CareBears Right There
It’s been almost four whole months since I started my new job and even though I was hired primarily as a web designer, I’ve yet to design and build a website from scratch. Granted that we aren’t a web design company, but it’s part of what we do. Sure, I’ve made a few tweaks and updates to the sites we currently maintain, and I’ve had the opportunity to create some registration pages and HTML email blasts, but I haven’t yet been able to do what I used to do multiple times a day at my previous job.
Did I really just allude that I might miss the old grind of daily website builds? I take it back. There are times I miss building websites all the time, and my WordPress skills are a little rusty, but I wouldn’t trade what I do now to go back to then. Ever. Unless the phrase “Million-dollar salary” was brought up.
Anyway, one of the perks of my new job is the side-projects that pop up from time to time. Our company likes to do things that are unexpected by our clients. That could mean delivering creative Thank Yous, or just finding out-of-the-ordinary ways to allow our clients to easily remember who we are. This is how the illustration above was born.
To thank one of our clients for letting us work with them, we created a mini art gallery of work using their logo as a starting point. Since they enjoy displaying and partaking in local art from the area, they were pleasantly surprised by all of the work we put into our pieces. I illustrated this piece by had, colored it using Illustrator and Photoshop, and then printed it in color on a piece of watercolor paper. And although the watercolor effect is missing in the picture above, I still think the piece turned out well.
The Lion Sleeps Today
I try to tell myself that I am working on artwork on a regular basis, then I wake up one morning to find out that it’s been six months since I’ve opened a file in Photoshop. I’ve been “working” on Laura’s logo for over 6 months, and I feel terrible that it has taken me so long.
I love drawing and designing, and every time I sit down at the computer or table to do some work, I love every minute that I’m lost in those projects. It really is my passion and when I’m pen-deep in a project, there is nothing that makes me feel more productive. The roadblock for me is getting my lazy ass to move itself upstairs and get to work.
The Fightin’ Corgis
Football season is just around the corner — I’m talking NFL, not that sissy college stuff — and the excitement is building like it does every year. The only problem is that I’ve been a Bengals fan all my life. The team hasn’t been near a Super Bowl since I was in third grade, and it looks as if this year is going to be a long shot for even a playoff berth.
Luckily, my friends and I are heavily into Fantasy Football. Every year we draft our league and duke it out like the stat-dorks we are. My usual team, The Heroes of Cybertron, are sitting it out this time so that I can launch a new team into the fray. As the weeks go by, my rivals will learn to fear the name: The Fightin’ Corgis!