Kismet Arts Tangent

Today, I printed out a tea menu I designed for Curry Temple. Why start out with the tea list? It’s a great way to see information hierarchy with the typography at work. I have the name of the tea, the brand and the description in different treatments as well as an icon for looseleaf tea.

I recently moved and joined tea collections with a friend of mine, so now we have all these teas between us and I wanted to be able to have a quick reference for guests as to what teas we have. I took photographs of all the tea’s packagings and used the descriptions they came with to describe them. In the future, perhaps, I’ll have a survey day where I put the flavors in my own words, though I’m not sure how appetizing that would be. When describing tastes, like coffee or wine, I get really literal, like hot cheap plastic bags on train tracks, when the customers really want to hear “light and earthy.” The looseleaf icon can also indicate when a tea is not available, say the tea strainer is dirty and we’re all too lazy. I printed this on “Canary” colored paper at a print shop down the street. It was nice to have a design project that I would interact with on a weekly basis, instead of something I would ship out and never use/see again.

Oh yes. I designed this logo. I was inspired by heat of curry, pagodas, spices and herbs, the way cilantro stems curve. The main font I used is the delicious Sakkal Majalla. This is my first draft of this menu. I’m already starting to see some spacing I need to change.

A few weeks ago, I had a recruiter contact me about a graphic design position asking for a “test project.” I don’t really support these kinds of practices because they see “test project,” I see “free work,” but I suppose you have to test drive a car before buying it. So they sent me a sample html email psd and these instructions:

“Part I: Go to Hyundai.com. Chose any vehicle from the vehicle pages and design a 600 pixel wide email highlighting (a) 1 or more features/benefits (b) pricing- lets pretend there is a current limited-time offer of 0% APR for 36 months through the end of February 2013. You’ll need to use website for imagery/assets. Remember, it’s just an email and not a website or newsletter. Brevity is okay. Use your creativity- sky’s the limit! Part II: Leverage your email creative to design 3 static .jpeg banner ads (160×600, 300×25, 728×90)”

Here’s my design, adjusting to the specified layouts in a three hour turn around, from getting the assignment to delivering it through dropbox, using my limited fonts. I think I’ve used Agency for five big projects in my portfolio. :/

(I’m blogging about this weeks after creating these ads. I did not hear back from them.)

I recently moved into an apartment where two cats reside. I am not a neat freak, but kitty litter seems to be everywhere. Graphic Design to the rescue! I’m glad I have these sign making skills. I’m kind of hoping more problems arise so I can create a sign for it. I’ll keep this post updated and let you know how the Cat Management Bureau resolves the issues.

I was at an interview this week (for a graphic design job) where they asked for more print exemplifying my layout skills, to which I only had a brand manual to point them to. Two weeks ago I was walking along and saw this Episcopalian church that said “Curry Temple…” and I thought, what a cool name for a restaurant. So begins a branding/print collateral design project that I am really excited about. Items to include: menu, logo, brand manual, business cards, stranger (Seattle alternative weekly) ads? and if I get farther with that, a website with an online menu. I haven’t done that before and I certainly look at a lot of online menus. :D

So far I have some color palette ideas as well as mood. Slogans are fun. I am surprised I didn’t make up more while I was in school. I’m favoring “Taste Ancient Wisdom.”

24/7

Allovus.

Digital, Creative, and Marketing Talent : Aquent.

Creative Circle > Home.

Filter – The West’s leading digital solutions agency.

MAQ Consulting | Home.

IT Recruiting – IT Staffing Agency – Modis.

smartdept. inc. :: creative staffing :: seattle + chicago.

Creative Staffing Agency in Seattle | The Creative Group.

Seattle Staffing | Seattle Staffing Agency | TRC Staffing Services. (Can you figure out this website? I certainly can’t.)

Volt Job Search | You deserve a job you love | Volt.

The talent agency for digital creatives : Vitamin T.

I’ve reached out to most of these recruiters. Some of them have great job leads. Others seem to think I like coding HTML emails– which I wouldn’t mind for a certain pay rate. It’s good to have all of these links in one place. A lot of these people require simply an email with your resume as an application for their services. Some of them sought me out after the portfolio show and some were recommended by friends. I went to Aquent, The Creative Group and Creative Circle, thinking I covered all my bases. Thanks to Pete for getting me this list. He had success with Volt getting him a job at Xbox. Let me know which Agencies you like and how you are enjoying the job they got you.