Have I mentioned how much I love my clients? I checked the mailbox yesterday and found a box full of delicious chocolate muffins (thank goodness customs didn’t open the box!), accompanied by this note:
Hi Sarah,
So sorry to hear that you lost a considerable amount of work when water spilled on your computer. While chocolate zucchini muffins (no nuts–in case you’re allergic) won’t bring the material back (wouldn’t that be great), perhaps they can fuel the recreation process. Just want to let you know that we can be patient for an ultimately high-quality product.
Cheers!
ACT
How utterly sweet & lovely is that? I am an incredibly lucky girl to get to work with such fabulous clients.
Tags: business, chocolate
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Well, it’s been a long, long, long time in the making, but I’ve finally updated my portfolio a teeny little bit (not too much to be overwhelming, of course!) There’s this portrait of my gorgeous little sister:
and a “new” website (that was completed months ago). I really don’t like updating my own website!
But I’m determined that it’s about time to do it, especially given that I’m about to move again, and that means that my address as listed on the website will be even more wrong than it is currently. (Sure, in theory it only takes two minutes to change it, but that’s not how I work…if I’m going to spend two minutes, I’m going to be there three hours trying to fix all the little things.) At any rate, all the little things have really added up, and it’s time for some major-ish rearranging. (continue »)
Tags: productivity, projects, websites
Posted in diatribes, site updates | No Comments »
I have a terrible tendency to throw what I refer to as “all night work parties”, which usually end up comprising about two and a half days straight of me staring into my laptop, clacking away and forgetting to sleep or come up for air. They’re admittedly not the most glaringly healthy way of getting things done, but I do tend to be the sort of person who works in spurts, and when the fever comes over me, I often like to run with it. (I actually experimented with a “normal” schedule, wherein I slept at least a little bit every single night for a month straight. It was interesting, and I may try it again at some point…but not just now.)
So a few weeks ago, I was crashing at the tail end of a work party, and ended up falling asleep next to my laptop, gigantic glass of water in hand. Yes, you know where this is headed. A few hours later, I woke up spilling said gigantic glass of water all over myself and my poor laptop. (Lovely way to wake up, might I add.) Naturally, I panicked. There was much cursing and wailing (me) and sparking and crackling (the machine) as I tried to figure out what on earth to do. It wouldn’t turn off, and it took my sleep-addled brain a good five minutes to figure out that removing the battery would do the trick. The poor thing was soaked, and ruined. I was in a similar state. That machine was, in effect, the entirety of my business assets, and the tool by which I can earn my living, and it had just crackled out and died on me. (continue »)
Tags: backups, business
Posted in diatribes | 2 Comments »
Because I’m sure that those of you who know me well don’t hear enough of my thoughts on design. This is a questionnaire I filled out in response to a freelance job posting. It was quite an exhaustive process, actually, and I only had a short timeframe in which to complete it, but I gave it my best shot. (I’ve edited out the “technical” portion and the examples & attachments, as that sounded a little too much like a high school test for even me to be interested in it!) (continue »)
Tags: books, design, interview, process, trends, typography
Posted in design | 1 Comment »
Oh, come on, everyone Googles themself at some point, don’t they? I do it mostly to see what (if anything) the internet has to say about me, and if any of it will come back to haunt me. I have, at times, been known to disclose too much online.
A Google search for “sarah semark” yields this hilariously erroneous newspaper article from last year, in which my cat is actually referenced as a business partner, and this similarly hilarious and out-of-date portfolio site, which I should really take down, but I’m far too absorbed in my own personal history to do so.
Tags: SEO
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So since I no longer have internet at home, I’ve become a bit of a connoisseur of free wi-fi zones, alternately known as “a vagabond with an expensive laptop”. I usually tend to alternate between the library, a few coffee shops, and the train station, and I have specific guidelines about what makes for a good place: it should be relatively quiet & empty, it should have lots of power outlets that people don’t mind me plugging into, and the people shouldn’t get cross with me when I’m there for eight hours and only buy a coffee. (Though admittedly, I try to buy a coffee at least every three or four hours, as I’m sure it counts as a utility expense.) (continue »)
Tags: business, client relations
Posted in diatribes | No Comments »
I really enjoyed this little storybook. Something about childish/60’s-esque illustration (especially when paired with more adult subject matter) really appeals to me. I like that the illustrator managed to use a techy “cold” object like a MacBook and still have it work with the more textured & natural style (the screen static was an especially nice touch).
Tags: design, illustration, pretty
Posted in design | No Comments »
So I’ve moved yet again and am just getting back on my feet. For anyone who may be interested in sending me lovely things in the mail, my new address is as follows:
TRIGGERS & SPARKS GRAPHIC DESIGNS
6987 Vaughan Avenue, Halifax NS
B3L 2M2
(continue »)
Tags: business, SEO, websites
Posted in zen | No Comments »
I was recently contacted by a design student at Loyalist College looking to interview a designer for an essay she’s writing. Ego-bloat aside, I do really like it when young(er), just-starting-out designers ask me for a “worldly” view of the industry. (Amazingly, it’s happened more than once!) (continue »)
Tags: career, design, education, industry, interview
Posted in design, diatribes | No Comments »
In the last year, I have moved three times: one in October, when I moved out of my apartment in Lunenburg to share an apartment with my boyfriend; once in March, when I moved all my things from my studio in Lunenburg into aforementioned apartment (which started to look really, really full), and then just last week, when I moved the majority of my things into storage and the “essentials” (bed, clothing, stereo, printer) into the basement of my good friend Melissa’s house.
Moving is great, in a sense. It gives you a chance to take stock of your life and throw out the things that aren’t important anymore (many of which never were in the first place). It gives you a clean slate, an opportunity to redefine your life according to your own whims. (continue »)
Tags: balance, business, life, stress
Posted in zen | No Comments »
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