Thursday, February 24, 2011

Reasons I Enjoy My College

 Keiser University is a school that I wasn't sure about at first, just based on the quickness of the classes. Every class consists of four weeks of classes with varying number of days a week and hours a day. This has turned into something that I both enjoy and loath at the same time, for a multitude of reasons of course. I enjoy the fact that everywhere in the school, no matter what office one could step inside and ask a quick question of someone who works at the school, and most students, to answer a question with an open door policy. The student services department of the school is always willing to be there for anyone, not saying that teachers aren't, and are in ones corner when starting to try and enter the job market with assistance with resume construction and job opportunities that come towards the school.

Most Interesting YouTube Videos I've Seen

 Well this is an interesting post because I don't tend to just wander around YouTube to find strange and funny things. But I have seen several from friends, one such video being "The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny" this video seems to be a flash movie that expresses a massive battle royal that takes place between a large multitude of characters. I also saw another video called "Extreme Sheep Herding" which is about just that, but the extreme part comes from the fact they herd the sheep in particular manners and end up making a variety of "things" to happen. I don't remember a particular video off the top of my head, but I have used YouTube a large number of times trying to figure out how to do something but keep failing. I have to say that there are a number of the videos that I created, or helped create, are rather interesting to watch. Now this doesn't mean that I don't like all of my creations, but there are a few that are just so much more than the others.

Favorite Resources for Inspiration

 Well the first thing that should be noted about this is the fact that inspiration is one of those things that just creeps up on us, no one is ever really sure when it is going to happen or why but it just does. When I look for inspiration and I am not looking for something particular I tend to look to nature and enjoy some of the little pleasures present in our everyday life. Granted this is something that I like to try and do weather I am looking for inspiration or not. When I am looking for something that requires a little more focus then the internet is one of the first places I turn to. I enjoy deviantart.com because of the fact that it is artwork produced by fellow artists. Granted that isn't generally my first location that I check, that honor generally goes to Google image search. Anyone who has used it knows that the image listings are generally top notch. However when all else fails I take a deep breath and step away from the project for an undetermined amount of time and get my mind off of the project and wait for something to strike up again. Now the only problem with this method is that one must be careful due to the fact that most projects tend to have a deadline and this process can take time depending upon the person.

Favorite Activities Aside from Games

 My favorite things to participate in have actually been very slim the past several years, but the thing is that I mostly enjoy doing stuff with my friends or spending my time on the internet. Of course the internet activities span from entertainment to educational, but mostly entertainment. When I am with my friends I tend to generally watch movies or T.V., listen to music, talk trash to each other in a humorous way, or just talking about things happening in our lives. There are times when I just feel really creative and spend sometime laying on my bed or sitting somewhere and just drawing, however I prefer to draw manga style artwork, or I hope on a computer and try to work on a project that I start out on my own.

Best Books I Have Ever Read

 My favorite books that I have read... well there is just a slight problem with that, and that would be that I don't read a whole lot of books. However based on the books that I have read I would have to go with the Harry Potter series as a whole. I read each of the books, although I started with the sixth book at the time since I had seen the fist five movies. After I finished reading the book I truly realized the mistake that I had made. The books were very in depth in regards to the storyline. Granted the movies do a pretty good job but there are some that the movie doesn't do justice for. This aside I do plan to try and read the Ann Rice Vampire Series within the year as well, I figure I need to read Interview with a Vampire since I have seen it.

Places I Plan to Visit in My Lifetime

 I say places even though there is really one that I wish to visit most of all, and could go without others if I visit this one place. Japan is the one place that I wish to visit more than anywhere else. The reason being that I have always had a strong pull towards the Japanese culture since I was young, not to mention I am a fan of manga and anime. However that is far from the whole reason of why I want to go there, but it is a major factor. I have seen images of the scenery and buildings that are in Japan and they make me just love the country even more with each view. Another place that is on my list of places to visit would be Germany, I am not completely sure as to the main reasoning of why I wish to go there, but common... it's Germany, granted I would like to go and visit the remains of the Berlin Wall that is a monument to nations keeping internal peace...

Things I Will Do This Year to Make Myself More Marketable

 This year I intend to make progress on marketing myself and have a number of ways that I plan to try and use to accomplish this goal. First and foremost I plan to create  a new Facebook profile that will be strictly for my designing. That is just the beginning though since I will also be making a Linkedin page as well. These social media options are also just the beginning though. I plan to also get a business card of sorts to be able to hand out to potential clients when I meet them. I will also be trying to keep my blog updated more regularly and with potent information on it relating to my field as best I can.

Creating a Great Logo Design

 When creating a logo there are a number of things that must be taken into consideration before the process can really truly begin. The most important step is always meeting with, not necessarily in person, the client or plan out some of the concept for the logo. The major concern should always be on the message that is to be conveyed through the logo. With that in hand the process of actually constructing the logo itself can actually begin. The next thing to do, which all of the steps ultimately link back to the meeting with the person who wants the logo, would be to figure out the layout of the logo and the the color palliate and locations. Should any font be used in the logo, which from what I have seen is 9 out of 10 times true, then it needs to be legible with a proper contrast. Now after the logo is all designed there is still another concept that is left, the actual positioning of the logo and the overall flow of the design, which isn't always left to the designer of the logo.

Places to Meet New Clients/Generate New Professional Contacts

 There are a very large and varied means of finding clients and contacts, some of which I am sure that some have never thought about as a place to meet people in this particular manner. Of course one of the easiest ways to meet people is via the internet forums and chats. Granted this is such an impersonal way of meeting someone, but that doesn't make it wrong.
 When out and about one really most keep their eyes and ears open, because potential to meet new and interesting people is always around. I don't have a preferred place to meet people, but it can happen anywhere in our daily lives. But imagine standing in line for burgers at some random place, here one hears that someone is interested in building a site, or promoting something with a poster. This could even extend out to other aspects, such as, meeting people from different trades and fields that could make your networking abilities increase exponentially.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

7 Free Ways to Promote Oneself or Business

  1. Facebook has a variety of self promotion outlets. Communities, groups, and pages all lend there hand to self promotion aspects that can be used for free.
  2. Linkedin is a site similar to facebook but focuses more on the actual business aspect of a social networking site. With LinkedIn, combined with other outlets will allow for optimal use of free self promotion.
  3. deviantART and other personal portfolio type sites is a way to skyrocket the presentation of works done. Plus there are contests provided all the time that have great prizes for winners.
  4. Blogging is a great way to provide regular informational updates on how one is doing, this could easily be translated over into a business aspect to provide clients, and potential clients, with updated information about the business.
  5. Twitter is an alright means of giving off information about a business. The only problem is that the messages are supposed to be confined to short, text message length, posts.
  6. Accepting internships are an amazing way to create a name for oneself, at the same time as building more items for ones portfolio.
  7. This option may not be free, but it would surly be cheep. Create an ad with materials available and promote oneself by placing them in locations where someone who might be looking for one with certain skills might look.