Celebrate

Am and I are going out tonight to celebrate getting my new job. We are going to see Inception and then go out to eat somewhere afterwards. It'll be nice to be able to afford to do these kinds of things a little more often.

It sounds like they are going to start me out a little lower pay-wise for the first 90 days than I was hoping for, but I can understand going that route, as they need to see that I'm not going to flake out on them. And then the insurance benefit won't kick in until 6 months out. There are also 401(k) options, but I'll learn more about those on Monday. And they are still determining how to work out my schedule at least in the short term. But I'll jump through the hoops I need to, especially in this job market.

Minuteman Update

I sent in my resume on Friday and then spent the weekend with my in-laws. We went camping at a church campground called Cinnamon Creek. It was supposed to be a ward camp-out, but there were only 4 families there, but I guess that was alright, since we got to know the few people that were there better than if the whole ward was there. We played some soccer and glow-in-the-dark Ultimate Frisbee, had s'mores and dutch oven cooking, and went canoeing. Then on Sunday, my recently returned missionary brother-in-law gave his "homecoming" talk and even more family came for the talk and dinner. I've been greatly blessed, not only with a wonderful wife, but with a great new extended family.

As far as the job opportunity goes, I told Am yesterday morning that if the guy didn't call me by noon that I would call him. And then, right around noon, he called! We set up the interview for 3 that afternoon. So I quickly got ready, rushed over to my mom's to print off some of my newer pieces to go in my portfolio, and realized that I'd left my portfolio at home. But before I took off for the interview, the guy called and said that he was stuck down in Provo and asked if we could move it back. So we set it up for 10 this morning.

I went in, and I think that the interview went well. It is a modest little company, but seems to be pretty stable as most of the people there have worked there for years. Afterwards, the guy said that he had a few more interviews to do, but that he would make his decision by tomorrow, and let me know whether I got the job or not. I thanked him for the opportunity of just coming in for the interview, since it's been almost a year since my last real job interview. He said that my friend highly recommended me, but that he would have brought me in just based on my education. That made me feel pretty good.

So stay tuned for an update!

Minuteman Prospects

I heard from a friend that she is leaving her position as head designer at a local press shop, and suggested that I apply for the position. She feels that I would be the most qualified person to apply for the job thus far, and they want to hire ASAP. The thing is, it is a full-time position, so I would have to drop my classes at UVU to accept the job. I keep hearing from design people that it is not the degree that gets you work, it is the portfolio. I could possibly maintain half-time status at UVU by taking classes in the evenings, to stave off the repayment of student loans. However, the class selection is not that great, at least this upcoming semester. There are two art classes that I would want to take, but they are held at the same time.

If I was offered the job, though, it would be perfectly suited to my skill set. And the title of "Head Designer" sure would look snazzy on a resume. It would also prove to be a balm to my confidence to know that I am desirable to employers. This has recently been a worry of mine, as hardly anyone has asked me in for an interview after all the resumes and applications I have sent and completed. My friend tells me that I have a very good shot, especially since she is the one referring me.

Thoughts?

The 'Hood Times

I finally got a job! I'm going to be doing layout work for a newspaper/tabloid. Its just getting started though, so we will see how it goes. They want to call it the New York Hood News. It will be devoted to stories that are about regular people, rather than celebrities and politicians. They want the first issue to come out in three weeks or so. It'll be interesting to see if it gets off the ground. I think it is interesting that I'll be working on this paper that will probably go out to mostly african-american communities in the south and east. I'm sure it'll expose me to cultural aspects that I haven't had too much experience with in the past. But it will get me real world experience that will be useful in the future, and that's probably the most important thing.

Putting Out

A friend just posted a portion of his portfolio online, you can find it here. He is on the lookout for design jobs, so if you know of anything, let him know! A link is being added to the side bar for access to his portfolio once this post gets buried. Enjoy!

Illustrator Final

I am still figuring out a way to post my work in the highest quality way. I tried uploading my work as .pdf files to a site I found called Scribd.com, but they wouldn't go. Maybe I was not patient enough. Anyway, I wanted to share my final project for my Illustrator Basics course that I just finished today. Just click on the picture to get a better view.


I had to incorporate myself into a comic character. I had a lot of fun working on this project, and all my others as well. This is a single frame from a fictional comic book. Dr. Glacier is the arch nemesis of Solar Flare, the main character of the comic. The design kind of came together as I went. I had taken some goofy pictures of myself with my computer and decided to use this one:


It's not terribly flattering, but oh well, Dr. Glacier was born from that look, so it's all good, right? Maybe that's bad, though. I'm not exactly sure what that Cold Formula will do...