss my designs on here, but why the heck not?

Probably scarily accurate.

The typical pieces I get to design at work are one or two-color jobs, normally on white paper, and stapled if necessary. There are exceptions, of course, but just some background. My boss told me back in April that the MPA program in our School wanted a viewbook and that she wanted me to design it: colors, shape, paper type, all that. One of my coworkers wrote and edited the content.

Fast forward seven months:

Ain't it perty?

A few of the spreads

Along with the writing, designing, editing, meetings, and e-mails, we also hired photographers from different areas to take the great photos.

My favorite spread. That's one photo!

My crack at designing infographics. Kinda.

I took these pictures in my ill-lit office, so the actual piece has much better colors. Promise.

This, on the other hand, is a series of pieces I designed, photographed be a professional. Fancy, right?

In conclusion: I really have no point here except that I'm not sad I showed up for work today.

I can't afford to contribute to giving my neighbors' kids' cavities

While I won't be dressing up for Halloween this year (unless you count the Cindy Lou Who-esque Halloween headband I have sitting on my desk that I won't wear because it hurts my head), I'm celebrating it in the best way I know how... by being crafty.

The marketing division (which I am a part of. Duh.) at work has weekly meetings and it just so happened that today was our meeting day for this week and October happened to be my month to gather agenda items from each coworker for the meetings. Typically I'd just type them out in a Word document, but not today. Not when I'm in charge of the agenda!

It was appreciated.

I had decided early on that this year I'm going to skip the giving of candy for a couple of reasons. First, two bags of candy would have cost me $25 and that's just effing ridiculous considering I can't afford to buy food for myself until Friday. Second, I would either have to sit outside waiting for kids to come do my door or put up with Pippi losing her shit every time someone knocked on my door or rang my doorbell. Neither of those things really appeals to me in the least.

My plan was to just turn my downstairs lights off and hang out in my room for the evening. Yes, essentially my plan was to hide. From the little children. When I put it that way it makes me sound so awesome.

And then today my coworker, who has 5-year-old boy/girl twins, invited my coworkers and me over to help give out candy. Since this would mean that I would not only get to see all the cute kids in their costumes, but I also wouldn't have to buy the candy, I decided I'm in! And since I don't want to have to put Pippi through all the door knocking and doorbell ringing I suspect will go on even if I don't have my lights on, I created a sign.

I'm going to be the "mean neighbor" by tomorrow morning, aren't I?

And while the kids in my neighborhood are egging my house, I'll be down the road stealing candy corns from my coworker's children. After all, it's not Halloween without consuming candy corns.

In the spirit of the holiday, I've dug up some Halloween pictures from college for your viewing pleasure. It makes me sad to realize these are from ten years ago.

You can't tell, but I'm wearing pleather pants and showing my belly. Ahh...college.

I was Britney Spears. What? It's not obvious?

This second picture is also proof that Kara and I knew each other in college and probably drank Natty Lite together. Those were the days, my friends.

Are you and/or your kids dressing up for Halloween? Because I need pictures!

This post has no point

So guess where I'll be for the next few days.

It's totally a designerd thing, so unless you are one, you probably have never heard of it. Literally it's like the holy grail for designers. I'm pretty excited to be in Boston (I've never been) and also to be able to go to the conference.

I'm pretty not excited (unexcited? ill-excited?) about the flight. I don't like flying. I'd probably like it a lot more if I was literally flying (like had wings, could poop on people, flying).

That's more lessons than training a dog to not be a turd.

My latest Netflix obsession show is Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. No, I'm not kidding. If you've never seen it, you really need to. It's hi-larious. I wake Pippi up laughing while I'm watching it. Seriously.

...and a couple of them aren't bad looking either.

Yesterday I received my first HOA bill. It was addressed to "Mr. And Mrs. Hinkle". That pissed me off more than the fact that they included a delinquent fee even though I never received a first bill. Today I called the company to get it worked out and the lady did a lot of "Umm.." "Hmm.." "Let me check". At least they had pretty decent hold music? Then I was talking with a couple coworkers because I needed to vent some more and it occurred to me that, for the "lower income"/itty bitty homes (with itty bitty "yards") and no trash pick-up or neighborhood pool, $161 a month is a bit steep. I then found out it's the same price everyone in the neighborhood pays, even those with bigger yards and two-car garages.

Don't worry, I'm on it. I've already e-mailed the property manager and I'm sure more e-mails to more people will follow. If, by some miracle, the fee is actually reduced (I like to dream), the drinks are on me, folks.

When I get back from Boston, the training for Hartford begins.

WEEEE!!!

Three hours thursday

Yesterday I was at a work conference all day. I am not at all a fan of work conferences. It involves a lot of standing around, pretending I know a tiny shred of information about government, and schmoozing. Also, the people-watching is terrible because everyone's wearing business suits; even the women. It's a sea of black and gray and drab. Whoever inflicted business suits upon this world hated pretty things.

zzzzzzzzzz.

One thing that was kind of cool, though, is that most of the materials people were carrying around were designed by me. I should have brought a Sharpie to sign autographs :) We had two large displays at our booth that were both designed by yours truly.

Not exciting, but I work at the School of Government. I'm not allowed to be
exciting.

This one was set up in my office for a long time. I feel like I know him.

Since yesterday was Thursday, I was at the gym for three hours. I wanted to stay for the abs class at 7pm, so after doing my planned workout, I hung around and did whatever random things I could think of. This morning I hurt so much. Tomorrow's long run should be a fun and painful adventure.

Also, yesterday I received the race shirts that I ordered for Alyssa and me for our half marathon (for me) and marathon (for her) in two weeks. (ARGH! TWO WEEKS!!!) I'm not sharing any details. It's a surprise, but we're gonna be hot.  ;-)


Do you have to attend work conferences for your job?
If so, do you enjoy them?

Are you a good schmoozer?
Because if so, you're coming to my next work conference with me.

At least it didn't rain

While the race on Saturday did not go at all smoothly, I had decided early on that I was just going to run it for fun and that my only goals were to finish, and to take notes for my half marathon in February. I was able to accomplish both goals.

Eye on the prize.

Not only did the race experience not really go as planned, neither did my feelings on race morning. I woke up nauseous, which wasn't improved at all by the long drive in the backseat of a minivan to the race. I was in such a rush to get in the car after my alarm didn't go off, that I accidentally left the bagel that Kara had so awesomely smothered in peanut butter for me, on her counter. When we stopped at a Wawa to meet the rest of our group and to get some other breakfast items, all I could stomach was a soda AND I had forgotten my wallet, so Kara had to front me the money. I'm such a horrible person when I'm rushed.

Upon arriving at the race (and thanking the good lord that I was finally on solid ground for a while), I grabbed a banana, with hopes that I would soon be able to eat it without wanting to barf. All I could stomach was half of it, so that's all I was being fueled by for 9 miles. Oh and I also had..umm..."cha cha cha" issues. Kara and Kari had suggested that I grab Gatorade at the water stations, which was my plan, until the water stations were all empty when I got to them.


To break it down:


Mile 1.5: I dropped my gloves and, accidentally, my hat. This is also where I lost the rest of my "team"

Kara, I did not Photoshop this one. You're welcome.

Mile 3: My legs were not cooperating and I had to switch to run/walk intervals. A lady came up behind me and yelled, "Go sexy bitch. You can do this!" Unfortunately she was running way faster than me or I would have tried to stick with her for a while for the motivation.

Mile 6ish: Cramps in both my sides and hips. I actually stopped to stretch a couple of times. By this point I knew my time was going to be crap anyway.


Mile 7: I was ready to drop out. I was so incredibly close to not finishing. I think "pissed off" is a good way to describe it.


Mile 8: I finally pushed through the wall and was feeling great. I never thought this would happen. By the time I got to the mile 9 marker, I took off.


I ended up with a 1:39 time (10:41 pace. horrible!), but I know for a fact that I can do better than that. Next time around I plan on actually eating before the race and hopefully feeling a lot better. Oh, and also running a much better race with a much faster course (The terrain for my half in February is basically entirely flat :).


Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of our control, Kara and I weren't able to get our chocolate after the race. Seriously...WORST. RACE. EVER.

I hear lots of these were given out. I'm in mourning.

One good thing to come out of this race: meeting "in real life" three awesome people that I already considered friends. (Kara and I had previously met in college. We go way back).

Oh, and my mom and I went to a local running store on Sunday to see if they had "15k" car magnets. The lady behind the counter said, "I'm sorry, we don't, but boy do you deserve it after yesterday!" Umm...yes, we do deserve it, and so I created one.

I found the website Stickylife.com and went to town. After I created it, using their online template, I couldn't help but order a few. After I receive them, it sounds like I may need to order more due to the positive response. I think it'll be an awesome new addition to my back bumper :)


I promise tomorrow's post will be about the epic "blogger sleepover" Friday night. Be prepared to be very jealous.

The one where I prove I'm using my college degree

Mom, i need a new rope to destroy. Isn't today payday?

Happy freakin Friday!

So, remember that big project at work that I talked about yesterday? We finally got it all complete and out the door around 2:45 yesterday afternoon. It is a contest entry for a campaign we worked on last year (by "we", I mean my department, the Marketing and Communications Dept), to aid in convincing cities and jurisdictions in North Carolina to pay their dues. (I won't go into the whole explanation of what the dues are and all that. Just go with it).

Many pieces went into the campaign: a brochure, postcards, web stories, letters, etc. My coworker (Robby) and I designed the brochure and postcards. He designed the postcards, and I mirrored the design from the postcards to design the brochure. 

The company holding the contest only wanted electronic files this year. This is a huge bummer because the brochure, specifically, was designed and created to be held, opened, and used. Because of this, we not only created electronic files to send, we had a professional photographer come and take shots of the pieces so that we could include those, hoping it would give a better understanding of how it all fit together.

And, without further ado, here's the brochure! (This picture doesn't do the color justice. It's much nicer than this). The bottom left of the cover has a die-cut that mirrors the arch in the design at the top, so that when it's folded shut, you see a bit of the blue and the logo at the bottom.

8.75" x 9" folded size. Green cover is die-cut to reveal blue tear-off bookmark

Inside (It's purple :) Shocking? Nope!). Blue panel is a tear-off bookmark
(The back of the brochure says "we're here", with address and contact info.)

The background on the inside has a list of the state government jobs that we support through publications, mentoring, classes, etc. The slightly transparent boxes have quotes from some of those people about our organization. (Yeah I know, blah blah blah...)

I thought I was going to have to defend the purple, but I didn't! My boss was all for it :)

The brochure along with the postcards, which make up the designed pieces
of the campaign. Postcards are 8.5" x 5.5".

We also sent electronic files to the judges, but those are a bit more boring than these, so I won't torture you with them.

At the last minute, I had to design the opening page of the project. This is the first page the judges will see when they open the file, with the electronic files of the other pieces immediately following. I went back and forth on the design of this one, because I didn't want to give too much insight into what the printed pieces look like just yet, but I was convinced by my coworkers (and we had no time for monkeying around), so *ta da*.

In other news: Last night Pippi peed on my bed AGAIN! She barked at me, and I didn't know why. And then she got up on the bed and started "digging" at the comforter. Does anyone else's dog do this? A few minutes later I noticed it was warm and wet. Now I know that when she barks she needs to go outside, and when she starts digging like crazy at the covers, she's trying to cover up her mistake. Ugh! Sometimes "live and learn" is a painful lesson. She definitely knew she messed up, so I take that as a good thing.

Good luck to everyone running races this weekend. (I'm looking at you, Kara and Alyssa :) Enjoy your carbs!

I haven't fallen off the face of the planet

Hello strangers! I hope you all are well, and enjoying the Spring weather and colors. I know I am, although my head is not. Everything in there is itchy. The best part of my morning? Cleaning my ears with a Q-tip. It's like scratching my brain. The inventor of the Q-tip is pretty much the most awesome person ever.

The reason for my MIA status is that I'm still in Virginia. Yesterday and today, I'm taking an Adobe Creative Suite 5 bootcamp class. I'm learning all sorts of cool new things in the newest versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Bridge, Acrobat, etc. It's pretty awesome.

The class is in Alexandria, which means I get to commute to Alexandria, VA via interstate 95. If you've been in rush hour in Northern VA or DC, you know that 95 during rush hour is the equivalent of being in Hell. Thankfully, they switched the days from Thursday and Friday to Monday and Tuesday. I can't even begin to imagine Friday rush hour.



I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter and ate your share of whichever brand of Jelly beans you prefer. I know I did :)

Pete and Repeat were in a boat...

You know how if you repeat a word enough times it starts to not mean anything?....

...What does "sample" mean again?


When I was younger my friend and I decided to test this out with the word, "paper". We said it over and over and over. I remember the day, riding our bikes after school, repeating, "paper paper paper" until it started sounding funny and made us laugh. Now, whenever I hear that word, I think of that day. I haven't thought of paper the same since.

Shameless plug

(my design :)

 Every year, The School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill (aka-the place I work as a graphic designer of the most awesomest designs in the universe ;-), has an Annual Awards and Service Celebration luncheon, where everyone comes together to enjoy a catered lunch and we celebrate the work of all employees. Also, awards are given out.

The awards are:

• Performance Excellence Awards
  3 award winners (prize: $2,000 each and a certificate)
  
• Extra Mile Awards
  9 award winners (prize: $750 each and a certificate)
   
• Star Heel Awards
  4 awards provided by UNC-Chapel Hill for outstanding customer service. (prize: $25 gift cards each and a certificate)

All awards are earned through nominations by coworkers.



Are you ready for the fun part?





Are you suuuuuure you're ready??





Positive???





Ok ok...

I couldn't believe it! I am still sort of in shock (in a good way :). I always just assume people think of me as 'that girl who designs things', but *ta da*! I guess you could say I was super-duper surprised and excited. The marketing division (which is comprised of me and my three immediate coworkers; one of which is my boss), put together all of the materials; certificates, program, nomination forms, and digital sign images, for the event. That means they worked super hard at keeping this a secret from me. It worked!

The text at the bottoms reads:
"in recognition of exemplary effort and contributions to the general success of the School of Government as demonstrated through accomplishments, dedication, helpfulness, and cooperation with others."

...and yes, I received a hefty check of a little more than $600 after taxes, which I've spent about twenty times over in my head (but haven't actually spent it yet. I'm waiting until after my paycheck hits tomorrow and before I pay my bills to think, "wow, It's been a long time since I've had that much money in my account!") And then I'll have to pay my bills and I may actually spend part of my winnings on a few things I've been wanting but couldn't afford (like new gym shorts and a pedicure...I like to live large :-).

For some reason i was thinking I was going to get maybe $150. I asked my boss how much the check was for and when she told me, after the shock wore off, I said to her, "I can pay off my credit card!" Yeah, I know, the dumbest thing to think about and then to tell your boss. Oh well. (I do not plan to use it to pay off my credit card. My mom always told me that when you get a gift of money, you should use it on something for you. Thank you, Mom!)

This morning in my mailbox at work, I received the nominations in an envelope. It was a thick envelope with my name on it and I was hoping it wasn't, like, all the hate mail I've accumulated or something. It wasn't. Guess what. I received five nominations. FIVE! As in the number after four. As in one, two, three, four, five! I definitely owe it to my coworkers for receiving such an honor. Three of the nominations were for the award that I received and two were for a different award.

(My employee picture is terrible, but I had to
use it.)

Amazing.

The GD process

 Sometimes I get the feeling that some people assume great graphic design falls from the sky. I can assure you it does not. When you see a professional company logo on a building, the side of a truck, or on a package in the grocery store, I assure you that logo (much like Rome) wasn't created in day. It wasn't the first iteration, and may not have even been created by the first person to attempt its design.

Like most other things in life, there is a process to graphic design. (Well, to successful graphic design, that is). Remember science projects in school, which always had to follow the scientific method? You know....hypothesis, research, conclusion...yadda yadda. It's kind of the same thing with design, although it's not exactly that cut-and-dry in all cases. In most cases, however, the process looks a little like:



Step 1: Gather information
The client may say they need, for example, a brochure. The GD's job is to ask the important questions:

• Who is the audience?
• What is the message?
• Is there a proposed deadline?
• Is there an existing brand that needs to be matched?
• etc.

Once all of these questions are answered, it may even be apparent that instead of a brochure, the client actually needs a flyer or a poster.

Step 2: Outline
The GD should be able to outline the time frame (taking into consideration the due date), and the content so that everyone is on the same page: designer, client, and anyone else directly involved.

Step 3: Gather ideas, get printing quotes
The GD sketches, reads books, peruses magazines, googles ideas (or waits until they come to her, normally in the shower and while driving to work). Also, if the piece is being printed, the GD will need to make choices about things such as paper type, colors (will the piece be in all black ink, will it be two-colors, or four colors?), bleed (when the ink goes to the edge of the page), size, etc, and ask a printer/printers for price quotes, which the GD will then share with the client.

Step 4: Creating, sharing, revising
Now comes the "fun" part. The designer designs, maybe scraps the first few ideas and forges ahead. Ideally, depending on the project, the GD will provide at least two concepts to the client. The client may or may not dig those concepts. The GD may need to rethink and start over, tweak one of those first concepts, or even mix-and-match two or more of the original concepts to make it align better with the client's needs. The client/designer back-and-forth may go on three times, ten times, a million times. Every project is different. (At work recently, we made it to proof 21!)

Step 5: Approval, collect and send to print, deliver


 ...and hope for positive feedback! Sometimes there's another step: a meeting, which some call a "postmortem" (I HATE that name, and so in my brain I translate it to "follow-up meeting"), where the GD, client, and anyone else who needs to be involved discuss how the project went, what worked well, if there are areas for improvement, and the like.


...as you can see, no logos falling from the sky or brochures growing on trees. Promise.



Today's random photo:

I found this little piece of greatness online. Someone made it,
but unfortunately I don't know who. Cookie Monster and me?
Kindred spirits.

For all you coffee-lovers

You saw it here first...

The New Starbucks logo!

(No, I did not design it, although, how awesome would that be? And also, how rich would I be right now?!)

Read about it here