Author Archives: admin
Worse things happen at sea
Over the past few weeks I have come across several articles regarding the true meaning of what it means when you have the words “crew member” on your CV, and as that line features on my own resume, I simply had to have a read. In fact, I even felt compelled to hit the “share” button which is something I very rarely do…
These are two such articles: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-former-cruise-ship-employees-make-best-employment-sean-sassoon https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-resume-doesnt-tell-you-crew-member-sean-sassoon I agree with every word, and could even add a few hundred myself, but safe to say if you’re a hiring manager and come across the term “crew member” in your inbox, it’s well worthy of a read.I learned many things during my time sailing the seven seas, both about myself, about status and about cultures. I learned that I can pretty much deal with anything thrown at me, I can organise myself (and occasionally others - you know who you are!) to get a job done, be it 5.30am or 11pm, all on very little sleep if needs be.
I learned that people from all corners of the globe can get along just fine, and made hundreds of friends that I will never see again. I learned just how far I can be pushed before I am ready to snap and just how hard I was able to work, I learned how to deal with the general public and what can be achieved both by myself and whilst working with a team, and how all jobs no matter what they are, where you're from or what you do can cause frustration. I also learned of where to find the best beaches and who to walk on them with, the best ports for wi-fi, the best places to pick up a new toothbrush (trickier than it sounds), the best water parks, the best cocktails, the best people to party with and the best place to stand for some of the best views of the world. I always wanted to see the world from a new perspective, and it's a part of my life that I'm proud that I did and something I will never forget. So when people ask me why I decided to give it all up, it’s a difficult question to answer, however, the above articles made it a lot simpler somehow. I have visited more places than you can probably think of, and sailing the seas is an awesome adventure, and there’s absolutely no doubt that I made the right choice personally to pursue that, but living and breathing in a constantly changing, stressful, working 18 hour days type of merry-go-round microcosm of an environment 24/7 for months on end makes you start looking for the exit button.So now when a client asks me to turn around a tender document or an infographic or a presentation or a report around within a few hours, I find I can take on that challenge and do an awesome job. How do I know this? Because I've tested myself to the limit and just like my mum has always said about any situation, worse things happen at sea!
Tags: crew member, cruise, Graphic design
abstract sunrise
As all my time is usually spent on graphic design, it's nice to experiment with my illustration side every now and then.
I often feel that that side of me gets a teensy weensy bit neglected, but today felt like one of those times to dust of my creative, abstract, illustrative brain and create something totally of my own and see what happens. When I start these projects, I rarely give it any thought beforehand, more or less to see what happens, and this is what I created today, what has come to be known in my mind as Abstract Sunrise. Inspired by my love, and my year round need for sun and sea (why do I live in the UK then I hear you cry!!) I try to convey an idea with as little detail as possible. In everything that I do, whether it's just for me or designing for my clients, I tend to go for a "less is more" approach. Keep it clean and fresh, uncluttered and the mind can fill in the blanks...
Tags: abstract, Graphic design, illustration, sunrise, vector
Coming up with the goods
This week started with a meeting and ended with a meeting, and a small realisation that I have been doing this graphic design freelance thing for going on a year.
What made me realise this fact, was that I was discussing the need for advertising to gain business, and I mentioned the power of word of mouth. In this day and age we are told that businesses simply "cannot be" without a social media presence as we are missing out on a whole world of possibilities. I agree with this fact, but social media is also driven by the power of word of mouth. And to be honest, the power of word of mouth has kept me going for the past year. I have not had the need to have gimmicks and campaigns, purely because I had some great contacts. Folks I have worked with in the past have given me a call and recommended me to their new bosses and for that I am truly grateful. Without the power of word of mouth I would have struggled to gain a foothold in the industry without heading for London or an agency.However, this is teamed up with the fact that I have done a good job for them in the past.
Nobody would come back for more if it wasn't for a good job, and this is something I pride myself on. I believe in doing a good job and so should any business. You can't expect people to remain your customers if you're not coming up with the goods, and personally I feel I come up with the goods because as yet I haven't fallen without trace off the freelance radar, and for that I am very thankful.Back in the designer hot seat
After a brief interlude of sun, sea and sangria I'm back for the long haul...
Since we last spoke we've had Christmas, and a new year, plus I've met Mickey Mouse and have just returned from seeking some winter sunshine. Not bad for just over a month... With that said, I am fully refreshed and back in the designer hot seat. I returned after a week away to an inbox full of e-mails, so it's good to know I'm loved and in demand, even when I'm a few thousand miles away! Whilst I was away, one of my clients, Cordant Services, launched their new website, complete with rebrand. Check out the knowledge zone for some of the infographics I produced before I headed off for sunnier climes. As ever, should you need any of my graphic design services, please do get in touch, like I say, I'm back in the hot seat!“Promotes us as a professional recruiter”
I recently created some corporate literature for the specialist recruiter Sugarman to use to promote their services across Australia.
Here's what my client had to say upon receiving the completed document:
This is excellent and will be a huge help to us as we have pretty much zero marketing material at the moment. Gives us an added approach into clients and really promotes us as a professional recruiter.
It's always nice to hear I've done a good job!Knowing your rights
As a freelance designer you own the right to all the work that you produce, unless you have officially signed it over.
Making the move into becoming a freelance graphic designer has been one of the best decisions I have made in recent years, however, although there are many perks to being a freelancer, there is no safety net of an employer or a company legal team to fall back on should legal rights be called into question. Knowing your rights as a freelancer is an important aspect of running your own business. A few months ago I wanted to learn more about copyrights in particular, and came across some useful sites along the way. I thought I'd share them should you be doing a similar search now or in the future: www.gov.uk: I found this site had a lot of useful information in an easy to digest format, including information on copyrights and protecting your intellectual property. As a freelance designer, everything you create, whether commissioned or not, is your intellectual property for which you own the copyright. There are also links on there should you wish to officially register any design work and useful contacts should there be any disputes relating to design rights. www.copyrightservice.co.uk: Although not the most attractive of websites, the UK Copyright Service site provides everything you need to know about the world of copyright and knowing your rights as a UK freelance designer. There are also some useful fact sheets, collating the important facts which can be downloaded for free. www.creativebloq.com: This is a useful online article containing various links to useful resources to do with both UK and US copyright laws. Freelance Handbook available through www.creativebloq.com has some very useful pages with tips regarding how to protect your assets as a designer, as well as how to negotiate any royalties. The handbook as a whole is a handy tool to have by your side. So there you have it, a selection of some of the links that I have found to be useful to have up my sleeve to refer to if and when it has become necessary to talk about copyright with my clients.
Tags: copyright, Freelance designer, Graphic design, handy tip, legal
Run out of application memory?
I recently encountered a running out of application memory issue, and after much googling didn't seem to find the true root of the problem. However, I have found a suitable answer for now...
The other day I was doing what I always do, using Illustrator and InDesign, along with a few other applications all open at the same time, and all of a sudden out of the blue my laptop fans start buzzing hysterically and I'm flagged a message that says I have run out of application memory. Immediately the programs I am running freeze up, with the only solution to shut down and restart. This happened at least 5 times in quick succession before I was ready to tear my laptop in half or throw it through the window. This really shouldn't be happening, I have 16GB RAM, which is far more than I needed for the job in hand and to add insult to injury to frustration, my free apple support had ended just 7 days before this episode....This all seemed very bizarre, the only thing I had done differently was move my work space to downstairs. My laptop obviously didn't like the Feng Shui down here...
But! I have found a handy work around, plus I think I may've stumbled across the answer myself. After googling and contacting Apple Support through Twitter I was advised to update my system to Yosemite. This I wasn't willing to do, I didn't want to lose anything on the off chance that this might work. What I did find online was a handy tip about checking out my activity monitor to see what was guzzling all my juice. Within the activity monitor I noticed that there were two items on the list using an awful lot of energy, these being the Kernel and the Finder Web Content. The Kernel is the operating system and so without that running you have in essence switched off the computer, it needs to be running - but what about this Finder Web Content? I found that I could force quit that through the activity monitor and that immediately solved the problem on a short term basis. That seemed to solve the problem, however, a few days ago the same thing happened, however, I was able to act quickly with this handy tip and so didn't lose any of my work. As the fans started, I immediately checked out my activity monitor, however, this time I felt I had sussed it out...In both cases I had been sent a word document that had been saved as a pdf by my client, through running it through mac pages.
This was the root cause of the problem. I asked the client to send the original pdf and worked from that instead. The problem was solved. So, to sum up. If your system looks like crashing, act quickly! Check out your activity monitor to see how the energy is being distributed across your system and quit anything unnecessary - you may just save your work in time. If you receive documents that aren't in their original format, always try to find the original document as you will be able to work more effectively and meet your clients needs more quickly.have yourself a merry little christmas
It's been a fun year, ending far differently than it started, with Southern Hemisphere exploration having taken place as well as the chance to build up a graphic design empire.
I couldn't have done it without the help and support of my fantastic clients, who put their trust in me on a daily basis to get their design tasks done. Their expectations are high and I do my best to achieve them, and hope to continue doing so into 2015 and beyond.
On that note I shall sign off, and wish you all a very merry christmas. Handy tips
A useful resource
As I stumble along in the world of Graphic Design, there are the odd occasions where I come across a bit of a road block and have to consult google for assistance. I therefore thought that it might be a good idea to collate some of my issues as I go along within this brand spanking new blog category "Handy Tips."
I intend for it to build up as I go along, so I will share my issues and solutions and any useful links I find along the way to help others paths run a little more smoothly. In the same way, if you have any suggestions to add to this page, feel free to drop me a line. Who knows, we may create a useful resource for other designers...?
“A pleasure to deal with”
One client that I enjoy working with is Wellies and Worms, an online children's outdoor clothing retailer. I design the banners used across the website and in e-mail campaigns. Aimed at children and parents, I aim to bring a sense of fun to the work that I produce.
Here is what the Commercial Director, Niki Addison had to say:
Elizabeth is always able to take a brief and product something fantastic! Professional, thorough and a pleasure to deal with.