Author Archives: Jenn

Final Project #1: The Ad Campaign Extension

A few days back, I mentioned the marathon that was school and the raft of final projects that were due. Here’s the first in the series of projects. I was really pleased with how everything turned out. This first project … Continue reading

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The never-ending quest to learn

Today wrapped up a very hectic, sometimes mind-numbing, sometimes sleepless, sometimes frustrating five months in which I decided to take three different classes at Sacramento City College. I hadn’t taken that many classes in a while, but there were so … Continue reading

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Would you like motion with those graphics?

In the quest to always learn new things, one of the classes I’m taking at the local junior college is a motion graphics class. We’re learning how to use After Effects. (I have to say, After Effects is awesome. I … Continue reading

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Latest Project: Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center

Another project is in the books, and this one just went live today: Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center. This is another WordPress build. The design is by Barbara Lawrie of BTL Designs. I did the WordPress backend. The good folks … Continue reading

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New year, new goals, new you

It’s almost two weeks into 2010. I’m sure the year started off with many promises to make yourself a better person, to do better things, etc. Hopefully, two weeks into the year, those goals are still alive and haven’t fallen … Continue reading

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Latest project: Christine McClain portfolio

My latest project just went live on Sunday at christinemclain.com. This was a build for Long Beach-based designer Christine McClain. Christine wanted help getting her portfolio online and wanted it to be easily updated. I proposed the site be built … Continue reading

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A patch of pumpkin photos …

It’s still fall, not too cold yet (well at least for us on the West Coast). Went to a friend’s pumpkin patch a little while ago and took my trusty Nikon D60. Sometimes it’s just fun to shoot random things. … Continue reading

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Latest project: Turner Photography

Just proof that I’m doing actual work. Another project in the books, this one for nature photographer Richard Turner. This was built using a combination of WordPress and Gallery2 for the photo gallery. Pretty simple, with the emphasis on the … Continue reading

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My files are here, there and everywhere …

In this day and age, it’s important for your files to be pretty portable. Clients like to e-mail us stuff, and we as designers are pretty mobile ourselves. Freelancers aren’t really tethered to desks anymore, and some people like to … Continue reading

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The Importance of Being Professional

(as opposed to being Ernest … but that’s besides the point.) There are some things that seem to be real no-brainers, but the reminder to always stay professional, even in the face of great adversity or the risk of your … Continue reading

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Thanks for the awesomeness, CFC ’09!

Went to the Creative Freelancer Conference in San Diego last week, and had an amazing time. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me personally, since I decided recently to go solo full-time and was feeling a little … Continue reading

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The Joy of Unemployment

Exactly one month ago, I walked into my office and was greeting with the piece of news that nobody likes to hear: We’re sorry, we like your work, but we can’t keep you. That’s essentially how I was laid off … Continue reading

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Ready, Set, Design (in 30 minutes!)

In any design job, you face deadlines. Clients want things right this very minute! Or, they needed it yesterday! (My boss likes to throw that one out at me a lot.) But what if you had only 30 minutes to … Continue reading

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Blending, shading and the blend tool in Illustrator

As promised, here are some tips on using the blend tool to make gradients in Illustrator. We’ll take the jellybean in the previous post about shading and do this: First off, if you are unfamiliar with the awesomeness of the … Continue reading

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Shading and such in Illustrator

Came across this fantastic post about doing basic shading in Illustrator the other day. If you’re one of those people who laments the flatness of your drawings in Illustrator (like me), it’s a great little read. What I liked most … Continue reading

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