No new clients this week, and a couple of promising leads have been put on hold. While I’m a little disappointed, it means I can work this week on getting myself better organized.

This evening, I’ll finish and upload the blog post I promised on retro fonts, and then I’ll start one on digital organization for designers. It’s a topic I’ve struggled with myself; hopefully you can learn a thing or two from my (many) trials and errors.

Since I’ve got less on my plate this week, I’ll also be working on my resume and my e-mail pitch to prospective clients. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about subscribing to production reports to see what movies and tv shows are currently in production. I’ve found a new source called Below The Line, which is significantly cheaper than the two I mentioned previously. I’ve still got a while to go before I move to L.A., which means I can’t be quite as gung-ho about job hunting yet. So this less-expensive alternative is a great fit for me right now. I’m going to keep an eye out for productions that will be filming in San Francisco, and try to send out at least one resume a week, just to test the water. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Make-It-Worth-Your-While Link

While I hope my Monday updates are interesting (and with any luck, inspirational), I also want to offer at least one thing that’s tangibly useful. So check out this interview with Go Media’s Jeff Finley on designing for the film industry. If you could dog-ear a web page, I would have worn the corner off of this page long ago. I’ve read it countless times, and it’s a great source of inspiration and advice.

Designing for the Film Industry: A Chat with Go Media’s Jeff Finley [from Colorburned]

Hmm, let’s see … Not a whole lot going on this week. Just the usual top-secret work for QMx, a couple of freelance projects … oh, and a Photoshop tutorial that got linked to from i09 and Gizmodo (to name just a few) and is currently flooding my blog with new visitors.

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It’s Monday, so it must be time for an update.

Had quite the productive week last week, which included a couple of new projects for QMx. Unfortunately, as per usual, they’re of the can’t-tell-you-about-them-without-getting-fired variety. Oh well.

The highlight of the week was an interview I did with the Giant Fire Breathing Robot podcast, which was released today. You can check out the podcast here. My interview starts at about 32:30. In it, I talk about my career with QMx, my work on the Save Hiatus webcomic, how important (or not) formal art / design training really is. Oh, and I also talk about how awesome geek girls are, because it’s true, and always fun to talk about.

No new contacts or freelance work this week, but hopefully the podcast will help with that. It’s all about baby steps, people!

Oh, and stay tuned. I’ll have another tutorial up sometime this week.

Since I’m still an entertainment industry novice, I’m spending a lot of time researching the industry, and talking to folks who’ve been doing this a long time. One of the most helpful resources I’ve had so far is a friend I met through working with QMx. Geoffrey Mandel was the graphic designer for Serenity (he’s also worked more recently on Mad Men and Parks and Recreation), and he’s been gracious enough to put up with — and answer — a steady stream of questions over the past few years. The last time we talked, he had a few pieces of really helpful advice for me. Continue Reading »

Every Monday, I’m going to try to post an update about what I’ve got on tap in terms of design projects this week. I won’t be able to go into details on everything, since some of my projects are under non-disclosure agreements, but I’ll give as much detail as I’m allowed to. This week, I’m working on projects for a parenting magazine and QMx, and trying to expand my networking efforts.

Used under a Creative Commons license from @superamit

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I’ve decided to restart my blog, and chronicle my efforts to start a career as a graphic designer in film and television. It’s a journey I’m already on, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m still at the start of that journey. As I go, I’ll be talking about what I’m doing to make connections in the industry, what projects I’m working on (assuming I can talk about them yet), frustrations, advice I’ve gotten from others, and anything else that occurs to me that might be relevant to my adventure. Adventure is a perfect word for this. I’m jumping on this career path a little later than others (I’m 35 now), and to be quite honest, I have no idea where this path will wind up leading me in the end. But I’ve never been more certain of what I want to do when I grow up. In some ways, this will be a diary for me, to focus my thoughts and help me track my progress along the way. At the same time, I hope to make it a useful reference for others looking to embark on the same journey. Continue Reading »