Is a career in web and graphic design for you?
I spent all day Monday speaking with 8th graders from the Rockwood School district about a career in graphic and web design. My bit for the community! It was fun but quite exhausting . At the end of the day I was pretty hoarse from giving my presentation six times.
I covered the main responsibilities of my job, jobs likes and dislikes, education requirements, required skill set and steps the student could take now to prepare for this type of career.
However before we started I gave the kids a little test … much to their disgust before they realised what it entailed!
Am I color blind?
The discs above show the numbers 56, 45, 25, 6, 29 and 8 to those with perfect color vision.
Being able to see in perfect color is an essential requirement for a career in web or graphic design though it would be a fitting start to my talk. Two of the students I spoke to were indeed “color challenged”
Designing for your target audience: A great review
Thanks to client Cindy Reeg, who recently sent me this fabulous review about her web site:-
“I thought you might enjoy this review of my website by Jennifer Gladden–a teacher, parent, and author. She is exactly who we’ve designed this site, so I’m thrilled to hear that she likes it. “
“I made a recent discovery: Cindy Reeg’s blog. The minute her page loads on your browser, you see colors galore. It has an immediate “kid appeal”, which always grabs my attention. Her blog highlights news of fellow authors, such as today’s post featuring Margot Finke.
I planned on just focusing on Cynthia’s blog, but realized that wouldn’t do her justice. I found myself browsing her entire site for quite some time. Her creativity shines right down to her “About Me” page, which is in interview format.
There’s a little something for everybody. On her “Teachers and Parents” page she has information about her creative school visits. There’s even tips for us writers on how to conduct a fun school visit.
No matter which page you visit, you’ll likely run into something fun. The “Kids” page is just that: FUN. There’s links, crafts, recipes and even suggested readings.
My personal favorite was her “Travel and Family” page. There’s exciting photographs of her worldly travels. Viewing her picture of Italy may be the closest I get to that country for a while. The picture I loved the most, however, was of her two cats napping on the photocopier. Nothing could capture a cat’s peronality better than that.
Hey, don’t take my word for it. Go visit Cynthia’s Blog and website at http://www.cynthiareeg.com/blog/index.html too see for yourself. If you love it as much as I do, don’t forget to visit her contact page and tell her about it.”
Branding project in progress
We are currently working on a branding project for The 4449, a boutique condo and townhome construction, on 4449 Olive Street in the Central West End.
The project encompasses a logo, web site, 30 ft high building banners and brochure.
in Chicago Branding, Chicago Graphic Design, In Progress, Logo Work
Eye of a St Louis Web Designer
Valentine’s Day illustration by the St Louis web designer
in Chicago Graphic Design, Random Thoughts, St Louis Web Designer
What does it take to become a successful web designer?
I was appraoched recently by the Rockwood School district about attending a Middle school career fair to talk about a career as a web site designer. I thought it would be a great way to give something back to the community.
I am putting together a presentation and thought I would share with you today the characteristics it takes to become a successful web designer.
- Creative Ability
- Technical aptitude
- Eye for detail
- Ability to improvise and problem solve
- Love of learning…the internet is an evolving field with new technologies being introduced all the time. Web design is not a field where you can consider your learning ”done”
- Self starter…staying abreast of new technologies, design trends etc.
- Good communication and people skills
- Knowing your strength: With so many technologies available you will have more success with and in depth knowledge of a handful rather than knowing a little of all of them.
- Ability to multitask
