Month: April 2013

Learn to know your weaknesses

When starting out in any profession you will have some sort of weakness. The best thing to do is to know what you weaknesses are. When you know what your weaknesses are you can improve upon them.

For example you could be learning how to skateboard and there’s a trick that you are learning. While learning the trick you tend to notice if you put your foot in a certain place and jump so high you will be able land it.

If you are designing a poster and you’ve filled up every single bit of space and used multiple fonts the weakness is thinking you need to fill up every single bit of space. Also you have a problem with simplifying things or that could be something else.

Always remember that knowing your weaknesses can help you to improve but only if you want to improve.

Barry Mcgee & Margaret Kilgallen

A beautiful part from Art 21 documentary. Margaret Kilgallen really got me more interested in perfecting

my line work which has been a journey. Also the part where Barry and Margaret go into the train yard that

made me appreciate and understand the history of trains a bit more.

Mistakes to avoid when going for an Internship Interview

Recently I was able to land an internship at a local company. I had a couple of internships interviews and some went well and others did not. They were a great learning experience for me. Now I shall share with you what I did wrong.

During my first interview I did not get the internship possibly from not asking enough questions about the Job and what it entails. Then I did not have a printed portfolio to bring. Also the attire I wore my work outfit which probably should’ve been avoided altogether.

The second interview I had I was able to land the internship. Thankfully they were understanding of my faults while interviewing.

So here’s what to avoid doing

  1. Dress to what you feel the culture would be like
  2. Do not have any kind of cuss words on your wallpaper screen on your laptop
  3. Errors on your resume, cover letter show a lack of attention to detail.
  4. Thinking you know what to expect
  5. Do not chew gum

and here’s what to do

  1. If you do not have a printed portfolio, have a portfolio site
  2. Have business cards ready ( you should always keep at least 5 on you)
  3. After you’ve emailed them your resume pick up the phone and call them
  4. Dress comfortably and respectfully
  5. Look your interviewer/s in the eye
  6. After you have gotten interviewed send everyone who interviewed you a thank you email
  7. Before even entering the building for the interview make sure your in a positive mood and believe you can get the job and do the job.
  8. Show up at least 10 minutes before the scheduled time
  9. Demonstrate an eagerness to learn
  10. Make sure to shower before going ( If you plan on wearing a fragrance of any kind make sure its light and to not drown yourself in the scent.) Also do not spray fragrances on your clothes.

I hope these will allow you to be able to land your internship or Job that you’ve been searching for.

Mistakes

Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.

— Brandon Mull

SXSW Interactive Keynote: Tina Roth Eisenberg

This was a very inspirational talk from Tina. I’ll have to say this has to be one of my favorites from her. In this speech she talks about 11 rules to live by here they are

  1. Invest your life into what you love
  2. Embrace Enthusiasm (no one looks stupid when they’re having fun)
  3. Don’t complain make things better (The best way to complain is to make things better)
  4. Trust and Empower
  5. Experiences>Money
  6. Surround yourself with like minded people
  7. Collaborate
  8. Ignore the haters
  9. Make time to think and breath
  10. If an opportunity scare you take it
  11. Be someones eccentric aunt/uncle

These are described in greater detail throughout the speech. I definitely recommend making sometime to watch this.

Learn about all forms of design

One of the most valuable things that I started doing a couple of weeks ago is learning about all forms of design. The main reason is that it has helped me grasp a better understanding of design as a whole. Whether it’s in architecture, interior design, product design, web design they all have taught me something about design.

Because before I would just focus on learning as much as I can about graphic design and that did not really help me to gain a broader understanding of how designing works. So I would suggest to whether your already a designer or just starting out learning about all forms of design can help you to learn how to approach a project. Since all of the forms I mentioned have a different approach that is need to solve each problem.

For example the Wright Brothers studied birds when they were building their Airplane, Da vinci studied nature and the human body. The list could go on and on the main thing is up to you to find out how to improve the quality of work your doing and or to educate yourself to become more knowledgeable.