Whoops

I just realized I never wrote last week! My bad. So the thing I have loved about this internship is all the things I am learning about adobe illustrator and photoshop. I had no idea how many shortcuts there were! I swear by the end of the summer I might not ever have to tough a mouse. haha Okay I probably will but I probably won't have to go up to the menu bar for a different tool or action. One thing I learned about is a way you can change the color of multiple objects. So for example we print black that is 60 40 40 100.  So when a client sends in an image that has black we have to go change it. and instead of selecting each outlined letter or shape we just click one, go up to select, same, fill color/stroke color and bam all the object that are the same color are selected and all you have to do is go choose the new color. Its great! I really wish I would have known about that tool earlier because it would have come in handy with some of my school projects. Well another post will be coming shortly because now this week is almost over!

All Grown Up

Well this week I was informed that I didn't have to put things on the prepress task list hold if I felt confident in them. Putting it on hold just meant that before it was sent out to be printed it was on hold so that R. could look at it and make sure that it was all done correctly. Now this is awesome because that means Im doing things right. Also not awesome because what if I screw something else up? Guess we will slowly transition into this whole not on hold thing. This week was good, I am getting better at putting bleed on things and learning how to create documents so that they can be paneled. Oh I almost forgot! That project from last week that I was working on? Yep it was still there Monday morning. So I had to finish it. Oh well it has now all be approved, printed and shipped! It was a bit of a slower week, less jobs coming in, though around 430 they always seem to come through to us and make a longer list for us to do. But at least that way we stay busy! I guess we shall see what this week brings us!
Oh I have meant to include some pictures of the things Ive worked on so here they are!

Black and Yellow

Well this week was good! I actually got to work a few more hours because one of the girls was out of town so I got to go in on Friday. So far I have only been working small jobs, things that have 1-5 line items, But this week there was a job that had 49 line items and R. was like work on this one. So I figured I would work on a couple of the items and he would work on the other items. That was Monday. I was still working on it on Friday. Between learning to work with new materials, having to change the black to the black we print, learning to work with how they had designed their art and needing new artwork sent back it was seriously an adventure. However it was something that by the end of the week I was glad I had done. It really tested my skills and helped cement processes into my mind. I am also starting to work with the printers more, if they have questions on my jobs they come to me instead of going straight to R. Which is great, and terrifying. I am always terrified I am going to screw up a job but then again I guess its all in the learning process! Now hopefully I don't have to work that same job again tomorrow!
(oh and the whole time I was working on the job I kept thinking some of the designs looked familiar and so at the end of the week I googled the company. Yep. It was "Canvas" the very same canvas that all my college classes run through. Can't ever get away from Canvas apparently!)

Short week!

Well with the holiday on Monday it was a short week, which was nice and sad at the same time. I dread going to work every day but once I am there I love it! Im starting to get the hang of things now. Some things still completely loose me but its coming. Some of the adventures this week included working more with the "account managers" more. Basically they are the inbetween man. The take the orders from the clients and then put them into the system where we get them. Then if we have any problems with the art or job we contact the account managers and they talk to the clients. The first couple weeks the other guys would talk to the account managers for me but this week I got to. Its always nerve racking to talk to someone about something you don't completely understand but by the end of the week it was becoming more natural. That and I just gave up on caring that I had no idea what I was talking about haha I also learned how to panel a job. Basically some of the designs sent in need to be printed large scale. Very large scale. Like 50+ feet. Of course the printers and the materials are always big enough to print large scale so we have to panel or split the pieces into small sections. It slightly confusing because you have to know how big the material is as well as make sure you leave some overlap space and other things like that. I think I'll stick with the smaller pieces. Too bad the guys I work with will never let that fly. They like to push me so thats good. Well I guess we shall see what adventures next week brings!

Busy Week

Well last week was another adventure! I started to work on the designs by myself, that was scary. But my coworker said that the more I practice and try to figure it out the more I will learn, and I agree. The others were always there to help me but they let me flounder around for a bit before they would jump in. It was a really interesting week, I got to work more with the clients which was fun. and frustrating. I did a banner for Woods Cross high and they had me use an older piece that they had sent in but they wanted changes made to it. So began me making the changes, then sending it back to be proofed by them, then coming back to me with more changes and so on. Finally we reached what they wanted but I learned a lot on how to gear a piece to the client. It was also a crazy week because it was really busy with memorial day coming up. Which meant overtime! Got to love deadlines. But it was fun. And that pretty much sums up the week!

New Job, New Adventures

Its always fun starting a new job. New people to meet, new things to learn, oh wait thats fun? Now I will say I like the meeting new people part but learning new things? Well thats always nerve racking. So this summer I am doing an internship at a place called Fusion Imaging. Basically they take logos, or other designs and print them. Most of the time large scale. I was really excited to start there because I thought hey is graphic design! Finally Ill know the programs and be somewhat aware of what I am doing. Yeah no. Silly me. So I finished my first week. It was crazy. I will be working in the prepress shop there and even though I have no idea what I am doing I think it will be a lot of fun. What I do know is that we take the designs done by companies and in a sense, rework them. We have to take the designs and resize them, add bleed, add whats called cut lines and dots (Used in the printing and cutting of the pieces) and do whatever else is needed so they can be printed correctly. I've learned a lot about photoshop and illustrator in the week I have been there though. By the end of the summer I will probably know every shortcut there is. Seriously. So far I have mostly just watched the others but I have worked on some banners and such. Its been fun learning how to make bleeds with the content aware feature on photoshop or how to flatten an image for printing or that I can create what are called actions (basically they include a list of edits that are all completed simply by pressing one button. Saves a lot of time. Trust me). I am sure I will learn even more this coming week, especially as the other guys send me off to do work on my own. Yikes. But hey like any new job, the more you learn the easier it all becomes.

My Life is a Joke

     So back on the mish I used to tell all my companions that "my life is a joke" Now most usually responded with "not its not, don't say that." Well unfortunately I always seemed to prove them wrong... Really I should just record my life because I would be a youtube hit by now if I did. So once again today I realized why my life is such a joke. So heres the story. Its been beautiful non-utah like weather for February. Trust me I'm thrilled. So I decided this past week that it was time to get back in shape. You see I am terrifyingly out of shape so I better do something about it while I can. So I went on a nice walk/jog the other day so I decided I would go again today and soak up some sun. So when I went to go I realized all my roommates were out of town and I didn't want to bring my keys so I figured I would just put a spare key outside that I could use when I got back from my jog. (side note- Luckily in the joke of my life, God has a plan and sometimes likes to give me hints) So before I left I had the feeling to unlock the back door in case something happened to the spare key. So I did so and headed out the front door after locking it. Then I went to put the spare key where I used to keep it. This is where the problem came in. Where I live has some structural issues, meaning the ground is settling and so there are cracks throughout my house, like the floor. But I didn't notice that there was a nice crack where I used to keep the spare key. A crack that happened to be the exact width of a key. So I put the key up there and then heard a slight clink. Crap. So I looked back and realized the key had slid into the house. Literally. Now not inside, just inside the stucco. Goodbye key.

nice little crack just for a key to slide into... dont ask about the iron that is sitting there...

Goodbye getting back inside. All I could think was seriously all I wanted to do was go for a run! But now lets not forget that I left the back door unlocked. Except there was one minor problem with that. I forgot that my neighbors don't live next door anymore. (we used to go through their house and grab a chair to hop the wall to get into our yard) And well no one lives there currently so that was out. And of course my other neighbors weren't home. So new plan. I was going to have to climb the far wall. Great I just have to figure out how to climb a smooth wall thats basically as tall as me. Yay....

I found a rock I could stand on to boost me up a bit. Really it had to have been a show watching me try to climb up this.

Lets ignore the fact that I didn't get ready this morning

Luckily I watch The Prince of Persia earlier today and was in a Parkour type of mood. Unfortunately as mentioned above I am seriously out of shape. So after about 6 tries of getting up on the wall I finally did. But then came the real show. You see the walls separating each unit are about oh say 6 inches wide, enough space to balance beam it. However the center one which I needed to go down is curved. Yeah Im not that talented.

This is the view from my back yard to the part of the wall I hopped up on. 

So I scooted my little tush all the way down it. halfway through I just lost it laughing because I am sure I looked hilarious. I was torn between thinking if any of the back neighbors were home if they were dying laughing or calling the cops. haha So eventually I made is back to my place, hopped off the wall and walked through our back door. Well needless to say by this point I was exhausted and bruised and there was no way I was going on my jog. So I gave up and cleaned some more. Maybe we will try this whole exercise thing again next week. When I have roommates home. So folks this is why my life is a joke. Because really how often does a crack in the wall swallow up your spare key?
Yep thats right.
MY life is a joke.
Good thing I have a sense of humor. ;)