Archive for the ‘misc’ Category
Well, it’s now official. As I write this, I have an hour and fifteen minutes left of my day job. I’m hoping this means more sleep in my future, but it’ll also mean a lot less money—a lot of people think I’m crazy for leaving a well-paying job at a company that treats their employees like gold, but somewhere amidst the butterflies and churning in my stomach, I’m sure it’s the right choice.
Things I’ll miss: overcoming technical obstacles. Playing with Flash. How warm it is in the morning, when the pilot lights have just kicked in. Seeing my designs in something that ships hundreds of thousands of units all over the world. Sneaking miniscule phrases like “Rugby boys have pretty legs.” into icons used in such. Medical benefits.
Things I won’t miss: freaking out when my alarm clock doesn’t work. Never getting to go out dancing on a Thursday night. Being stuck inside when it’s sunny and gorgeous outside. Design that involves balls. Seriously, if I never see a ball again, it’ll be too soon.
Tags: design, pretty
Posted in misc | No Comments »
I’ve been working on this redesign for a long time. It’s actually been redesigned three times, and of course it isn’t 100% ready to launch, but I’m quite sure it never will be, and it was about time I updated my stagnating website.
Lots of stuff is new. Everything’s been restructured and rebuilt using Ruby on Rails. There’s a resources section that’s pretty wiki-like up. There are RSS feeds of the news and the projects. There’s more content everywhere. And reason why I’ve been so quiet the last little while?
…plus a tonsillectomy, and computer woes like you wouldn’t believe, and learning a new programming language.
Say hello to Marigold, who’ll be working with me from now on. Marigold will be taking over some project management duties so that I can become more of a hermit.
Say goodbye to Dinah, who disappeared in November and probably isn’t coming back.
New projects are in the pipeline, and I have officially quit my job in order to go freelance full-time. Need some work done? Now’s a great time to ask, while I’m still a little paranoid about that whole not-getting-a-paycheque thing.
I’m excited. Everything is new and I am learning things at such an exponential rate. It’s going to be one hell of a ride.
Tags: design, pretty, projects, resources, websites
Posted in misc | No Comments »
Thanks to combined incompetence at Apple and at my “local” (see: an hours’ drive away, only open when I’m working) Apple retailer, I haven’t had a computer all month, which has seriously curtailed my design activities outside of the gaming industry. I’ve got a few projects on hold and a few nearing completion — expect updates soon.
For now, a listing of my favourite Google search terms that have brought people to this website:
- “why don’t humans hibernate”
- what website can i go to to make a layout of my bedroom then print what my bedroom would look like?
- jennifer arnold display and design
- grunt labourer services
- hrm unorthodox
- “sarah pretty”
Thanks for the compliment, Google! I think you’re pretty, too!
Tags: design, industry, pretty, projects, websites
Posted in misc | No Comments »
I’m working on a complete overhaul of the website — every day I add a few more items to my todo list and make more corrections to my Illustrator template. In deference to this A List Apart article, this isn’t just an aesthetic redesign — actually, I initially hadn’t intended to redesign, but then I started reworking my logo, and everything’s been stemming from that. I’m planning on more content, including a resources wiki that will contain a whole slew of explanations of the technical stuff I tend to babble about and then find myself needing to explain to all my clients. Anyway. Hopefully, that should be along soon.
In actual project news, I had a busy spell at work but now I’m in a slow spell, since Cricket ‘07 seems to have wrapped itself up in preparation for a November release. I’m gearing up for a much-anticipated tonsillectomy October 2nd, so hopefully I’ll be able to wrap up a few ongoing projects before my convalescence commences. Ongoing projects include a website for the Bluenose Lodge Casual Dining, a redesign of the Nova Scotia Young Liberal’s website, and logo/identity projects for Ninja Monkey Knits, Traveller’s Joy, Inside-Out Cleaning Services, Norwood Media, and the BusStop Theater.
In other news, the Switch has just finished recording their first album, featuring a cover designed by yours truly. I also did some posters to match and the website is in progress. Make sure to come out to the album release party (September 29th at the Attic) to snag your copy and for the chance to see me introducing the band while dressed as Gene Simmons. No, I’m not kidding.
Tags: design, projects, resources, websites
Posted in misc | No Comments »
I’m on a monster self-improvement kick, starting with learning Ruby on Rails, the hot new (old) web development language that may (or may not) be posed to turn the world of web applications on its head. Either way, I plan to be prepared, and hope to be building things on Rails for clients soon — once I’ve figured out how it all works, of course! For now, everything is still PHP-based, but it’s impressive to see how elegantly Ruby can handle some things that, in PHP, required awkward workarounds and lines upon lines of code.
Now, for new work! I plan on posting a lot of this when time permits, but I’ve been pretty busy for some time now, and client work of course comes first. The provincial election came & went, and I worked for Rick Welsford and Kirk Cox, both projects which presented challenges to the programmer in me. I finished a revamp of the Halifax Cranberry Company’s website, recreating the original Flash design in HTML, and creating a German version to run side-by-side with the English. I’ve done some business cards and brochures for Kisserup, and a resume website for Kim Stacey, soon to be transformed to a full Flash site. My most recent project was a new website for the startup Wordsmith Communications. Currently, I’ve got a few more projects on the go and hope to have loads of updates in the near future once things hit a bit of a lull, though I’m hoping that doesn’t happen any time soon.
Tags: business, design, pretty, projects, websites
Posted in misc | No Comments »
I’ve finished the redesign of kisserup.com, and am now working on a business card and brochure. I’m also taking care of a brochure/business card combination for the Walker Inn, which my mum bought a little while ago. I’m working on various smaller projects for the Halifax Cranberry Company, and am today starting on a revamp of the VoteDarian website for a local provincial Liberal candidate, Rick Welsford. What does that mean? Yep, there’s another election in the air! Naturally, I’m thrilled. The instability of Canadian government means that, since turning 18 four-odd years ago, I’ve voted in one provincial election and two federal. Last election night, I was so excited, I couldn’t sleep, and spent most of the night refreshing the results on my browser in anticipation. Spring fever has most definitely hit, and I’ve got my energy back. Got a project for me? Now’s a perfect time!
Tags: business, design, projects, websites
Posted in misc | No Comments »
The winter blues were rough this year. I’m blaming it on my having lost my Doestoevsky. The Switch’s website is coming along swimmingly, and I’ve started work on a redesign of kisserup.com. I’ve got another project backburnered as I don’t like to have too much on the go at once, but I seem to be coming out of my winter blues and am getting back to being Productivity Girl! Hurrah!
Tags: design, productivity, websites
Posted in misc | No Comments »
Just when I was starting to think I was about to have a boring week, everything suddenly got crazy. First, this local Halifax band (name to be finalized soon!) contacted me about doing a website, which means I get to get put on the guest list for their shows and sit around drinking Caesars and yelling about font sizes while my ears start ringing. Then, my local Liberal MP candidate contacted me about doing HIS website, and he needed it ready to go in under two weeks. Then my car needed four hours of repairs — and I was all set to drive 15 hours to Ottawa in a week and a bit. My Christmas shopping ended up primarily involving a massive quantity of Hershey’s Kisses and a trip to the liquor store, but I pulled everything off and managed the trip in one long, steady go with my cat on my lap the entire ride, while the South Shore Liberals kept warm at home with their new website: votedarian.ca.
Tags: design, websites
Posted in misc | No Comments »
Once more the pre-winter pre-Christmas blues are settling into my bones and turning me into a bed-potato, which is essentially the same thing as a couch potato, except that instead of watching Everybody Loves Raymond six times a day, I curl up with Russian authors. That said, I’m undergoing all kinds of personal growth & discovery, facing truly living on my own for the first time, and hoping to emerge with, like, a bazillion creative exploits. All I need is motivation.
For now, I’ve finished COPAN Offshore’s logo and business card, so those are finally up for display. I’ve also added some testimonials so that you can hear about how great people think I am. Since things have slowed down at work, I’ve been re-re-re-re-teaching myself Flash (I’ve been using it since version 4 and I keep having to re-familiarize myself with it!) by building a little standalone music player, which is almost finished. My next personal project is going to be a simple game — so if anyone has any clever ideas that DESPERATELY need to be realized, send ‘em my way, and I’ll see what I can do!
Tags: business, design
Posted in misc | No Comments »
It’s only taken me about half a year, but I’ve finally crossed an item off my perennially growing “to-do” list: add flash to portfolio. I’ve always been fond of this monologue from Fear & Loathing, and not solely because it seems like a shopping list for debauchery. While I was at it, I added a t&s time capsule chronicling some of the various different designs this site has undergone (that’s another strikeout on my to-do list). And then for good measure (I was on a roll at this point), I added screenshots of the Brambles Antiques website—both the public site and the admin panel. These days, I’m working with COPAN Offshore to develop a logo for their new business, and am painting my bedroom walls a bright gold.
Tags: business, design, projects, screenshot, websites
Posted in misc, site updates | No Comments »
RSS Feeds: