soccer brochure

Unfortunately I cannot upload my jpeg images because of an internal error. WTF!!!!! Why can't thie damn thing just...um...WORK!!!?

Any suggestions on how to get the images on there? I tried saving as something else, I tried sending to work and uploading from there and either I'm a complete fucking retard, or this damn thing just doesn't like me. :)

SHIT

this and that

I've been really bad about maintaining the blog the last two weeks or so. My apologies to my wide fan base. I have some recent pieces to add to this, but I always forget to follow up on that when I get home at night.

Currently waiting to hear back on a job interview I had. I feel like it went pretty well. The interview was supposed to be 30-45 minutes and it wound up being and hour and 45 minutes. I guess that's a good sign. We'll see ...

Could a "MacGyver" considered an occupation? I mean, I always hear people who pull a MacGyver, so why couldn't that be an occupation? Like if I made a business card, I could put:

Chris Bland
Maverick, Innovator, MacGyver

Even though it's a proper name, the word does indicate a high level of resourcefulness and being able to work with limited tools to accomplish great goals...in some cases this may mean diffusing nuclear warheads with a pack of matches and a staple gun. Thoughts are welcome on this matter.

freelance projects

I have stumbled upon my first 2 freelance projects of the summer. One is a brochure for a soccer camp that started out as a mockery of all that is good in design. This was created by a non-designer who happens to be the husband of this girl I work with. They didn't ask for me to redo it, but i told them i'm going to show them what it should/could look like and basically do it pro bono in case they want me for a later project or can refer me to friends.

The second project, and one that could potentially be quite exciting is for this vendor fair for the Mom's Club of Bel Air, to which my wife belongs. The vendor fair they held last year kind of bombed, so this year they have a sparkplug in charge who has a ton of sponsors lined up, including possible sponsorship by the O's and Ravens. She has promised some great exposure for me and with the sponsors she has, this looks promising. At any rate, the project consists of a brochure and flyer, and they want me to present them with a couple of design ideas based on the concepts they want to incorporate. This will be somewhat daunting as they have a few ideas that all need to be incorporated, namely the charity they are donating to, holiday shopping, and a mom's night out. I have some great concepts already though...stay tuned for those postings!

free at last

This was the first Monday morning I can remember in a long time where I felt rejuvenated and stress-free. Not that I don't have things to occupy my time now that class is over, but being deadline-free is certainly a wonderful thing. My plans for this summer (in no particular order)include:
1. spending time with my boys
2. losing the weight I gained during my wife's pregnancy.
3. redoing my resume/portfolio/looking for a design job
4. yard work/landscaping my backyard
5. reorganizing our basement
6. softball!! :)
7. golf
8. start freelancing

final process

I couldn't get my jpg images to upload for my final process...not sure what the hell is going on. So. I did the next best thing and included two images that I used for the revised booklet. I went back and forth on the design...so much for the easy week. I'm enjoying a Miller Lite now, and I can safely say I'm done. Not certain I'm satisfied with the final process booklet, but I'm done regardless...stick a fork in me. Time to throw myself at the mercy of the crit and see what grade I get for the semester. Hard to believe the stress will be officially over tomorrow. Finally hitting dinner with the wife tomorrow night...which reminds me, if anyone wants to switch time slots for the individual session, I'd be much obliged.

process re-revision

I'm not going with those organic lines mentioned in my last BLOG after all. They are too distracting and random. I'll post the pages as soon as i figure out which way I want to go with them. Should be a late Thursday night.

Process revision

For whatever reason it's been very hard this week to focus. I'm betting it's because I see the light at the end of the tunnel. At any rate, I did make good progress last night on my revision and have made the following decisions:

• I won't be adding pages in even though I got feedback to that effect. The reason it was suggested was to make the pages less cramped, so I am adding more breathing room instead by adjusting the leading and removing all of the images. I may bump the page sizes up slightly as well, although it's looking like that won't be needed. I also avoided adding pages in because it would have screwed up my yard-line theme and the math with how the yardage lined up.
• My comp felt kind of rigid, so I'm taking a chance by removing the images and replacing them with X's and O's running through the pages (like plays drawn out on paper). Not only does this make the pages feel more organic, but it adds to the flow by adding that line running through it.
• I changed my title to "Drafting With Purpose: A Guide for Fantasy Footballers", instead of "How to Have a Successful Fantasy Football Draft", and adjusted the font on the cover from Nueva (you were right Stacey!)

I hope to post examples tonight, but they weren't cooperating before, so we'll see what happens!