Thoughts of Mowd

Hello all! I’m finally working in a design related field, as a temporary employee at Zondervan in Grand Rapids! I really like it here a lot, though I wish it was something more permanent. It more or less depends on how much they need help with. I am beginning to search for something more stable, just to see what I can find. I would like to find something a bit more design oriented, hopefully at a design firm. We will see what I find though!

Very excited that ArtPrize starts next week! I’m hoping to take a ton of pictures and maybe I will do a blog about it. Am also starting to consider starting another blog on here for something of a more social satire nature. We shall see!

Hello all! Just a quick update.

Still enjoying living in Grand Rapids, and still looking for a Graphic Design position! I’m still at Marshall’s, but I’m looking for a second part-time job for the time being. I would really much rather have a full-time design position, but it’s hard looking for jobs in Michigan!

I’m seriously considering moving to Chicago in August if I can’t find a design position, as I’m having just as much trouble looking even though I’m in the area with plenty of places a few miles away. Chicago seems to have a lot more opportunity overall, but I really am not a fan of living that far away from friends and family, even though I LOVE Grand Rapids.

I am still working on my Michigan Lakes Logo’s project, which you can find at http://milakeslogos.tumblr.com/ . I try to update it weekly, but with limited access to internet I don’t always have time.

Merry Christmas All!!! Hope you have a great one!

In a few weeks I will be starting a temp graphic design job at Zondervan’s in Grand Rapids! Very excited! Hopefully it will get me in the door for a more permanent position.

So I’ve officially been here for over a month! I’ve also been at my job about a month, and also at Deksia interning for about a month. I really love being in Grand Rapids. I enjoy my job, even if it does make me hate kids even more. I like my internship, too, because I’m learning a ton from it. It’s rough doing both at the same time, but I gotta do it. I have about 3 months left at the internship, then hopefully I can work on finding a full time job that pays more than $7 an hour. Because really, even if it pays $10, that would be so awesome in my opinion. I’ve been debating doing a project similar to Nicole Meyer’s 10,000 Minnesota lakes project, but doing Michigan Lakes. Because it seems like a great idea, plus lakes and waterfronts are really a big thing in Michigan, and a huge part of the tourism industry that keeps the state alive. We will see, this depends if I have time :P I started up a second blog on here for it, but I need time to actually do everything, plus actually having internet. Which I usually only have at work now. O well, we will see!

So I had it pointed out to me at an interview yesterday that I should be a Creative Copywriter. Which I find fascinating. Mostly because it’s a really good point. Also because I had no idea what the hell it was. Congrats CMU Art department, I have no idea what a creative copywriter is. Thus it’s a good point that almost NO graphic design students do. We aren’t taught how to write, we just design. That’s why it’s painful that we are forced to write 8-10 page long papers bullshitting up facts and opinions about long-dead artists and the movements they began. On the other side of the fence, writers and those in journalism just know how to do things that belong in a magazine or newspaper. They don’t know anything about branding, web design or any of that stuff. But I was raised in a very literate family, who read to me literally from the day I was brought home from being born. I grew up reading, writing, and being super anal about correct grammar and spelling. My dad is an established author, with now 5 books to his name, as well as a successful online newsletter. I took creative writing both in high school and college, and have always been big on writing. Also, I spent four years in college learning design aesthetics and typography, so I would really like that to count for something, besides the 30 grand I owe the government in loans. I’m technically bred to be a creative copywriter. I know design, I know GOOD design, and I know how to make it. I also know how to sell it. Because if there’s one thing besides designing I know I’m good at, it’s using words to compel, and to impress. I can spend 3 hours bullshitting up a paper that gets great reviews and high grades, and impresses teachers, whereas most of the other design students I know struggle for a week and still can’t write a paper as good as mine. Not bragging, just saying…

So I guess, from this point forward my life’s ambition should be to get a creative copywriting job? We will see, because first I have to find out if it really is what I am meant to do.

Epiphanies can be life changing and illuminating, and also kind of a confusing pain in the ass. Nuff said.

Really liking it in Grand Rapids! Got a job at Marshalls the other day. It’s only 15 hours a week, but at least it’s something to do/something that pays! Plus I get a discount, and they have AWESOME clothes and shoes (and I get it at TJ Maxx too, which has AWESOME purses :P) so there goes all my paychecks there. lol.

Still looking around for graphic design related work. I started looking at different agencies locally, and found a few that I really liked. Maybe finding somewhere awesome around here would be worth keeping me in the area!

I’ve gotten really into doing freelance work at sites like 99designs and crowdSPRING. I’m not thrilled with how they are ran entirely, and haven’t won anything yet, but it’s good to have something to keep your creative juices flowing, and to give you practice/portfolio pieces.

If you check out www.boardroominsider.com you can see the book cover that I just did for my dads new E-book! It should be out in about a month!

Well, looks like I am moving to Grand Rapids in a few weeks instead of Chicago! I’m going to get some experience at small jobs for a while, then move to Chicago when I get a good job. I’m pretty excited about moving, especially somewhere with more opportunities. Hopefully i’ll find somewhere to work soon!

Hi all! I am currently working on a new website. Again. I know. It’s a problem. But in the progress I came across this website linked above, and it has been really good inspiration! The new website probably won’t even be done for a while, anyways.

Go check out my website, www.boardroominsider.com is finally up and running! Pretty proud of my work :)

Continuing my search for a job. It’s a pretty unpleasant, painful experience. Gotta keep trying though! :)

So true. <3

Hey all! I decided that I’m gonna try to integrate this into my website as a blog, since I’m not huge on how I’m doing it right now. As soon as I can figure out the coding, it should be up there! And then people can actually comment on my posts! And I can post pictures and stuff! Oh the possibilities.

I think with this whole SoundCloud thing I might start putting my favorite songs at the moment in the blog as well!

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