Technical or Creative

I’ve been meaning to write about this project for quite some time—seeing as how it was completed last Spring. But I think it’s taken this long to write it so I could have a few more experiences to reflect upon and tie into the story.

hydrocarbons

The Project: Hydrocarbons & Jet Engines

Out of the blue, last Spring, I got an email from a local gentleman, who wrote,  “I need about half a dozen power points prepared of aviation turbine engines and chemical formulae.” I responded by letting him know, I’m not very experienced at PowerPoint and also wondered how he had heard about me. Turns out, when he was in our local print shop, Old West Press, he inquired about designers that could help him in this area and they referred me. I love a small town.

After meeting with him, very little involved PowerPoint—except for making sure the images I provided would import and display correctly. The project was straight forward, he had several jpg images of turbine engines and chemical diagrams of Hydrocarbons that were very low-resolution and needed something of better quality to use in his presentations. I was ecstatic to tackle this project on several fronts: graphic design, science and Bezier curves.

As I mentioned in The Designer, I started my journey as a Graphic Designer after taking a class at the local Vo-Tech. The main thing I learned in the time I was there was how to draw and trace using Bezier curves in Adobe Illustrator. I’ll explain in a moment how I’ve used this valuable skill in my career.

The Story: Designer or Artist

So here’s the other half of the story. I typically refer to myself as a Designer, not an artist (not that I don’t aspire to be one).

If I look as far back as my High School career, I was on a path of mathematics and science. AP courses in Calculus, Physics and Biology. I was (am) a geek in many areas of interest. I continued along the track  into college with a Biology degree.  But at the same time I nurtured my artistic side with personal arts and crafts projects and a long tenure playing trombone in pep, concert and jazz bands. About the time I was learning about Bezier curves, I played in the Trojan Pep-Band at UALR.

When I was offered my first job as a Graphic Designer, it was with Sportsrug.com to place collegiate logos on rugs. We also designed rugs for High School fund-raisers. Often the artwork we received from the high schools was a very small jpg image. The software we used to RIP the files to the printer, preferred the vector graphic that we could scale up to exact proportions. I did a lot of tracing (using Bezier curves to produce simple and clean images) and looking at stock artwork images (clipart) to figure out either how to trace it or use the layers to change the coloring and shades.

Is she ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained?’

I’ve also talked before about my work at Parelli, and the Art Director’s comments when she hired me, about my portfolio being more technical than artistic. I believe this still applies today. People are baffled by ability to stretch my brain for tasks in either direction, like how I design layouts for websites and then build them from code—and enjoy each equally as much! While I continue to work as a freelancer, I did entertain a few interviews for in-house work last year. Interviewers commented about the very equal balance in my technical and creative skills.

I’ve obviously had some time to reflect on this Hydrocarbons & Jet Engines project that crossed my path. Here was a project that combined my skills as a Graphic Designer and my love of science. While not entirely a creative project, it was a good one that reminded me how much I depend on this skill; and it was a good chance to practice it. Not only was I very happy with the results, but so was the client, which is the most important part.

The Designer

Find The Designer on LinkedIn.

The short version of how I became a Graphic Designer and the words that best summarize my credentials are ‘experience’ and ‘on-the-job-training.’ The longer story begins when I met my future husband and business partner our senior year of high school.

He followed me to Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois where we quickly realized we missed the Ozarks and Ouachita mountains that we’d grown up with in Arkansas. As aspiring biology majors, we decided to move back to Little Rock and enroll at UALR where we studied for about a year-and-a-half. A full course load plus working full time to pay for tuition was not a viable option.

I then attended Metropolitan Career Technical Center. Vocational courses were offered as part of the public school system to high school students, but adult students could pay tuition and attend the classes. After a few weeks in the Graphic Design course, my professor offered to find a job for me at a local print shop. I declined his offer as I’d recently married my high school sweetheart, and we had our hearts set on a move to Colorado.

Our love affair with the west begun, we looked for a new home. Friends suggested we visit Durango and Salida. We took a vacation and stayed in Pagosa Springs on our way to Durango. Like many who live here, we never made it to Durango and we barely made it back home. Soon after returning home, there was an ad in the Pagosa Sun for a business called Sportsrug.com. I applied as a graphic designer, was granted a phone interview and hired! The job was waiting for me when we sold our home in Little Rock.

sportsrugAfter moving to Pagosa in July 2001, I quickly realized I would not be able to complete the tasks ahead of me alone. Sportsrug.com also needed manpower for production, accounting, shipping/receiving, etc. The company created designs (mostly collegiate) and printed them using sublimation ink and a heat transfer process. They were then shipped to schools and sporting good stores all over the country. My husband was still looking for work when we approached the owner to see if he would hire him as well. Together we operated the company for about nine months. During that time, I almost exclusively used Adobe Illustrator on a Windows platform. I learned a lot about creating vector graphics and printing–not to mention business in general. Trying to hit specific collegiate colors (like Florida Gator Orange) on a four color printer required a lot of research and the investment in a new printer. In 2002, the owner decided to turn his full attention to the rug company and would like to have his family run it. We were given a month with pay to find new work.

Within a few weeks, I was hired at a print-shop in Durango but would not start work for another two weeks. My husband interviewed with Parelli Natural Horsemanship for a web designer position and during his interview learned they were also looking for a graphic designer. I interviewed with the Art Director who commented that while my work at the time was not extremely creative, it was very clean and technical. I was offered the job, declined the position in Durango and began working for Parelli in February 2002.

parelli catalogI worked for Parelli for five years and was exposed to nearly every medium: newspaper & magazine advertising (nationally & internationally), catalogs, mailers, emails, web design, packaging, logo design, calendars, banners, etc. We had the newest software and the best Mac’s available. I believe my creativity and artistic skills also expanded with the vast amount of projects. By the time I left the company in 2007, I was the Senior Graphic Designer responsible for representing the Graphics Department (2-3 additional Designers) in the management team which included brainstorming and implementation of marketing strategies and corporate policies. As a project manager, I was also a liaison between the designers and printing vendors. Our team won the 2005 Western English Trade Association’s Bronze AIM Award for a National advertisement that we nicknamed the ‘sticky note ad.’ To learn more about my design work at Parelli, read the next post ‘Evolution of a Designer.’

My husband had also advanced to management of the IT Department at Parelli. In 2007, we were overwhelmed by our careers and decided to leave to focus on our relationship.

We had formed Subalpine Design, LLC in 2003. While working for Parelli, various people had approached me and asked for help with their graphics. In 2005, the Southwest Land Alliance asked me to re-design their ‘corporate identity,’ one of Subalpine’s first large jobs. You can see examples from this project and more of my best work in the portfolio section of this website. As I expand this ‘About’ blog, I’ll also showcase some of my works that aren’t quite portfolio-worthy, but developed my skills as a designer.

Today, I continue to expand my knowledge especially in the area of web design. I am also persistent in my quest to find another niche with a reputable company, but until then I enjoy growing Subalpine Design’s portfolio with various businesses and entrepreneurs that cross my path and share our philosophy.