I came across these interesting shopping bags from Europe in am email I was sent. So I thought I would share them with you to enjoy. I feel as though Europe is less reserved than the U.S., so it is more acceptable to create a bag with a dead goose on it. Though this creative freedom does allow more attention to be created, hopefully in a good way.
Secondary education I feel has become a general standard in many countries. It has its benefits of higher paying salary, more knowledge gained and hopefully the experience of how the real job world is before entering it.
I feel as though in the world of design some education can go a long way, even an internship can be more beneficial than actual schooling. I felt as though this was the case during my education at Kean University. I believe I learned many more valuable design aspects while interning at Habitat Visual Communications about how design and business is truly run.
Formally Kean’s design program was always a business class to show the non-design side of having a design or advertising agency. This was some great information that I had acquired only through my work at Habitat VC.
It is true that Kean did and possibly still does have an internship type class. A class that I did attend, but I felt that it didn’t hold up to providing a true graphic design job experience as working at an agency does. Never usually being able to meet with the client in person, as the professor would get the design brief and pass it along to the student I had always felt a certain disconnect in having this class act like a real job.
I do give great respect to Kean for creating such a class, but I felt that a required internship class outside the university would benefit students more as had been a requirement of graduation at County College of Morris’ design program. Made-up design projects by professors are not good replacements for the demand of real life design projects and clients. This is even truer when displaying your portfolio and the interviewer doesn’t care to see your work from school and only professional projects. It is always best to carry yourself as a design professional even if your are still a student, unless you are looking for a student type job (whatever that might be.)
You may never know true design work until you enter the workforce, which may be too far over your head when you get there. I always find that it is better to be prepared than to be surprised later at the lack of experience people may only see when you apply for a job or other professional position. Being an intern can even get you hired at the same company because they have become comfortable with your work and know your skill set. In my experience if I never had the chance to intern at Habitat I feel that I would still be behind in my experience would never had been able to build my resume around that experience. If you have a design or ad agency that you admire give them a call or email perhaps they will be in the need for an intern. You will never know unless you try the first internship I was awarded was from sending an email to the president. Always try before giving up for any job you want.
My school experience and listening to those professors say great things about large design agencies was mainly the biggest day dream they could think up for us students. Unless your work (which it might be) is well above the standard for a student right out of school it is unlikely that you will be able to attain a job position at any of the large agencies your professors talk about with such enthusiasm. It is great to set your sights high (I would encourage you to reach for the stars) but I don’t expect your first job to be you dream job especially during such an economic crisis that the United States has been having. It is becoming more and more acceptable to work up to your status job by hard work and design. In this world of competition, my suggestion is to build your resume as much as you can before becoming an official design professional after graduation. It will do wonders for your networking.
Beautiful photography comes in many different forms; one of the most detailed forms can be food photography. Unbeknown to most consumers most of the food products they see in advertisements or packages are not even edible. Some of the following tips are helpful to make your photography outstanding:
• Use Fake Ice Cubes- Acrylic and plastic ice cubes work the best, these of course won’t melt while you are preparing your shot. Acrylic ice cubes can be used to provide glitter to your décor and shot, since they can’t be used for chilling the beverage. Plastic ice cubes have a gel in them that they can chill and freeze, they also won’t sink to the bottom of the glass.
• Incorporate Glycerin- This thick liquid that can freeze into a gummy paste can be dissolved into water and alcohol. It can be used as spray water for a long lasting condensation look, they usually last for 15 minutes. It is also used for fruit for a great juicy, shining appearance.
• Glue as Liquids- That great bowl of cereal isn’t full of milk, photographers fake this with glue, such as Elmer’s or any other white multi-purpose glue. By doing this it helps to keep the shot longer (always the name of the game.) The cereal won’t become soggy as fast no will it become discolored after time by any colored cereal. For more precision work, keeping flakes on a spoon the glue helps since acting as a glue and milk.
• For when you need a perfectly toasted piece of bread or English muffin, use a heat gun to toast it evenly by hand, not with a toaster which you can’t control. Also use a heat gun to slightly heat chocolate chips in a cookie but not so much that the cookies dough gets too warm as well that it loses it’s structure and falls apart.
• Pizza cheese that is stretchy and stringy like just out of the oven use the low fat kind instead of fresh it is much more pliable.
• To produce some localized steam without need to disrupt your food, use tampons that have been soaked in water and then heated in the microwave, bury or hide them behind the food for a just cooked look.
• You may need to fake a peach or apple leaf, so always have a ficus plant around.
• Corn Husker’s lotion keeps tortillas from cracking when rolled up, don’t forget it’s not edible.
• Keep makeup sponges on hand to prop up food or add extra height to a product. The same goes for wet paper towels to add a false bottom if you are short on a product.
• Use other food to fake a shot, whipped butter can be represented by using Cool Whip. Soap bubbles can be added to coffee as if just fresh brewed, of course you can no longer drink it.
• If you need a product to hold its place, try using Polident. For holding pie crust or anything else flaky in place coat it in Vaseline, just remember to not eat that either.
• Some great tools to have on hand to help with the plating and preparing process; tweezers, fine paint brushes, spray bottles, compressed air (to clear condensation) and melon ballers (for a perfect scoop.)
With many of these tips and useful products hopefully it adds to your photography portfolio. For some inspiration check out these great food photography inspirations above.
When designing in different situations it helps to differentiate the style of design you will encounter. By working on projects of a freelance design basis you can work for many different companies within a short amount of time. With this style of work you can have one specific skill set that you are hired for by companies. Say if you are a great re-toucher in Photoshop, then companies that only need a person with high retouching skills would be hired.
This can be the same if you are doing freelance work for yourself, by finding your own clients and keeping in contact with them. The only issue with that is it pays only on a part-time basis unless you decide to start your own business as such. that in particular might be the actual reason you would want to start your own freelance business.
On the other hand of design instead of any freelance work of any type (which can be inconsistent) full time design work for an agency is the most common route. However the draw back of that unfortunately is just like freelance design for other companies you aren’t your own boss and there is the possibility of your creativity being stifled by someone who isn’t.
The best way to cope with the problem would be to learn everything all the time you can about design so that you may try to instantly win over the client. While having your own freelance clients on the side would also help for even more experience and practice.
If the design is the only problem then you could always work by a few key rules to ensure all else goes smoothly with the client:
• Under promise-over deliver, always count on things that will take longer because then when your project is done early your client is even more impressed.
• Avoid giving ultimatiumsl as putting deadlines in strict words may put you in danger as your client expects it to happen as you say. Avoiding phrases like “I never miss deadlines” or “I always finish projects earlier than planned” and you will never put yourself in a difficult place.
By making sure you don’t over extend yourself it is likely that you then can have yourself working with happy clients straight away.
