Last spring, I was approached by designer/writer Elizabeth Daniell to be included in an article titled “A Day in the Life of a Graphic Designer.” The article was intended to be featured in a popular online magazine. (Smashing Magazine). Sometimes in the long run things don’t work out. The article made it to editing but somehow did not reach the final publish. Many designers were to be included but by the time the article came around some individuals felt the writing was out of date.
My edited portion was kindly shared by Beth so I thought I would share it…although it may very well be out of date. It still would’ve been quite exciting to be published to a high traffic magazine. The excerpt starts now:
Blake McCreary | Web Developer//Project Coordinator//Student
During the summer time when I’m not in school I work full time. I go throughout my day casually waking up at about 9 or 10 am. I eat a hardy breakfast at my own leisure and then check my blackberry to see if there are any urgent emails to respond to right away. I often consider my business as “ad hoc” since I assemble groups for purpose. Whenever I get the chance, I prefer to leave the office to collaborate with peers from college and trusted partners that I’ve met up with over the years. We all have specialties and when we get together we can accomplish larger projects. Sharing ideas and approaches give me the ability to remain fresh. Sometimes I will leave the office and meet with clients over lunch to spruce up the day. Meeting in person allows a business relationship to become solid. These days, with email and bidding websites, it is easy to keep yourself distant from clients. I also prefer a phone call rather than email when convenient. I never spend too much time working on one project for a long period of time. Stepping away allows me to regroup myself and notice the outside picture when I return. (sometimes hitting the gym or an Xbox break can also do the trick as well as a drinking a YooHoo).
Cool Office Tip: I keep a dry erase board in my office as well as several cork boards to pin up current work. The dry erase board helps me visualize my thought process clearly and the cork boards allow me to occasionally glance up while I’m thinking and look at previous work to critique and maybe remind myself some of my core values or ideas to apply to other projects. My favorite productivity tip is to master multi-tasking. Knowing when to step away and gain influence from another project that you are working on. The time away will give you a fresh look when you come back to that frustrating problem.
Blake has been a freelance designer since 2003 and is currently a student at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana finishing up a bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication. Visit Blake at www.blakemccreary.comor follow his tweets @BlakeMccreary.
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