Tips for the career-oriented among us

March 1, 2013 in Careers, Student Life | No comments

By Jeremy Kahn

Jeremy Kahn shares tips for the coming Career Fair. Image: Jeremy Kahn

Jeremy Kahn shares tips for the coming Career Fair. Image: Jeremy Kahn

SCAD’s career fair is slowly but surely creeping up. With only a few months left ’till the fair, best start preparing now so you’re all set come April. Be sure to check the Career Fair website which will be live come late February for a list of all participating companies. You’ll be able to view each company’s logo, profile, website and career and internship information.

While searching, you’ll have the ability to sort companies based on majors sought and opportunities for international students. In addition, be sure to conduct independent online research about your companies of interest. SCAD’s Career Fair page also provides preparation tips, and workshops.

When researching what companies to visit, try to remain open-minded. Many of the companies will consider candidates from multiple disciplines.

The Career Fair provides a valuable opportunity to expand your network of contacts across all art and design industries and around the globe. Make sure to do all your research all of your companies of interest in advance and develop a strategy to visit your top companies of interest.

Be sure to dress professionally. Women should wear a dress shirt, dress skirt or pants and closed-toe shoes with a low heel. Men should wear a dress shirt, dress pants and dress shoes. A business suit would be acceptable but not required.

While many creative companies offer a casual work environment, jeans and flip-flops are not appropriate for the Career Fair. You want the employers to focus on your work and professional attributes rather than any distracting attire. When in doubt, speak to your career adviser about the standards for your industry.

Of course, just like your appearance, your work must also be assembled into a well thought-out portfolio. Your portfolio is only as strong as your weakest piece, so you want to ensure you are selecting your most professional and highest-quality work, focusing on quality rather than quantity. Your professors and career adviser can provide critique and feedback for showcasing your strongest work. If you contributed to a team project, employers will want to hear about your specific contributions.

In addition to your portfolio, be sure to bring several copies of your resume printed on a high-quality resume paper. You will also want to bring a business card and/or a leave-behind piece with a link to your portfolio website. Many employers will want to view your portfolio (print or digital) and/or your process book. If you plan to show a digital portfolio, bring your own tablet or laptop and save your work offline. Practice your interviewing skills and be prepared to network.

For business cards there are multiple venues to get them made. You can go the local brick and mortar print shop route or through an online printing company. Make sure to research paper samples and prices to determine the best quality and value for your project. If needed, many print shops offer free paper sample kits by request.

As you conclude your conversation with an employer, mention that you would like to keep in touch and ask if he or she has a business card while offering yours. If an employer gives you a business card, send them an invitation to connect on LinkedIn after the Career Fair to keep in touch.

Thanks to Kimberly Lopez, lead coordinator for Career Fair 2013, for helping answer all questions whose answers were used in the creation of this article.

Good luck and happy job hunting.

The Travel Log: Dubai

February 22, 2013 in Column, Student Life, Travel Log | No comments

By Kathy McCurdy

Dubai is a city under construction. Photo by Kathy McCurdy

Dubai is a city under construction. Photo by Kathy McCurdy

I lived in a construction zone, but everyone in Dubai lives in a construction zone. Apparently the whole of Dubai is only 50% occupied. I would have thought more like 35%. Dark towers of empty offices and apartments are all over.

Half-built planned housing communities with many of the individual structures exposed and unfinished.

You can see concrete blocks, the stuff that houses are made of, hanging out like a skinless chicken breast. Like living in a Costco.

Most of the construction, the bits that are actually finished, is not very interesting at all. It’s like some wannabe architect from the 1980s fell through a black hole and went hog-wild designing the whole town, with lots of brass-n-glass and those odd ’80s silhouettes, all geometric and edgy.

With a couple notable exceptions like the Burj Khalifa – tallest building in the world, until the Saudis stand theirs up anyway – and the Burj al Arab – the gazillion dollar a night hotel shaped like a sail, you can pretty much visualize the Trump Tower in NYC, enlarge that, make it in colors in addition to pink, and there is your basic Dubai.

Take that lovely picture in your mind, plunk it down in the middle of a construction site and sprinkle some cranes, some floodlights, and some pits in and around the buildings – and don’t forget miles of candy-cane k-rail and several band-aid-like strips of highway overpass just standing over you with no ramps up to or down from these concrete “tables”. It’s like an urban Stonehenge.

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Bulletin: Pitch your shorts to Nickelodeon

February 6, 2013 in Briefs, Calls for Submissions, News | No comments

Jeremy Kahn is here to tell you about great opportunities to share your work. Image: Jeremy Kahn

By Jeremy Kahn

As some may be aware, Nickelodeon holds a pitch contest every now and then for new animated programs. Well, it’s that time of the year again. Nickelodeon is opening up their submissions page to potential animators and their ideas.

The opportunity won’t be here forever though, with the deadline coming up in just a few short months. Interested animators have until March 29 to submit their work to Nick at their website.

Submissions must be comedic, character driven and have kid appeal with about 2-3 characters in total. Additionally, they should be given the basic concept treatment. This means character descriptions (both design and written descriptions). It also means that you should be prepared to include either a two-minute rough storyboard thumbnail or a two-minute script/outline. Resumes and related credits are required, including links to any work you may have online. Further details can be found in the aforementioned link.

Other parts of the submission such as character designs, layouts and links to additional pitch content are not required, but not prohibited.

When coming up with your story, keep in mind that your characters must be relatable to kids, 6-11, while appealing to both boys and girls. If you do a story about non-human character, try to make their mindset like a kid.

Remember, the deadline is March 29. Good luck to everyone who decides to participate.

Profiles in Professorship: S. Maureen Burke, Ph.D.

January 25, 2013 in Art History, Profiles in Professorship, Teaching | No comments

By Paul Maynard

Photo courtesy of SCAD

Profiles in Professorship is a new SCAD Myriad column that aims to shine a spotlight on the various professors that teach eLearning courses. With varied teaching styles and backgrounds, every professor brings something unique to their elearning approach.

In this interview, Paul Maynard speaks with professor S. Maureen Burke of the Art History department and gets an in depth view of the professor’s thoughts.

Myriad: What department do you associate yourself with and what classes do you normally instruct?

Burke: Art History and I usually teach Survey of Western Art I and II

Myriad: Please tell us of any personal heroes, artists/professionals/family/friends, whom you admire and why.

Burke: In Savannah, I was honored to become friends and work with the late Civil Rights leader and museum founder, W. W. Law, one of the country’s great men.  I admire a very eclectic range of artists – from anonymous medieval illuminators and fresco painters to Renaissance masters to contemporary artists like Bill Viola whose installation “Crossings” I premiered, and Fred Wilson, with whom I spoke in a round-table panel in New York a couple of months ago.

Myriad: Please let us know about the myriad of careers paths available to students in your program of study as well as some personal advisement.

Burke: Education – teaching, museum education

Museums, auction houses and galleries (positions ranging from curatorial to exhibit designers and graphic artists)

Art criticism/art writing/media

Myriad: Could you also enlighten us about your personal aesthetics of art (with some examples of personal works that you are proud of?

Burke: I regard art as a horizon, something that permits people to take a new view or conceive of new possibilities or a place that is removed from everyday matters.  Achievement in the visual arts is one of the highest human aspirations and creates a legacy for the future or a way of understanding and appreciating the past.

Myriad: Please share your thoughts on what you consider to be the characteristics of a successful student. How would one convey their thirst for hard work and knowledge? As a professor, how would you encourage you students to strive for improvement?

Burke: The students who do the best in the classes are the ones who are deeply engaged. They participate in the class discussions beyond the required posts, answer other students or ask questions in their posts, add a link to an interesting article or video or exhibition that is pertinent, possibly share a personal experience of art or a personal perspective or a photograph, add occasional images to their posts, do some background research that they add. If they have questions or some problem affecting their classwork, they shouldn’t hesitate to email or contact their professor.

Often good for a longer online assignment such as a major discussion post or essay question on an exam to write your draft in Word and do your spell-check there – then paste it into the course site (there is a mash up tab just above the discussion box to the left you can use to attach Word text). That way if you somehow lose it technically in the system, you can replace it easily without losing your work.

The students who get the most out of their classes are the ones who are actually online the most, reading the other students’ posts or course units, writing responses.

Consider contacting your professor early (before the quarter begins) to find out about the textbook or course requirements if you have a busy schedule at the beginning.

If you have a disability of some type, contact the counseling department and let your professor know of any special needs.

Watch out for connectivity problems, and have an alternative lined up in case you lose service. Usually a local library has public computers if you don’t have access to campus computers. There is a new Blackboard app for smart phones you might consider getting. It’s best to have a hard wire connection for exams and course submissions. Firefox is the recommended browser. Don’t have too many windows open at one time, and sometimes if you have problems, log into the system again. Let your professor know if you lose your Internet service.

Myriad: In your opinion, what would be the main differences and similarities between a live class and an elearning one?

Burke: SCAD online courses are designed to cover the same material as the campus courses, and are often taught by the same faculty members. The pace is a little different, since the requirements are on a weekly basis and involve writing your discussions rather than answering questions in class. The quizzes and exams are more like open book exams, rather than slide identification and memorized factual material.

Myriad: What would be some advantages to the elearning environment? What are some tools that students can use to cope with the “disconnect” they may feel by not having face-to-face contact?

Burke: Online courses are more flexible in their structure.  You don’t have to be in a classroom at a set time, but can schedule your classwork on your own time around other commitments—as long as you click on the course website and turn in your assignments on time.

Some of the pressure is off students, since the exams are basically open book exams where you can research your answers in the textbook or other references.  Having extra time and not having to memorize so much will often let you focus more on the artwork and broader concepts about the art movements, styles, and artists.

Students often enjoy seeing the range of different perspectives on the artwork, that come from other students who will also have other majors.  The different assignments such as presentations often permit you to learn from another student’s choices, opinions, research and examples.

Online courses are often opportunities to express your ideas about art, share you perspectives and experiences, learn to analyze artwork, and become comfortable with communicating your ideas.

Each class is a learning community – get to know your classmates through their introductions and discussions.  Often you will be in other classes with them, either online or on campus.  The exchanges in the discussions are a good chance to get a sense of others. There is a class dynamic that develops across a quarter that will inform you and that you contribute to.

If you have questions, be sure to ask your professor or see how your fellow students are approaching a topic. In addition to email, there are weekly office hours, and sometimes you can set up private conferences via email, Connect meeting room, or IM.  Some faculty members will review your project or written assignment before you have to turn it in officially.  If you feel isolated, be sure and participate on the discussion boards, even if you are just writing short comments.  That way you are in dialogue with your fellow students and share the experience more.

Reports from Abroad: Advertising trends in southeast Asia

January 14, 2013 in Advertising, Reports from Abroad | No comments

 

An example of typical ad design in S. E. Asia. Image courtesy of Paul Maynard

By Paul Maynard

Paul Maynard is an eLearning student living in Vietnam. His work for Myriad touches on the differences between the industries of the two regions.

After my Intro to Advertising course wrapped up in the fall, I became curious about the differences between American theory in advertising and current trends in S. E. Asian advertising.

As it turns out, these differences start all the way up to the structure of agencies themselves. S.E. Asia business culture is set up in a cluster – meaning that many people have many roles, teamwork is the highest priority and position titles are irrelevant. There is a CEO, a president, a director, and an owner.

In many American companies, these titles might be held by the same person, but in S.E. Asia they’re just used to identify different people on their business cards. All of these people do the same job essentially. If you think it’s confusing now, just wait.

Let’s talk about budgets now. In the USA, a traditional company may give bonuses out if you stay under annual budget – not here. An annual budget must be spent, and is usually spent early in the calendar year (the reality of it is that most of the funds are dipped into and stashed into pockets, instead of used for paying out rates).

It’s a tough truth of the market, but at least it can work in your favor. If you’re looking to do business in S. E. Asia, start networking and building working relationships late in the year. When the new year rolls around, you’ll have a better chance of getting some of that budget for your projects before it dries up. 

Speaking of your own projects, let’s talk about contracts. In short, do not write it. Under no circumstances should you write a contract. Don’t go in thinking your slick American business mind will protect you and fill in loop holes by writing a contract yourself- this will only come back to haunt you.

The local company will archive your proposal, copy it, revise it, and use the benefits against you. Essentially, they will turn the contract around to be in their favor. The crucial thing is to research your options and have a person native to the region/more experienced help you.

Lastly, design. You have to go into the business with the knowledge that your layouts and designs will be copied. Your design submissions will probably be rejected, and the overall layouts and styling will be copied and redone by local teams. You have to accept this as a fact of life.

At least you will come out knowing that you are influencing positive artistic change in the developing world. But the worst part is, you won’t get credit and you won’t get paid. Intellectual property is not an issue here. You will, however, build a good reputation for yourself with future clients and projects if you are patient and go with the flow.

Don’t fight, don’t’ argue, and don’t threaten legal action. You are a part of socialization now. Everyone talks to everyone. Your ability to role with the punches is of higher value then making your point.

Good luck!

Jeremy Kahn’s Vertical Ascent

November 21, 2012 in Uncategorized | No comments

This fall semester I’ve been busy interning at Vertical. Everyday I take a train from where I live upstate to NYC. From Grand Central I walk about 12 blocks to the building Vertical’s office is located in. After a quick stop for breakfast I start to work at my given assignments.

At the beginning I was busy proofing manga pages. This consisted of me looking over a series of PDFs to see if there was any mistakes on the pages. After I checked each page I would re-convert them back into a PDF file. The plan is to have each file eventually converted into an e-book friendly file.

Around the same time as I was doing work on this I was also given the assignment of cleaning manga pages. Cleaning pages consisted of removing Japanese text from each page in Photoshop. Some of the text is placed over parts of image, so removing it means messing up part of the image underneath. This results in having to go back in and touch up some areas by either redrawing some parts, or using the clone tool to fix up the zip-a-tone. For the cloning tool, I  had to learn how to correctly use and apply it when working with zip-a-tone layers. One of the main things I learned and worked with were the overlay and clipping options that are available for the clone tool.

At first I was having difficulties getting the zip-a-tone to line up correctly. To fix this, I erased all the zip-a-tone then created a new layer underneath the one I was working on. Here, I went about recreating the zip-a-tone as a mask. By recreating the zip-a-tone from scratch, and working with it one area at a time, I had more control over it.

At one point I was given the task of designing a logo and cover design for a new manga title Vertical is going to be putting out in the future. This task was meant as a test to see how I would go about creating a cover and logo if given the actual assignment. To start, I creating a bunch of thumbnail designs of both the logo and the cover with variations on how the logo would be placed on it.

Next, using InDesign I went about creating the cover design. I was given a few assets to work with including the image of the cover’s art work. After creating the logo, I placed it on the cover in a visually appealing way. Then I repeated this for two over cover variations. Just to verify, I didn’t draw out the cover’s image, I was merely creating the logo and how it was placed on the cover.

I also helped create part of another cover design. The design called for random black spots so I was given ink and a tooth brush and went about splattering the ink on a blank page. Someone then took the ink splatter and scanned it into PS. There, she transformed and scaled it to make it usable for the cover design.

I was also able to try my hand at lettering. Lettering is a bit different than western comics as you fit the letters to already drawn bubbles. Also, the font is set vertically as to take up as much space within the bubble as possible.  Also, when lettering SFX the original Japanese SFX is still present, you’re just placing the translation for the SFX on the page. To do this, you need to make the new translated SFX text small enough to fit next to the Japanese text, but also large enough to see.

Come Comic Con I volunteered to help out at Vertical’s booth. After helping bring over boxes of books to the convention center I helped setup the table and worked the booth during the convention, but during my downtime I visited other company booths to show off my portfolio. My best reception was at the Archie booth who really liked what I had. They even said for me to email them a PDF with my portfolio later on. I also met with a small group who’d say they be in contact. As for panels, I had time to attend one I was looking forward to.

The panel was set up for indie comic artists to network. A good way to describe it was speed-dating. We would spend some time introducing ourselves and exchanging info with people, then after a certain time period move on to someone else. It was a quick and nice way to make contacts. I even met an alumni from SCAD.

While most of my time was probably spent cleaning manga pages, I really had fun at this internship. Not only did I learn a lot but the people I worked with were very friendly. One of the best things to come out of this is I’m getting production credit in at least two titles that are going to be releasing soon. Also, I was told that the cover design I did was really well received and might even be used for the actual release. They just need to get permission from the artist in Japan.

Overall, this internship was very productive and of course fun.

Lastly, I just want to thank everyone at Vertical for allowing me to partake in an internship with them and for all they provided me.

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