Mid Week Update. Website?

So I need new business cards. My old ones have my deviant art site on them, which is my least favorite on-line portfolio site. I have a few.

Deviant Art
Coroflot
Behance

(plus I have this blog, and I'm on linkedIn, twitter, facebook, myspace, flickr, and tumblr, although I never figured out wtf a tumblr is for haha).

I like Coroflot the best.

view my portfolio:
coroflot.com/emilymiethner

The thing is, if I'm going to re-design my cards, I think I really need to consider getting my own website/domain name. I've definitely decided my freelance business is just going to be my name. I'm not going to come up with something random. My last name is so unique it'd be a waste not to use it!

emilymiethner.com

I mean yea, it's not the easiest last name to remember or spell, but again, it's unique. If you google my name, almost everything that comes up is something about me, and not other random Miethners.. cause there aren't that many in the US! Mostly just my family.

BUT ANNNNYWAY.
Getting my own website...

That could be a big project (EDIT: WILL BE DUUH). Maybe I should do it this coming semester since I probably won't have a real internship (being an RA ruined the chances of that because of the class I have to take). I've been favoriting people's porfolio's site so I can use them to determine what I like and don't like. I definitely like the cleaner, simplier looks. I just want a space where all my links can be in one spot. Updating all 3 online portfolio's can get really tedious too.

Starting my own site would definitely be good web design practice. I'd really like to increase my skills in the department. But that allllso means I need to come up with a logo for myself.

Yea man.
That should probably be my next project eh?

So many questions...

From Looking at other design portfolios so far I think...

• I'd separate my work by: Band and Musican Artwork (then split from there info fliers, web ads, posters, myspaces, photography), Typography / Case Studies, and Independent Projects.
  
• I saw one and I think he was calling his class projects "case studies" which I think was smart.
• I like a white background. Because (thanks 2-D with Barnett!) the background color can have a huge effect on how the subject is seen.
  

Week 6

Rain makes me sad sorta when I'm in the city.
Tuesday and Thursday it rained so badly, it really affected my mood.

Worked on more business card / logo stuff for Knitting Factory. Now just awaiting all the final logos to finish the card. I must say, after doing so much logo ish, I really don't think it's for me. At least not for corporate stuff. I don't know, I just couldn't get into it this week. If I was doing something for bands I think that'd be different.

+1 was pretty uneventful too. Did a lot of tearsheets as always, probably mailed a few things. hah.

There was nothing for me to do in the city this week after work so I think that's why it seemed a bit boring.

HOT TIP:
If you're going to get an unlimited metrocard, don't LOSE IT. And if you do, call the number on the back RIGHT AWAY and leave a message saying you lost it, so you can get refunded from the time you actually lost it.

Meh.

Early week 6 Post! Stellastarr* show!

\\::Stellastarr* show :://

I arrived at the venue, the Highline Ballroom about 6:30. It's a great venue. Mid-sized, with bars on either side and space to sit down and eat dinner on the floor and balcony. Arthur, the drummer of Stella found me and showed me around the merch, then brought me upstairs to the greenroom. They had some great food so I munched on some pita bread and celery, but I always feel awkward eating in front of people like that (even though I was starving). A member of the other band asked if I would sell their merch and they'd "take care of me" at the end of the night. I originally wasn't going to, but assertive Emily was hiding, and pushover Emily couldn't say no when the guy was telling her how to sell their merch.


Eddie from ILG was there and I talked to him about their internship program. I may try working there in the Spring. I'd be an actually New Media or Graphics intern, which would be great!

Selling merch in my little corner was hot. and boring. And I actually felt sick for a lot of it because of the heat. Arthur was really nice though, and checked on me about 5 times before they played, asking if I needed anything. I met a lot of nice fans and it was cool having a tour pass and waving that around to get into the venue and the green room.

When Johnny got there I gave him his pass right away before he got to the guestlist woman and he said "wow I'm impressed!" Love hearing stuff like that...even if it was for something really easy :-P

At the end of the show the merch rush wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. Their tour manager said everything added up so I was super excited about that. I met two people who came from Mexico City to see the band and they were SUPER nice so I told Lauren to get Arthur.. then he brought them upstairs to meet the rest of the band. HOW. COOL! I was really happy for them. I went to the greenroom after everything was cleaned up and hung out with everyone. Min, Lauren, and Johnny were there so we were all talking.. Min shared some of his interning experiences so that was funny hah. Everyone was really chill and it was definitely nice to hang out with everyone after working in that hot mess of a merch table all night. I got invited to the after party but I figured my 30 minutes or so of mingling was enough...still felt pretty crappy afteer being in the heat so I headed out after that.

What I've learned so far (especially after the concert):
I still don't know what I want to do for a living.

I really love doing graphic design, and being creative. I just don't know if I want to freelance my whole life. I think I really want a permanant job. Something my professor said to me once really stuck in my mind. He said it after we were talking about the Fine Arts show that I helped organize and run. He said, "You're an Ok designer, but you're a great organizer. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years you were president of something or running something."

I actually took it as a compliment. I know I have a lot to learn as a designer. But I've always had a natural knack for running and organizing things. Some of my proudest moment's were running HAGA's career night and the Vagina Monologues and the Sex Toy Raffle. So who knows.. maybe I can get a job in the music industry. The fact that there are like no women involved in that industry makes me want to get into it to proove there is a girl that can do it. ME. hah. Who knows...

What I do know:
I want to be around music, and I want to be in New York.
This is me + music :)

WEEK % (5)

HOLY SHIZ does time go by fast. I just finished writing Week 4's entry!
It's been very busy at both places lately, giving me *gasp* barely any time to fuck around!

Had to sort through MAD FELA images to find ones that are re-printable at a large size. Really frustrating man, but quite rewarding to be done with. I even worked on it on the train rides to and from the city. HARDCORE! And Tim was very happy with how I organized the final documents and whatnot. Huzzah.

Almost done with the business cards I've been designing for the Knitting Factory. I think they are pretty sweet! I'm just awaiting final comments from the CEO of KF.


Did another huge mailing at +1 for Future Sounds. They have an interesting logo.
Tonight I am once again selling MERCH for Stellastar* woop woop! Should be fun! Got a VIP pass babyyy. Aurther, the drummer I emailed my portfolio to, never emailed back. I'm hoping it's not awkward and that it just went to his junk mail by accident. Definitely brining it up though!

I also don't have to come to work until 2pm at +1 because the Jelly Pool Parties are the day before. I think I may go to the one this Sunday and I'm super excited! It got really awesome reviews! I'd know.. cause I did mad tearsheets for it...


Another busy bee week! But I like it that way. It's really great knowing you're making a difference :-)

Week 4

Week 4 baby!! It's weird, I sort of feel like I've been with both places much longer than 4 weeks! In a good way :-)

So originally, I thought I was interning for just the Knitting Factory. Then, I was doing mostly work for bands on Partisan Records, so I thought, maybe I'm not working for Knitting Factory and they just share an office. BUT, I finally think I figured it out. Partisan Records is now a part of "Knitting Factory Entertainment." So, I am working for both Partisan Records and the Knitting Factory.
I'm designing business cards for the Knitting Factory! SaWEEET! I've been in direct contact with the President of the Knitting Factory deciding on design direction.

Although I've been getting some cool assignments at Partisan, I do like to go in with a list of things to do for myself (send emails, create portfolios, update website, etc). Because sometimes, I sit around for 5 hours doing nothing and theeeen they tell me they want me to make business cards.

HOT TIP IN RELATION TO THAT:
Have other things to keep you busy (bring a book, surf the web if you can, etc) during down time. But always be ready to drop what you're doing to be ready to do work. You don't want to make it seem like you're unavailable. But I think it's good to keep yourself occupied when they have no jobs for you so it doesn't seem like you're trying to guilt trip them because you're bored.

This was a super great week at +1 for a lot of reasons. First of all, there was a lot more to do, so I actually felt pretty productive and helpful! Found out that +1 is doing the PR for the Jelly Pool parties... huge, awesome, FREE shows in Brooklyn! I'm hoping I can get to at least one of them.

It was also release week! Stellastar's album "Civilized" came out and there was a private show held for a radio station at Mercury. I was up in the air about going, but my friends convinced me.. and I'm SO glad I did! The band was great and it was really intimate, in a good way :-) I helped out by selling merch after the show, which wasn't bad because most of the audience was friends and family. But being the awesome salesperson I am, I convinced most new fans to buy both albums that were for sale!

The drummer of the band, Arthur, thanked me numerous times for helping. Since he was so nice I gave him my business card and he told me to email him some samples of my work. Awesome!


After the show I got delicious Falfel with two of my co-workers and then went to St.Jerome's for $2 beers! How. Rad. Had nice chats with co-workers and their friends and they gave me some nice compliments, doing a good job and all, so that was awesomely reassuring.

Also this week, I finished a GIANT mailing in one day all by myself (which made me so proud!). In the process I met two of the guys in another studio. One's a graphic designer. Sweet! I got his card, it's super fancy and lovely. I have to hit him up soon.

Nat's also back in the office, which is nice.

All in all, a fantastic week! I felt super helpful and productive. I hope next week is the same!

Week 3

Well, that mid week update covered a lot.

The only other thing I'd like to talk about is how I went on the worst errand of my life on Thursday.

Mind you, week 3 was filled with random scattered thunderstorms and sun showers.

So, at Partisan. I was asked to go to UPS to overnight one letter. I looked up the location and it was actually really close to +1. Easy stuff. So packed my little bag and went off.
I make way more mistakes walking around Partisan because the streets don't run in the normal grid-like fashion. Needless to say, I went in the wrong direction about 3 times. No worries though, because I wasn't in a rush.
Until it started MONSOONING. Eventually, realizing my umbrella wasn't really protecting me that much, I decided to wait under an apartment's trellis thing. Then I realized the envelope was soaked. I called to ask if it was ok if I just buy a new one. Yes. I finally get to the store, pants SOAKED, but it had stopped raining and it was sunny, thus I was extremely uncomfortable.

Then I found out, the UPS store doesn't ship to PO Boxes. I'd have to go to the Post Office. I was on North 7th. Post Office Location: South 3rd.
GRRRRR!
Finally got around the location and followed a mailman the rest of the way. Waiting in line for a half hour or so. Standing there all gross and uncomfortable.

Worst. Errand. Ever.

TIP OF THE DAY
UPS does not ship to PO Boxes. Do not make the mistake of walking to a UPS store, then realizing you have to go 10 blocks in the opposite direction.

Mid Week Update 2

Hey Hey Hey!

So this week's been very up and down with being busy and doing nada!
Cool thing is I got help for some myspace fixin! So now Partisan Record's myspace looks cool! Or better at least. I also made a lot of ads for Deer Tick's new t-shirts!

The beer can ad won :-) I like that one a lot too!

So things I learned design wise while making these ads:
-how to create beads of sweat on stoof.
-the transform "scew" option (used to create the beer cans). absolutely amazing!
I used a lot of DMOG (dark multiplied outer glow) to make things pop (mostly type and logos).

*TIP OF THE DAY:
Here at +1 there isn't a ton of work for me to do, and the work I get I pretty much blow through pretty quickly. So when I went to lunch with Lauren I asked her a bit about what people do in particular, and she said Ashley mainly does HTML and graphics.

SO I JUMPED ON THAT BIT OF INFO. I emailed Ashley the following:
Lauren was telling me you do a lot of the HTML and design stuff.

I'm not sure if you knew but I'm studying graphic design. I usually finish the tearsheets I get quickly. So if there's anything you need help with in the design area I'd be glad to help out!

I'm pretty decent with the basics of myspace stuff too.

http://www.myspace.com/partisanrecordsnyc
I did most of the graphics and layout of this myspace.

So, let me know!

Right away she gave me something to do. Alas, I don't have Dreamweaver so I couldn't look through the HTML code she wanted me to, but at least now she knows I want to help with that sort of stuff. So hopefully I'll get some work from her to do. Maybe something cool! Fingers crossed!

In stupid news...I forgot my sandwich at home today :-((((
That was heatbreaking. It was going to be yummy. And so I had to spend money I don't have on lunch. Ah well.

IN GREAT NEWS:
I just landed myself a PAYING job as a private inDesign tutor. HooHA!
They we very impressed by my resume and portfolio that I sent. So now I'll probably spend my down time here creating sample files for this new job. I haven't used inDesign for awhile so I'll need to brush up on my skills. First day is July 17th.

Well, I'm going to start on that.