Black Rabbit Warren

Being a Home Owner

2010-02-25T20:27:00.001-08:00

On day 3 of oyr home ownership we found a rotten support beam. The 10k renovation of that is schedualed for the spring.
Today is day 6 of ownership. The bastment is flooded, we had to sweap water to the sump pump so the abatment guys could work down there.
the wind and raine is howling at 50mls per HR. Jake went outside to fix a gutter and found that our two ladders were stolen.
Later in the basement i touched the sump pump to switch it on and got zapped, my finger are still tinggleing.
Now the power is out, which means no heat and no sump pump. ... the basement water is getting deeper and deeper...
The joys of home ownership.

Funny FTHB Quotes

2010-02-19T09:47:00.001-08:00

After a trip to Home Depo.
"I just bought this, but am i gunna know how to use it?..."
The motgage Lended comes up in convorsation.
"so what is it that he does????...."

Ftp - IT WORKS!

2009-11-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.blackrabbit-media.com/

Apparently you cannot have a - in any of your folders on the server! Removed the dash and uploaded again, and IT WORKS!

Week 7- The FTP server, errrrrrr!

2009-11-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

For my blog week 7 post I am supposed to post a link to my website with a coming soon page on it. Sounds easy enough you would think. Well I’ve run into some major issues. I have my black rabbit media site set up as an add on of another already existing ftp.

Theoretically there should be no problem with this, but there is. If I can connect I can’t upload my index page and half the time I cannot connect. I suspect there is some problem with the folder structure for the host directory, but I can’t seem to correct that. I have pulled together the masses and asked for help, I have two people looking at things on the server side, and if that fails, its going to resort to calling customer support at BlueHost.. .

Yikes! I will keep you posted.. .

I've been on hold for 25 min now.. . . .

my url that is supposed to work www.blackrabbit-media.com
the add on that sometimes works. www.nebooking.com/blackrabbit-media

Week 6 - Roles

2009-11-17T09:59:00.001-08:00

For a team project at school we have been assigned to groups and asked to design a website for a local vet clinic. We are to treat this as a true design project as best we can.

We have broken the team down into 4major roles that we would most likely find in a small design shop or boutique. Project manager, art director, coder, and content manager. Those roles will be fulfilled by the following people.

Project Manager- Mike I
Art Director- Andy
CSS/Dreamweaver Coder- Mike M
Content Manager- Emily

The project manager will be in charge of coordinating the client and team. The art director will make sure that the client’s business is properly represented by the design and he/she will also make sure that the design remains consistent across all of the different pages and media. The coder will take all finished designs and put them into dream weaver and make sure it has all the proper code to be transitioned into the web world. The content manager is in charge of managing all the content. Getting all the necessary information and images form the client and revising and editing it into something that flows with the website.

If any of these roles are not fulfilled on time the project can start to fail via a domino effect very quickly. Most likely if one person fails in one of these roles on of the other people will have to jump in and try and take on two roles inevitably causing the work form both roles to be late. If the work is late than the deadline is not met, if the deadline is not met, the customer is dissatisfied, with to the team if a loss of other potential customers even any profit.

So basically if a project is to be completed as a success, all of these roles must stay on task, and if any of the members starts to get overwhelmed they must speak up at the earliest possible moment so that more work can be delegated elsewhere.

2009-10-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to review two of my classmates' we portfolio sketches. I don't know if I entirely feel comfortable doing so since I'm having the hardest time getting my sketch to where I want it to be. but here goes..

The first skech is done by Matt Allaire, who is really self critical! However it seems to be getting him the results he want, so I wont judge. He submitted two sketches, both of which he is not going to use. He says he will do something like this
As apposed to this
He wants to keep things simple, and I agree. However I think the Ken Rockwell Design is way too simple. Matt really dislikes the Grey text on black background because of its difficulty to read, however I think that is no reason to completely throw out this layout. I think it can be worked with, maybe create a lighter box in the middle for the content with dark text. Something can be done to fix the readability, because I think this is a rally eye catching interesting layout.

Rough Website Design.

2009-10-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

The header was based on an already existing logo. The i chose the sunset type colors in the background because i want to brighten up the page, and not make it so black and white. The thisle plant to the left of the nav barwas put in just to try and add something else, the nav bar by itself was so boring, i was'nt sure exactly to spruse it up. I don't know if i will keep the plant in the final draft or not.

Plans for After SMCC

2009-10-01T21:22:00.000-07:00

I am not completely positive about what I will be doing after SMCC. I know I want to get my bachelors in Fine Art. Considering that I am currently in the process of buying a house I think MECA would be the better fit for pursuing more school. It seems to have a very well rounded design program, with interesting classes such as type design, which is something I really feel I need to get a better grasp of. However I know that they are an art school, so I want to get a good technical base here at SMCC before I graduate and will not have easy access to classes such as Audio and Video Engineering.
I am also interested in Boston University’s Center for digital imaging, and the Pasadena School of Design, however the long distance would require me to find a new home and say goodbye to my current job which pays not much but just enough to keep me from going anywhere else.

I have always worked and gone to school at the same time, it drives me crazy but there is just no other way for me to go to school. So most likely after I graduate I will try and dive into the work force while pursuing my BFA. I want an entry level full time position in marketing such as a “Program Assistant” at IDEXX (where I currently work as a Manufacturing worker.) See the “program assistant” job posting below. In addition to getting a full time position more in line with my career path, I will be working as a freelancer and trying to start my own business “Black Rabbit Media.”
Hopefully by the time I have graduated with my BFA from MECA I will have some corporate experience under my belt and know the rules of the game so I can then break them in my own business. I WANT “Black Rabbit Media “ to be professional, but at the same time, I want my clients to feel that they are dealing with intelligent down to earth people, skilled in their trade, but not a big, corporation.

Program Assistant
Internal: No Grade 200 (about 32,000a year)
Job Title: Program Assistant
City: Westbrook
State: ME
Job Summary: IDEXX Reference Laboratories is seeking a motivated Program Assistant with strong organizational skills to support the Marketing team. This is a great entry level marketing position with strong growth opportunity.

This position is responsible for tracking and fulfilling tactical projects and service programs. Must be able to work both independently and on multi-departmental teams.

Qualifications: EDUCATION: Four-year college degree in business, marketing or science preferred.

EXPERIENCE: 0 - 2 years relevant work experience (reviewed in conjunction with education history)

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

Strong computer skills - MS Office - Word, Excel and database experience.
Teamwork
Communication skills
Integrity, responsiveness, drive and initiative
Ability to multi-task
Strong analytical ability
Strong organization skills
Ability to prioritize
Ability to work in teams and interact with multiple levels of management and functional departments.
Ability to devise tracking systems and efficient reporting and communication of results

Here is my Cover Letter for the Job Opening

09/30/09
IDEXX Laboratories
Marketing Dept.
Rachel #######,

I have sent you my resume to be considered for the current opening of “Program Assistant” in the marketing department. I was referred to you by the intradexx job posting section.

I would like to take a moment and tell you a little about myself. I am a full time college student at SMCC, enrolled in the “Communications and New Media Program”, my field of concentrated study is Graphic and Web Design. After completion of my Associates degree, I plan to attend Maine College of Art, or University of Southern Maine to obtain a Bachelors degree also in Graphic Design.

I have worked at IDEXX since August of 2006. I am currently working for Larry Pritchard on the new instrument Catalyst DX. Working on a new product with a great team is extremely exciting; however I would love the opportunity to move up within the company.

I am an advanced user of computers, and learn new software very quickly. I am very organized, with great attention to detail. I have grasped the concept of adequate documentation standards in accordance to ISO.

I am very excited about this opening! I look forward to meeting you for an interview.

Sincerely,

Emily L Jackson
## #### St Apt. ###
Portland Me. ####
###.###.####

Here is my resume for the job opening.

## #### St. Apt ### •Portland, Maine. ####
Phone 207.###.#### • E-mail: ########@gmail.com
Emily L. Jackson

Objective
To use organizational skills, computer experience and analytical skills can help improve the productivity of the company, and meet the needs of customers.

Skills / abillities
Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite CS3/CS4. (Photoshop, In Design, Illustrator and Adobe Dream weaver.)
Proficient in Ms Office Suite. (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Visio.)
Strong foundation in 3D animation with Autodesk’s Maya.
Excellent analytical, organizational, time management and multi-tasking abilities.
Superb phone etiquette.
Proper Knowledge of Design Elements
Basic Knowledge of SAP.

Work experience
Oct. 2005 – May 2006 Sears Holding Portland, Maine
In Store Advertisement Marketing
Place ads mark price tags up or down, place merchandise on the sales floor according to floor plans.
Help customers easily locate merchandise.

Oct. 2004 – July 2006 Bumble Bee Quilt Works Waterboro, Maine
Sales Clerk/ Inventory Specialist
Counted stock for inventory, maintained displays.
Provided helpful customer service.

Sept. 2006 - Sept 2007 IDEXX Laboratories Westbrook, Maine
Plate Coating Tech. I Production Animal Services
Set up and run all necessary equipment to manufacture product, in a fast paced self directed environment.
Follow and fill in documentation associated with coating tasks in accordance with ISO standards.
Enter final data in to spreadsheet, charge of labor and finished product through SAP.

Nov. 2007 - Current New England Booking Portland, Maine
Graphic Designer
§ Design materials to assist in promotion of local music events.
§ Photograph, and print the live acts for use on web and other promotional materials.
§ Partner with Web designer to create a consistent standard of design between web and print promotion.

Sept. 2007 - Current IDEXX Laboratories Westbrook, Maine
Production Spec II Catalyst Dx
Complete cross-training requirements and demonstrate proficiency in performing related manufacturing processes.
Update and follow all documentation and work instructions.
Identify problems, assist in routine problem solving and troubleshooting of equipment.
Complete all manufacturing related documentation accurately.
Test and inspect product, notify supervisor immediately of any problems.

Feb. 2009 - June 2009 Phoenix Media Communications Portland, Maine
Graphic Design Production Intern
### ##### # ### ##### # ##### # ##### # ##### #

Education
2000-2005 Massabesic High School Waterboro, Maine
General Studies
Varsity letter for performance in M.H.S band.
Gold Service star
2005 – 2007 S.M.C.C Portland , Maine
General Studies

2007-Current S.M.C.C Portland, Maine
Communications and New Media (Graphic and Web design)

Professional Referances
§ Keith Nassif, IDEXX laboratories, R&D Engineer.
1 IDEXX Dr, Westbrook ME. ###.###.####

§ Mike Lude, IDEXX laboratories, Sr Automation Tech.
1 IDEXX Dr, Westbrook ME. ###.###.####

§ Jacob Simcock, New England Booking. Promoter/sole Proprietor.
P.O Box 10072 Portland, Me. ###.###.####

§ Larry Pritchard, IDEXX Laboratories, Supervisor
1 IDEXX Dr, Westbrook, Me. ###.###.####

Here is another job posting at IDEXX, it’s a grade 700, so probably pays around 80k on the low end. To get this job, and fulfill its qualifications, I would be like 50+ years old! I have other goals for my life by then and hopefully will not still be a slave to the corporate machine. That is definitely not where I want to be at that point of my life, great job excellent pay, but not for me.

JOB TITLE: Sr Graphic Designer
PREPARED BY: HR Compensation
DATE PREPARED: 07/2006
JOB CODE: 20000847 GRADE: 700 EXEMPTION STATUS: Exempt
JOB CATEGORY: Marketing - Communications

JOB SUMMARY: As a Senior Graphic Designer, you have fully developed and honed your formal and conceptual skills and are passionate about design. You subscribe to the highest standards of professional and creative endeavor. You are proactive, intensely curious and energized by a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Finally, you are a person with outstanding communication and interpersonal skills who is comfortable guiding and mentoring junior staff members.

In this role you will investigate communication design problems to generate solutions that challenge convention yet solve strategic business initiatives. You must function independently within a collaborative environment to provide visual leadership in support of strategic communication directions.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Designing and Developing Concepts
• Develop corporate brand-driven identity systems, advertising templates, web design architecture and other marketing communications collateral that support strategic direction with conceptual and technical skills
• Develop design standards for team of designers and implement and provide input for specific accounts/projects
• Create and/or present design concepts and maintain ongoing dialogue during creative development; help plan and coordinate client presentations
• Partner with Web content team to creation with
• Uphold creative standards as established by team and maintain ongoing dialogue during creative development with team leaders
• Dialogue with clients and present work clearly and passionately

Project Management
• Effectively attend to details and manage time to assure projects are
completed by deadlines
• Maintain responsibility for managing your own and your design team’s scheduling
and budget for multiple assigned projects

Leadership and Team Relations
• Willingly provide, receive and assess feedback from all team members and
determine action
• Develop and maintain open, productive and mutually beneficial working relations
with team members
• Provide guidance as necessary to designers and production staff to reach
IDEXX visual standards

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
You must possess a complete understanding of sophisticated information design, comprehensive typography, content creation, semiotics and visual language systems. Also required is the proven ability
to think conceptually and to translate brand positioning strategy into fully integrated print and interactive design solutions.

You must be able to make decisions, take action and be comfortable working both independently and as part of a collaborative team effort. Leadership or mentoring experience and ability are also necessary, as well as self-motivation and self-confidence. You must possess superior interpersonal communication skills and be able to articulate and educate design rationale to both internal and external audiences, as well as be willing to provide and receive feedback from all team members.

EDUCATION: A bachelor’s degree in graphic design is also preferred.

EXPERIENCE: You must have 10+ years of professional graphic design experience in an agency or as a member of a marketing or internal communications department.

SmccWebsite Suggestions

2009-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

I think overall the SMCC website is pretty user friendly. There are just a few things that could be better. Fore example on the top of the homepage next to the “my smcc” button they should also put a “blackboard” button, that would load the log in page for blackboard. Also once inside the “my smcc portal” I think it would be better if they replace the “forward student e-mail” button, with just a “student e-mail” button. Or once a student has forwarded their e-mail it could change to the log into student e-mail button. As a user once I have entered my forwarding info, this tab is useless to me it just takes up space.

Blog Review and Critque

2009-09-22T22:41:00.000-07:00

http://obscuresound.com/
Obscure sound is a blog all about indie music. The first thing I notice is the color scheme, I really like it, it is not too distracting form the content, and does not over stimulate the reader.

I think it would be a little better if it had a few more design elements to it such as a graphic to break up the page in between posts. All the posts just vertically run into each other (but what blog doesn’t). I really appreciate its content. It serves a hub for me to go to when I am in search of new music. It does a great job on keeping current with many new ep’s that are out there, and one of the thing I love most about it is that at the end of most articles there is a mp3 player that allows the reader to now be the listener, and sample the music or artist that was in the article.

http://www.media-awareness.ca/blog/index.cfm
Media awareness blog seems to be a resource for teachers and parents. It has all the same old same old issues, such as “how media affects a girl’s image”, and a very lengthy post about plagiarism. I find the content ridiculous; it is a bunch of touchy feely modern ineffective teaching style. I’m not trying to say there is nothing wrong with plagiarism, but teachers do not need to have a whole in class debate about it. Plagiarism is bad kids, you do it you fail; end of story. I am extremely disappointed, with the use of the picture of Hoffman’s “Steal this book.”

They don’t reference it in any relevant context. And speaking of plagiarism, I know Hoffman would scoff at this post. Too bad that the only reason I stopped to read anything in this blog was because of that picture of the book which to these people means nothing. It seems like the author of the post just Googled “stealing books” and that is that image they found, so presto it must be relevant to this post. The header of the blog is very professional and most likely effective for its intended audience.

http://www.imanishi.com/mayablog_en/
Maya Blog is a more technical blog. The color and design is very basic, nothing fancy here. It is bare bones useful content and that’s it
Even though the design is so bare and basic, it works for this type of blog. When I go here I am looking for answers, and fast, I don’t want to have to weed through too many picture of fancy hierarchies for archives. Most of the blog is set up as a FAQ of tutorial. For someone leaning the software this is extremely helpful, because just like with the design I want to the content to be basic. I want the post to tell me how to do something in a short clear response. So while this is not highly stylized or pretty fulfills its purpose and then some.