Branded07 Portfolio Assessment

I chose to review branded07.com because it is very different from my style. The pale blue colors and cartoon birds are not something I would envision for any of my designs, but they fit perfectly here. It shows a soft even fun side of design that a lot of potential customers might want. Even though it has a less serious feel, all the images and layout are completely professional. The artist, Rob Palmer, also shows how diverse his skills are in the sample pages. He has a great variety of designs ranging from grunge to elegant and each example describes the discipline needed to produce the end result. This is a great portfolio site.

Ethical Dilemma

I came across an ethical dilemma that fits in perfectly with one of my portfolio review assignments. We are working on getting our foot in the door with several European auto manufacturers. I usually produce samples with our visitor’s logos, and did this for BMW when they came in last Wednesday. BMW stayed late, and Thursday morning I was doing testing, so when Audi came in I still had their samples in plain sight. They seemed very interested in these, but no one addressed the issue. My dilemma is - should we have clarified that we are not currently producing parts for BMW? I feel that by having these samples in sight we might have implied a more substantial relationship with BMW than we actually have.

Seether Design Competition

Just a quick reminder - don't forget to vote in the Seether design competition today!

http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/preview/afefd8083570483da9ccdc98d64086bd/491

Design Competition

Talenthouse.com is a great place to participate in creative projects. I found out about the site on facebook because of a competition they are offering. Contestants are able to submit designs for the merchandise being offered during Seether's upcoming tour. This is one of my favorite bands, so of course I had to submit a design. My time is very limited lately so I didn't get to put as much effort into it as I would have liked, but you can check out my submission at http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/preview/afefd8083570483da9ccdc98d64086bd/491. Voting is on March 14th if you would like to support my design.

Paul Fox Portfolio Assessment

This blog has become my go to place for posting anything and everything related to graphic design or school. One of my assignments to complete my degree is to review and assess other web portfolios. The first site I thought of was Paul Fox Design. I stumbled upon the Paul Fox Design / Paul Fox Photography portfolio sites (http://www.paulfoxdesign.co.uk/) some time ago, and while the content did not impress me, the site design did. I’m not saying that his content isn’t worth while; it’s just very similar to every other professional out there. The site design, however really caught my eye due to its simplicity. The limited color and graphical elements were brilliant because your focus is quickly drawn to the most important aspect of a portfolio site – the samples. This site made me completely re-think my own, and that is one thing good design is supposed to do.

While I thought the over all site was wonderful, I did have a couple of complaints. I didn’t like the fact that I could not click on any of the images for further information or functionality. I also didn’t like the fact that Paul Fox Design and Paul Fox Photography were completely separate sites; I consider design and photography to go hand in hand. Other than these little complaints, I feel these are superbly designed sites.

Career Options Discussion Part 3

I moved into the RD&D (Research, Design and Development) department just over a year ago. Our company had been trying to utilize digital printing technology for quite a while, but with limited success. As the technology, specifically the computer processing power, has progressed, we got closer and closer to being able to design a system to meet our goals. We needed a machine that can print as fast as , if not faster than, a screen printer, that can utilize spot colors rather than 4-color process, and that can do it all using a piezo electric print head. I am pleased to say that we have built such a device; two of them actually.

The first machine utilizes a single print head that prints as the part runs underneath it. The head can also be moved in front of a high speed camera for testing purposes. The second machine truly is an "Alpha" machine, but it is extremely promising.  The machine has 6 modules giving us the ability to print 6 separate spot colors. Each module has 4 print heads mounted in an array giving us the ability to print a 12 inch wide image. Once these machines were built, there was no one to run, test, and optimize them. That is why they brought me in.

Each image to be printed must be handled a little differently than a standard raster or vector image. My experience working with multiple graphics applications and RIPs allows me to understand what is needed. I can create the image from scratch, or modify an existing image to work with our system.

Secondly, we have to make sure that the print heads are optimized for our purpose. As the parts move under the printhead, we have to make sure that they are firing at the right time. We also have to make sure that the drops are the correct size in terms of drop diameter and volume, that the drops are falling at the proper speed, and at the proper trajectory. This is all handled through a program that can modified in C++.

The final issue we are faced with is the fact that there are currently no inks / jetting fluids that will work for our applications. Our chemists are working on those now, but once these are developed, we will have to make sure that the fluids are firing properly through the print heads, and that the final printed product matches our high quality standards. =

None of this would have been possible without my education from Edison. The knowledge I gained at school is essential to fully understand, create and manipulate the graphic files to be printed through this system. The programming classes I took are equally important. Without them, I would not be able to make changes to the print controller. The diploma is probably most important of all. My company places a lot of importance on continued education. One condition of me getting the job was that I must complete the degree program.

Career Options Discussion Part 2

I moved to the IT department with a promise of application development, but the actual position was titled "Helpdesk Technician". I didn't mind providing IT support throughout the company if it meant I would also get to develop applications, but over time I started to become disillusioned with the position and the department. While I was sent for training on a recently purchased business process management application development software, I ended up spending only about 5 percent of my time working with it; the rest of my time was spent answering the phone, responding to emails, ordering supplies and renewing our various licenses. I even questioned when I would get to work on the next application, and I was told it was at least 6 months away. It got to the point that I dreaded going to work every day.

As much as I ended up hating it, working in the IT department did help me understand what I wanted out of a career. It helped me realize that I missed designing; I needed a creative outlet. I also missed producing anything. I just could not stand dealing mostly with paperwork. Thankfully, after about a year in IT, the director of the Research, Design, and Development department came to see me. The RD&D group was in need of someone who could handle designing automotive interior trim pieces and also be responsible for developing a new digital printing system. I felt very confident with both aspects of the position, and I really wanted out of IT, so I accepted the position immediately. The knowledge I acquired from Edison in dealing with all aspects of digital imaging and design allowed me to leave a position I was not happy with and move on to a much more rewarding opportunity.

Next, my move to RD&D...