jhamake's blog

Well I am pleased to say that all three of my phases are officially done and approved.  It feels amazing to be able to say that everything is done.  The Book of standards ended up not being a book at all but Everyone seemed pleased with it so that is all that matters.   I am happy that my project is done now and in the books for good and I am pleased to say that everyone liked everything I did.  I am also happy because I was able to actually complete everything ahead of schedule.  My timeline was pretty accurate with only a few minor differences.  In the end I was pleased with my work although I wish I would have had a little more freedom.  It is interesting to reflect upon the experiences and remember the stressful days when I felt that I was going to quit and the days when each phase was completed.  Those days were good and each time that occurred, I felt as though a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders.  I am excited that everything worked out as good as it did and I look forward to trying freelance work in the future.

Well we are boiling down to the end and I am practically done with all of my phases.  I am super excited to be able to be so close to the end.  I am very happy with all of the outcomes so far.  I misinterpreted what my boss was looking for in phase three and was able to clear it up a couple of days ago.  He was just looking for me to touch up the logos a bit and also to make a sheet with all of the usable logos on them for people to reference.  I have done that for the company already and now am just waiting for the approval.  It is really exciting to know that I am finally at the end of the project and right on time too.  I can’t wait to be able to say  that i am done for good.  Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to all of those people who posted in response to my last post.  Your words were an encouragement to me to keep pressing forward and I am glad that I was able to inspire and help some of you out too.  I look forward to updating everyone more and maybe giving a few posts of my thoughts too after the project is over.

I have been able to look at a couple things pertaining to the Logo book of standards that would complete phase three of my client project But work has been halted…via my client/boss because of an overload of work coming in.  The job has been rather crazy right now and my boss told me to focus on workflow and keeping things moving along and out the door.  Unfortunately I don’t have a lot to say because of this but I will definitely keep everyone updated on my progress as it comes along.  I did want to respond to a comment I got last week though…Someone said that they were impressed with my ability to keep up with the posts and job and everything and they weren’t sure how I found the time to do everything.  I am currently taking 7 classes this semester, working 20 hours a week, and planning a wedding which is in August.  I will be the first to admit that juggling everything has not been easy but I am managing to get it all done still and I feel that the more I have to do the better it is.  It makes the time fly by and also is showing me how to better manage my time as an individual.  I have determined that certain times are dedicated to certain tasks and therefore I am able to do everything and still have time to relax every once in a while.  I guess before this year I really struggled with procrastination but this year I have determined to not be a procrastinator and really work hard at getting things done in timely manors.  This year has really taught me to be responsible and this is something I plan on carrying over into my marriage.  I love my wife so much and I really want to be a family guy which means that I need to know how to better manage my time.  This year is really teaching me those things so I am very thankful to be gaining knowledge into my future and the way I will run my family.

Well, phases one and two are done now and I am in a calm before the storm.  My work which is also my client, is pretty busy with production work now so my boss has put phase three on hold to allow me to focus on my job.  I am planning some for the project but not really doing much for it.  I was able to redo a couple of logos that needed work and put together a master sheet of all of the logos that the company will allow its’ employees to use.  This is actually a good chunk of phase three so I am actually really far ahead of the game.  I think that this was a big reason that my boss told me to step back and focus wholly on the production work that the company was getting bombarded with.  Everything is coming along really smoothly though and I am really happy with all of the results and end products so far.

Well I have started phase three of my project which is the Logo book of standards but I have not gotten very far into it.  We have been rather busy at work lately so that takes priority over the standards.  I did get the opportunity to change our logo up a bit which was kind of fun and entertaining.  I feel like now that the first two phases are complete this third one is a lot less pressure.  It feels good knowing that the rough projects are now behind me and that both the results were good and the client is thrilled.  My client wants the book of standards but there is no rush as he has already made that clear to me too.  The idea that there is not really a time frame involved with this portion of my project also helps the stress go down.  I can breath easier now knowing that I have some time to get this portion of my project done and done right.

Wow…what a relief…I finally finished the tri-fold brochure and the client has had them printed and folded already.  The finished piece actually looks pretty good for all the struggles and issues I had to go through to get there.  It also felt good to know that my client finally made up his mind and decided that he liked what I had.  I was able to sigh a huge sigh of relief today knowing that I am now officially done working with that client because that was pretty rough.  My final phase of my project is the book of standards which requires me to work with my boss…a much better person to work under.  When I was finishing up my tri-fold I got to also see my finished mission statements all mounted and framed.  They turned out nice too.  Overall I feel like I have accomplished a lot in a very short period of time and although there was a lot of stress and hard moments, the end results were definitely much better than I expected.

Well, yesterday was quite a stressful day…my client still can’t make up his mind and it is really holding me back from doing what I need to do to be successful.  My client told me yesterday that he needed a printout by the time I left work an hour before I was supposed to leave and then proceeded to make a ton of changes.  No one could have done what he wanted with an hour to do it and I felt super stressed out and frustrated…I guess it was just one of those days.  Anyway I ended up leaving work late and because of that I was late for school and it just made me very upset knowing that one thing lead to another.  I just want someone to give me the direction I need so that I can finish the job and get it off my plate.  I know that things get stressful when working with clients but I think this is the worst it has ever been because he just can’t make up his mind and he can’t give the direction I need to succeed.  I needed an image from him to so I could incorporate it into my project so he gave me an AI file that was missing the link of the image I needed.  That is just one of many things that occurred that day.  Anyway, I am slowly finishing things up now and working as hard as I can to please everyone.  I am optimistic that things will be a lot smoother and better from now on and I know that working on this has helped me learn a few things.  I have learned to be patient with people that are not easy to be patient with; I have learned to stay calm even when things aren’t quite going the way you had planned; and I have learned that I have to do my best to please and satisfy my client even if it means designing something I don’t necessarily like.

Like most of you I am really getting into the grind now with the deadlines and the projects and work and classes and wedding planning and so much more going on.  It seems as though I hardly have time to eat sleep and relax for a bit but I am working through it all and slowly working it all out.  My client is really starting to become a pain though with the Tri-Fold brochure because He can’t seem to make up his mind.  I have to do so many revisions and it would really help if he gave a more clear direction.  I am getting the hint that he has no clue what he wants and therefore he can’t make up his mind.  I am getting frustrated with it because I want to get it done and move on to the other things but I can’t  Hopefully I can work it all out and get a design that he approves of soon…Cross your fingers for me.  Anyway, I think I may have mentioned this already but the mission statement is done and out of my hands.  One project down.  The Logo standard is in the making but I am going through the approval stages and I am sure that everyone has experienced what a pain that can be.  Hopefully I can nail down exactly what they are looking for and get everything together soon with that.  I may be frustrated now but I know that it will all work out in the end and then I will sigh a big sigh of relief.

So we are know on week four of class and about week three of working on our client projects.  My Mission statement project actually got approved and was printed the other day so I am one down now.  It feels really good to accomplish something like that and finally get the approval of the superiors to move forward with printing and finish the project.  Now that it is printed the job is out of my hands and into the hands of someone else responsible for mounting and framing them to hang to where needed.  I feel that my final piece was very simple and yet very successful in capturing the idea that my client was looking for.  After completing this project I learned that sometimes the simpler a idea is the more accepted it will be.  I learned that not everyone thinks like a designer and therefore we must dumb ourselves down to their level in order to really capture what they are looking for.  I learned that some clients are a pain to work with because they can’t decide what they like and don’t like but it is our job to be patient and understanding while trying to coax them in the direction of making a decision.  Finally, I learned that in the end things work out for the good and usually the finished product satisfies you as the designer and the client so we are all happy.  I have now began to move into the second project I have been assigned which is the tri-fold brochure for the upcoming trade show.  If anyone has any thoughts or ideas please feel free to comment and let me know what you are think.  I am always open for ideas and suggestions.  We are in the corrugated industry and die cutting industry if anyone is interested.  Right now I am working on the text for the brochure so I haven’t really done any design work yet.  I think that is about it for now though…I will keep everyone updated on my progress and bring any questions to the table for everyone to help me out.

Well for those of you who were not aware of what I am doing for my project I am doing a couple things.  The first thing I am doing is remaking the company mission statement so that they can print it out frame it and hang it in their conference room.  This is what I am focusing on now.  I have designed the poster already and have submitted it to the client several times for approval.  It is hard working with indecisive clients sometimes because they don’t know what they want and that is the issue I am having now.  My client keeps coming to me with changes and I have to oblige since it is for them.  I think I am getting close to completing my task there though after many revisions and proofs.  The next item on my to do list was actually just added to my plate today.  My client informed me that he is going to a show in March and wants to have a tri-fold brochure there to hand out to people who come to see the display he is setting up.  I have already begun looking and thinking about possible ideas for this task.  After this is done I am going to work on my biggest project which is taking and creating a standard for the company logo.  Right now there are way too many logos and variations of the logo and the idea is to narrow down the list and set guidelines so that it doesn’t get too out of control.  I am going to put together a book that is a couple pages or so long that we can print, bind and hand out to all the employees and whoever else needs one so that everyone is on the same page.  In the end I will also start working…although I may not finish this part of my task in the course of the semester…on actually fixing up the logos and replacing the bad ones that don’t meet the standards with a logo that does meet the requirements.  This will include posters, banners, signs, print cards for proofs, t-shirts, and whatever else may have the logo incorporated into it.  This is my update for now as to where I am at with my project and how it is coming along.  Feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions or questions because I am always open and willing to hear what everyone has to say.

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