Chris Barnett | GD252 Blog

Local Companies

// May 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // Jobs, Networking

There are a ton of local design companies in Portland and even a hand full in the surrounding area. With so many to choose from, you sure want to pick the right ones to submit your protfolio and reséumé to. If I have gotten anything out of school it has been a broadened network of people (not just online networks) who I can connect with for advice and job oppertunities. Two of my favorite companies I have had a chance to visit or work with are Sparkplug and Nemo. I took a class trip to Nemo last year and fell in love with the work atmosphere in their wearhouse. Everything seemed to be very well organized, communicaiton among employees was streamlined, and there was a creative and relaxed environment. I was in awe as I got to meet one of my favorite photographers Trevor Graves. I later interviewed him and found that he was one of the founders of Nemo back in the day. What an inspiration for me, as I have had dreams of having a design company of my own some day.

I was first introduced to Sparkplug last year when I took my second web design class at Mt. Hood in the spring of 2008. My instructor for the IM191 class was a great guy named Matt Triplett, owner of Sparkplug. We developed a unique relationship as I continued to further my knowledge of web design. I have been working for Matt and Sparkplug since the summer of 2008 and couldn’t have a better job. I am planing on answering support emails for their team management site TeamSnap as well as designing and developing a mobile interface for the site this summer.

So, here is to awesome Portland design companies and working with great creative people!

Dealing With Clients

// April 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Jobs, Rants, Web Design

I had to rant about this one a little bit. We all know it’s hard to find a perfect client, and how frusterating it can be to work with clients who just don’t quite get it. Here is the situation:

A client comes to me wanting a website. I must preface here and say that his current site could not get any worse. As I began designing and developing this site we had a hard time communicating with each other. When I described to him how I was going to build the site he seemed to understand what I needed from him. That would be too easy… When it came time to get some FTP information from him he put me in contact with one of their “I.T.” guys. I came to learn that they “don’t use FTP for their website”. I was confused at this point because I didn’t know there was any other way of putting a site on the web. I was blown away to find out they were serious and this was one of the biggest warning signs from a client that has made me want to slowly step away from the project.

I dug through my bookmarks and recent happenings on the internet and came up with a few things relating to this topic. A written post by Jacob Cass called How to Talk to Non-Tech-Savy Clients, and Episode 29 – Repairing Client Communications from the Freelance Radio Podcast.

Subscribe to the Podcast

Envato Empire

// April 30th, 2009 // No Comments » // Branding, Graphic Design, Inspiration, Jobs, Networking, Organization, Photography, Promotion, Rants, Tutorials, Web Design, Wordpress

When considering all the information that I come across on the internet most of the things I see are influenced by Twitter, and my RSS reader. This got me thinking… If I were stranded on a desert island and I only had access to one group of networked sites it would have be the Envato Network. I swear by their umbrella of Tuts+ sites for great tutorials for all my favorite applications. I have touched slightly on the marketplace structure of sites they have including the most recent and a favorite of mine, Graphic River. Another one of those, “Why didn’t I think of this?”, moments when seeing these sites that allow anyone to buy and sell design related goods and services. That’s not all… In case you didn’t have enough excellent content to expand your knowledge there is a handfull of other services they offer. From AppStorm, for everything Mac related, to the must have RSS feed for any freelancer, Freelance Switch. Stranded and alone, I could survive with the Envato Network. Do you know of any networks this diverse? I want to open this one up for feedback, maybe to see if anyone reads these things.

Freelance Networking

// April 17th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Jobs, Networking, Rants

We hear a lot these days about the economy and how hard it is to find a job. School is almost over and I’m sure you want to have a job in the creative insdustry as soon as possible. If you have a solid portfolio, are eager to continue learning new things that will make you more valuable to someone, and have some basic people skills then it’s all good! Anything you might want to know about life as a freelancer can probably be found at Freelance Switch. Everything from news and advice on the blog, a job board, a podcast, a book and recourses! One artice I was impressed with lately is The Monster List of Freelance Job Sites.

With a quick Google search I found another site with some prospective places to find jobs. This is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to jobs out there. The people you know in your social network are the greatest way to find jobs. Take Twitter for example. I recently found a post from Sonata Creative about Using Twitter to Find Work. It’s simple but is crazy enough that it might just work. Twitter name is crbarnett, follow me… you might learn something! Just ask Steven Lenhart or Diana Judge.