The Positive of My Job as a Graphic Designer

Hello everyone,
Well it's Monday and I'm sitting at a cafe enjoying my Matcha donut and Latte (This is becoming more of a routine now). I'm about to head to work, where Mondays seem to be my haven after the busy weekends at the tearoom. As I start writing my morning pages, I'm always surprised with the though of how fortunate and blessed I am. I do what I love and I earn money doing it. It takes the stress out of a part of my life at least, that's something that I never want to take for granted.

At my non-profit I help inspiring young artist and talents grow in real time productions. I know that plenty of them look to this blog for inspiration and advice, which I'm happy that this blog has evolved from a hobby to something that has helped others. I've come a long way and I really want to share the things that I've learned. So aspiring Designers and those just breaking into this field, here's a little look at the highlights of my daily grind and why I find it so rewarding.

I bridge the gap where there is a need: I think one of the things that blows me away is the places I can take a business with something as simple as a cleaned up logo, or a flyer. Think about how often you look at a screen through the day, then think about how often you look at paper. Almost always have these things been graced by a designer, they are like a suit to the business and they help 'dress' the company. It's a good feeling to help give businesses that access.

I'm constantly inspired by being challenged: When I started working for Tea Rose Garden, I was so frustrated with how much needed to be done. It was a growing pain for me to take everything that I felt was new and necessary to finding that compromise that soon reflected the shop the way that the owner always wished it to be. In the end what it taught me was to be a better listener to my clients. I study seasonal flowers to vector into their newsletters, I know the shapes of fine boned china brands, and I keep on trend with wedding designs. These inspire and reflect my decisions and how I go about designing things for the shop.

I work with other artists, which is a great community: If you haven't noticed yet, artists are weird. We have our own strange ticks that only other artist seem to understand sometimes. This doesn't always seem to apply every client, but as for my main client I work with a floral team whic is constantly designing flowers and special events. We understand and respect each others strange ticks, but at the same time we have a strong understanding to be honest and critique. I think that more than anything, this is one of the best things about my job. It adds a sense of freedom and value to my work and skills.

Granted, like any job there are the definite ups and downs. I get just as upset and frustrated as I do in any other job that I've held. But at the end of the day, there is this underlining gratefulness that I'm doing something that I know I've worked hard to be skilled at. I hope that this post helps inspire.

Happy Monday, Cheers!

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2012 IN REVIEW

 Hi everyone,
Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday weekend! This year has been so Topsy-Turvy for me that I'm amazed at the things that happened this year. There are so many things on my mind lately and opportunities in-store for me in the up coming year that I often wonder how on earth I made it here. This post is a little scrapbook of the growth through 2012 that I've made.

My feelings for this year have been bitter sweet. Never in my life have I gone through so many high to low points in my life. I can safely say that 2012 has changed me for the better, and I feel much more wise and prepared for life that I ever was. I understand that things can't be perfect and that ideals are only such and shouldn't be taken seriously. On this cold Winter night I would love it if you'd join me in this post as I recap my year. Consider this my Annual Scrapbook.

January

ALA: I started the year as a guest speaker at Anime Los Angeles. 2011 was all about guest speaking for Azure Lorica and we decided that after this convention we were going to slow down. We almost didn't do this one after our busy production of Fate Pendulum's Project Italy in Dec 2011; but I'm glad we did because we made great connections and friends!

Silencio: I was honored to work as an Artistic Director on Silencio for Tamirfilms! Tamir and I had met by chance one day and within the same year we were on air with PBS talking about the film together; what are the odds? Silencio is an Indie Film that expresses the detrimental effects of bullying.This is a picture of Silencio Jr. where we took the theme and taught high-schoolers how to film to raise awareness of bullying. The mayor of Pasadena is in the middle supporting our crew!

Freelancing: I started to freelance as a Graphic/Web Designer. Thanks to my work with Silencio my reputation grew and I gained several clients from the project. This was the year I was going to graduate so I was able to finally dip my toes into the Industry and try it for myself. Enthralling as it was I started to back away from taking clients after a few months because I needed to focus on graduating. Besides, what I wanted more than anything at the time was to be in a design firm... more on that later...

 February

Started working at Tea Rose Garden: My first 'regular' paid job since high school! At first I came on with the owner as her Freelance eStore Designer. After sometime she noticed my charm and Grace and I became good friends. She gave me a small job of organizing the bills and doing the office work. It wasn't much but it gave me steady cash. She became one of my mentors even until now. This picture is Candice, my cousin Jen, and I working on some product photography. 

Tea with my Childhood Hero- Joey Beville: Everything in life happens for a reason. And a year before this I had put up a picture of Annie and the Scandals as my Facebook Icon. Innocently I wrote on my favorite band, Echoing Green's fan page. Next thing you know it BAM! I get a friend request from the lead singer Joey! Would you know an adoration letter and a year later he happened to be staying in Pasadena and I asked sheepishly if he would sign some things. Naw, thats still not cool enough, I HAD TEA WITH MY SUPER SUPER HERO! I love Joey until this day and his lyrics stand for so many life changing decisions in my life. (Getting teary eyed...) Meeting and being friends with Joey is one of those things where I can say that I. Have. Lived.

My Funny Valentine: Eugene and I celebrated our 6th year engage to each other this Valentine's Day. We felt like this was a crossroad for us this year as we realized we got so ambitious with our writing and our vision that our wedding has sort of been set aside in priority. This day we decided that we wouldn't trade our life for anything, and our relationship had no regrets. We'll be the funny couple that has been together forever because it is who we are!

My first public solo gallery: As a gift for my 27th birthday. I came into the Tea Rose Garden and set up my years of work as an art student in the halls. My little gallery was a conversational piece for patrons, bridal showers, birthdays, and so much more. All of them over a cup of tea. I couldn't have asked for a better gift! This was also the preparation for my graduation party 2 weeks later. The gallery was displayed until early May.

March

Graduation: After several years, three schools, four major changes; I was the proud graduate with a Bachelors in Graphic Design. We shut down the Tea Rose Garden and thew a cheese and cake party with Echoing Green blasting through the shop. My friends all came, had a great time, and we talked about my art and the future. I can honestly say that it was one of the most perfect happiest days in my life. The evening ended with balloons being released into the air top represent the beginning of the future. I remember seeing the balloons hit the side of the building then take off. Grace said it must mean that the beginning will be rocky but it'll soar afterwards. Her prediction was dead on... Afterwards we ran across the street and went to the pub for a pint and good laughs.

April

World Premiere of Captain Clay: July 2011, I came up with the idea of holding a playwright contest for young writers. The setting was an airship and the play was to be One Act. My intent was so that Eugene and I could stop hogging the lime-lite and promote the art of play writing with the rest of the new generation. Well! this was how Findlings; our now annual playwright contest began. Our winner happened to be the lovely Lauren Bauer who wrote the comedy Captain Clay and the Treasure of the Pacific. This was the first play in several years where I could focus entirely as a Director and took it all the way. I had a great cast; with my cousin Jen as my new Stage Manager and Eugene as my strong hand Producer, this play shined! After 2 years I returned to a black box stage and it was pure magic. 

Sponsoring DBoy Productions: Remember how I made connections and friends at ALA in January? Well after getting to know each other my company took a big leap and signed our first Fiscal Sponsored Production Company. DBoy Productions does geek comedy at conventions and in the LA County.  Their leader Danny has become a wonderful Producer under our mentorship and has grown to be a great friend all around. I'm proud to say once more that I'm a part of this close knit community.  To think this was only the beginning of other partnerships.

May

Nocturnal Notes Project: In 2007 Eugene and I created our 2nd play together: Nocturnal Notes. NN is a romantic play that takes the King Arthur fairytale and puts the characters into modern Los Angeles. The play was named after a book that was published by the two lead characters of letters they had written together in the time they were separated. We've had a small following from the play since and we wanted to expand the idea further. In May this year we purchase NoctunalNotes.com and continued to write as the characters to later publish the collection in a book form. Currently NN is in hiatus since things picked up, but my hope is to continue and finish telling this beautiful story.

Job Hunting: After Mothers Day I was feeling off working at TRG. It just wasn't paying what I wanted after graduation and I knew it was just a small job until something came along. Freelancing was arduous and took so much out of me combined with the productions. So I went on the hunt. I got three jobs out of several hundred applications I sent, and handful of interviews I had. One I rejected, the other I decided wasn't for me, but the last one...

June

The Ugly Truth: I quit a job I had got as well as my job at TRG to work for a web firm in Los Angeles. Sounds glamorous doesn't it? I was a ghostwriter for big names, blogging, promoting, and working with social media. My dream job turned ugly... I was being told to make fake IDs to review products, pick up ratings, lie if I had to. I felt like absolute shit after the 3rd day. The travel was horrid, my boss was a male chauvinist. After my third day I didn't sleep that night, I got an email from a gallery offering an interview that next day and I would have to hop another job in under 2 weeks. I was so lost in the monster I had become. I was fired through an email that afternoon and my ass of a boss never even sent me my pay for the days I worked. I didn't go for the gallery job because I felt like I was losing control and fell into a deep depression and startling reality of my line of work I graduated in; it can consume you if you let it.

July

Anime Expo: My friends dragged me out of hiding for several weeks and got me to go to Anime Expo. Every year I get Industry Badges for Eugene and I and we go to mingle. I've been attending this convention on and off for almost a decade. The thing that made this convention special were all the new friends that I made from ALA and DBoy Productions. It rocked! I felt my age again and this marked the beginning of me recovering from my depression.

Alice & Wonderland: Azure Lorica started to experiment in producing in other community areas other than the library. We did a reading of Alice & Wonderland at the Park and had kids lay on mats. It was fun, but we decided after that production that this wasn't a route we wanted to take.

Sponsoring Project 760 Productions: The day after Anime Expo Eugene had a meeting with Ray from 760 and agreed to sponsor them in exchange for press work which we were lacking staff in. I agreed and the bond began with our second sponsored company. Ray is the head Producer for 760, an art/community press team.

August

Kahoots Marketing: Almost hours after I was fired from my last job, I was given an offer from a friend that his friend was looking for a Graphic Designer. I met two amazing older gentlemen through the course of June until August and developed a friendship with veterans in my field. Men that were sucessful and did what they love. They were nothing like my previous boss. We formed Kahoots Marketing, a firm that caters to small business. I am proud to be apart of this team as my phobia for the Industry is still being mended with healing words and appreciation for my talents. Tyrone and Marshall are a blessing sent to me to heal my fears. I couldn't ask for better partners.

Feel Good Film Festival:This was our second year invited to the festival, but our first year as Press. FGFF is a Festival that promotes positive message films. I think that this festival was a real healing point for me as I was surrounded by passionate artists making their dreams come true. This was also the first time we worked with Project 760, which we later found out was a match made in heaven. Btw, side note: One of the perks of my job is rocking teal hair at a red carpet event. Heck yesh!

San Diego: I went on a weekend trip to San Diego. Something I never thought I would get around to this year, especially without a job. It was a blessing to get away and enjoy some new cafes in the Gaslamp area. I bought one of my now favorite all-time books there in a discount store. It was so simple but so perfect.

September

Captain Clay for the Public: We went on with our second production of Captain Clay at the Donald Wright Auditorium. This was my first time directing a play for the second time. It was also my first time directing an all girl cast. I absolutely loved it and would love to do it again! They were so unique on how they played off of each other that I was surprised when I saw the final performance! I can't say that one cast was better than the other as they had their own separate characteristics. Hmm that would be an interesting post... Oh, and that helm, Eugene and I made from dumpster diving a couch frame. Awesome isn't it?

Interview with Stephanie Barish: Being out of practice with press work this was a changing point for me. I had interviewed the CEO of Indiecade through Skype, something I had never done before. Indiecade is the Sundance for video games. They also gave us tickets to raffle off at the Captain Clay showings. It was a really cool bridge to be made with another non-profit. For the meantime, I think I'll leave our sponsored companies to the press work...

Fell in love with personal blogs: This wasn't really an invent in my year but something that became a big part of my life: blogs. I discovered Nearsighted Owl for her DIY on a Pixie Cut and absolutely fell in love with her blog. Soon enough I was hoping to others and uncovered this amazing body-positive, fun loving, creative community.  I didn't feel so alone anymore. There were others like me that felt that there was more to life than the job, the security, and the conformity. Reading blogs started to shake the scales from me as I wanted to be creative again and share my opinions and talents with the world once more.

October:

Tea Spectral: My blog was born! Be it this wasn't my first blog ever created, but this was my first blog where I felt free to be me. I fell into the lie that blogging was made to make you look like a 'professional' in the industry that I was careful what to write. Now I feel free and even more inspired to pursue my career just by sharing my daily life and trails on this blog. I'm so happy to be in blogland and I can't get enough of my new found hobby. 

Indiecade: We covered Indiecade making friends with Industry greats as well as up and coming game designers from all over the world. It was a great weekend to be around creative people again and to bond with my team. I was blown away with the innovation and community that was involved with the cause. I am so proud to be a part of this generation and the gift of witnessing such things come to life. 
Sponsoring Raging Nerds: During Indiecade we made a very good lunch meeting with Raging Nerds and DBoy, who have worked together in the past a few times. Raging Crow had gotten a Red Carpet pass to cover on behalf of Azure Lorica and had done such a great job! Seeing that we needed more staff on our press team we were proud to add them as another sponsored production team. Covering legends and major conventions like E3, we couldn't ask for a better team.

Interview with Adobe: Another thing in my life that made me feel like I lived happened. I interviewed the Evangelist for Adobe on their future developments in Flash. As a student, designer, and avid fan of Adobe for over a decade; this was an experience I could have never possibly imagined. 
  Ramona High: We were invited to a volunteer fair and had the opportunity to share our non-profit with the wonderful young ladies of Ramona High. I was inspired to see them interested and bright eyed; ready to change the world with their own stories about to be told.

November:

Avila Bay:A second vacation in a year? Wow, I felt amazing going up to Avila Bay. Last I was at this goregous resort next to the coast was when I was lovestruck by Eugene and we had to go on vacation with our families. I was so happy to introduce it to him almost 10 years after and share this unforgetable breathtaking spot with him.

Tea Festival: The mark of the beginning of my meditations. I loved actually going to classes and lectures to further my understanding of tea and the daily applications of this wonderful beverage. If it weren't for this event I wouldn't have started meditation which has become such an important thing in my life. 
 
Wrote our first grant: Something we've been waiting for. After Three years we were eligible to apply for an art grant. Eugene and I are looking forward to applying more to expand our non-profit and continue to bring independent arts education to Los Angeles with our events and productions. 

Business Proposal: I was offered a business proposal opportunity that may well effect life and my career as I know it. I'm still working on it with a vengeance and hope to get it done before the year ends. 

 
First Sponsor Giveaway: I really enjoyed giving my teas away on Better Blogger Network. This way I got to share my passions with others. I hope to do this again, hopefully with other blogs.

December:

Palm Springs: What's this? Another vacation!? I went to Palm Springs with my family and enjoyed the weekend. Three vacations after none for three years. Not bad at all...

10 Year Anniversary: For a decade, Eugene and I have grown together, learned to love, and have been in this relationship for the long haul. After such a crazy, intense, trial and error type of year; I couldn't ask for a better way to end it than this little piece of history. Eugene was my first ever serious relationship, first kiss, and now my fiance. If anything I did right, it was chosing to stay with this amazing beautiful man of mine.

With how crazy this year has been I'm a bit scared of how 2013 will be. I'm doing my best to think positively and with much bravery.

Cheers!

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Out and Abouts: Original Thai BBQ

I know that I recently did an Out & Abouts this week, but I couldn't help myself for this special occasion. This afternoon Eugene and I took Candice to fill out paperwork to her new job! Can you tell that she's happy? From working at a fabric store for 5 years to an Office Manager. She got her Christmas & Birthday wish all in one.

Her work is also a 10 minute drive on side streets from Eugene's place. I'll be giving her rides to work starting Monday until she gets better acquainted with things. We asked him a good place to eat for lunch and we went to this place just around the corner.

I love this place when your in a group looking for good food. They have family combinations that are under $30 and can feed a family of four. You know me and good cheap Asian Food, I never get tired of it. We ordered the C-2 Family combination.

 Here's what we got:

Clear Soup: Your standard chicken and vegetable clear soup. Mmm I love the little mushrooms and onions in it. You can tell that it comes out with the flame in the middle to keep it warm. I almost finished all of this immediately. Asian soup is so simple yet so yummy!

Honey Spare Ribs: Yeah, these ribs fall right off the bone. They're so tasty with a light honey sweet marinate. I'm not sure why they include the sweet chili sauce with it as it's pretty sweet by itself. They're also pretty saucy and spread well on the rice.

Yellow Chicken Curry: Oh yes, the sweet spicy curry! I love the potatoes that come with it. The sauce is lightly sweeter than most Thai curries because they add a bit of pineapple to the mix.

Broccoli Beef: Unlike the Chinese version, this has a much thinner sauce that is lightly sweeter. The beef is also sliced thinner so you get more of the Broccoli.

It's been awhile since I've had some Thai food so I was more than obliged to go. We had so much left overs it was ridiculous. It was a good token for Candice to take home before she got ready for her current job and put in her two week notice this evening. Wow, can you belive the years almost over? So many exciting things!

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