Apparently there isn't...

much to do today as 5 of the staff members are going snowboarding, including the designer, Josh, who sits on my right and the other production artist, Drew, who sits on my left. I am a lone ranger today. My boss isn't here yet either and I am almost done with what she gave me to do. I might leave early today to address homework for other classes. We'll see.

Once again a...

ho-hum day. I came to work with one job to do (unless you count archiving, which is soooooo much fun). Tamar is off today, so that left me with not a lot to do. In fact, right now I am waiting to finish burning a disc and then I am leaving.

I did a billboard today, but had to alter the artwork to get room for the copy. Altering the artwork took awhile, as I was cloning, and I am none too fast at that. Especially with gradients. Sent the file off around 11ish, and haven't heard back; maybe they liked it. I doubt it though - these people aren't easily sold on any first draft.

Well, more tomorrow. Maybe.

Feeling a little...

appreciated today. I have known that there was a new production artist coming in this week, a full timer, and assumed he would get my G5 computer being a) it was the only one for the production artist (now artists) and b) he is full time. Well, I arrived this morning and they got the guy a new G5, and bumped me over. I GOT TO KEEP MY G5! I am elated. Not only that, but they named my computer "Bryan's G5". Now I know that can be changed rather quickly, but it gives a sense of permanence to my job, and that makes my day.

Anyway, it is a bit early to post today, but I thought that I would drop this news in. I might be posting later.

So yesterday was...

a bit of a drudge. Overall, it was good day, but it seemed to carry a lead weight around it's neck as it trudged along. I got to work a little after 8:00 am (acutally, I was the first one there - as I have said before, being on time is not exactly a priority there) as I told the printer in the east coast that I would be, otherwise I might have come in later. You know, the "cat's away, mice will play - and come to work when they feel like it" cliché. FTP'd the file(s) to the printer. The client also wanted me to send her a layered (live) copy of the artwork for another ad, and I was a little hesitant as 1) this is usually a workaround having to pay 2) I wasn't sure of the policy concerning giving live artwork to clients. Being my boss was out of town and hadn't gotten back with me, I just ended up sending her a PDF. Once my boss got ahold of me, she said to give her whatever she wanted, but that she most likely wanted a layered PSD - which I didn't have, and wasn't successful in exporting out of Illustrator - at least a layered file anyway. So, I gave up and left it until Monday. The printer got his ad, so everyone should be happy(ish).

I also finished the InDesign layout of the fax order sheets for our ads. My other job was to back up the external hardrive onto CD's and DVD's. I wasn't going to stick around for that kind of fun, so I left about an hour early. I wasn't a big fan of our time tracking system at first, but now that I have worked with it for awhile, I really like it's advantages. I can kinda call my own hours, take lunch when I want - or not - and leave early if it is slow. Just be sure to record the number of hours I worked, not specifically when I worked them. Very cool.

Well, that is enough for this entry. My boss is back Monday, but I am not in the office (officially) until Tuesday. We have another production artist starting on Monday, so I hope that goes ok. I have a feeling that I am going to be losing my computer, and I don't like that. We'll have to wait and see what happens. Well, you will have to wait. I get to experience it in real-time. :)

Finally, some responsibility...

has fallen to me. Not too much, but a little. My boss flew to NYC this morning, and I was left to deal (an wrap up) with the client I was whining about yesterday. After two more revisions, it was approved, and ready to send to the printer. The bad side of it is, I don't really trust these people (the client) and feared that they might try to take advantage of my inexperience and lack of policy knowledge. So I didn't feel right making a move without my boss's approval, who was still stuck in the air at the time. So, I had to delay for a little bit, but after yesterdays mess up, I wasn't about to make a move without covering my butt first. Welcome to the corporate world.

It was a good experience, and being that my boss is gone, I get the good chair! Also, after yesterdays printing mess up, I have been delegated to recreate the files in InDesign, which were originally done in Quark, then converted to PDF. The catch was, I didn't have Quark on my computer, so I edited the PDF's in Illustrator. Now all the text was converted to outlines, which makes the whole piece virtually useless if I needed to edit them in the future.

So I came up with a plan. I have set it up in InDesign to be expandable. Being we do these finance events every couple months, we need to update them every couple months; we also add new ads to these, and the number we offer can vary. It took a lot time realigning things and creating new spots for new ads, so I just created three different layers in InDesign, offering 3, 4 and 5 products respectively, depending on how many we are offering for that event. I should get kudos for it. Now the files can be updated in ten minutes, versus 1/2 hour or more.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Just when I...

think that things are going ok everything turns to poopoo. Well, not exactly, but let me explain.

Awhile back we were lauch an new finance event for LG and someone caught an error in the copy at the dead-second-last-minute. If fact, the files were already at the printers. So, we had to call the printer and it fell on my shoulders to fix the error. I did it, and I thought all was good. I thought.

We got the printed materials back today, and there were some HUGE errors in the copy, falling to me. No one is mad, and I am not in trouble, but it just takes the wind out of your sales for the day.

Bonus: we have this client, a dealer, who's office is apparently right next to LG's, so are especially sure to make this client happy. Well, I was working on their ad today. Four revisions by days end. And there will probably be more tomorrow.

Enough of the past.

Well, I guess...

I better get this thing rolling. This is a journal about my experiences as an intern at an advertising agency. In order to fulfill my capstone requirements to get my degree, I am to fill out a journal of my experiences at said agency. I figured an online journal would make it better accessible to all who are monitoring my progress.

The agency I chose is Steelhead Advertising: The Greatest Advertising Agency in the Known Universe (their line, not mine). I have been actually interning since mid-November, and got hired on the 12th of December. I am the Production Artist, the one and only. I work for Tamar, who is about as cool as a boss can be.

So, with that in mind, I will begin with my experiences of today. Here is a thumbnail:

8:20 - Rolled into the office. I was shooting for 8:00, but I am never good with an alarm.
9:30 - My boss gets there. I have been goofing off on the internet while waiting. It's Monday, it happens. A lot.
9:45 - Production Meeting - we have a list of all the on going projects. Discussion, etc. I found dirt on my pants. :(
11:00 - Meeting over, work begins. I began a series of projects that needing editing and tying up.
1:00 - Lunch. Munchies. Most excellent.
2:00 - back to work. Coffee is going down nicely.
5:00 - Done!

That was a thumbnail, now for some detail -

Well I am definitely getting faster at my job, and I can attribute it to organization. Tamar got me going on their filing system a while ago (something the designer has yet to learn). It has help immensely, as has the heavy repitition that is production work, at least that I have experienced. I did have one major screw-up today - I put about 45 minutes into two ads, but used the wrong ad. My bad. I'll have to fix those tomorrow.

I am getting more and more trust given to me, which is nice. Most of the older folks have welcomed me in, but the younger people in the office are sticking to their cliques - it's fine, they will warm up. I tend to be quite when I encounter a new situation, but after I get comfortable, I become the loud loveable self that my other co-workers love. Or hate. Kind of a mixed bag there. Aight, enough for this entry.