PotD: 1 + 2

My one class this semester is all about preparing ourselves for next May. The moment us graphic designers are unleashed into the world, wacom tablets in hand, ready to show everyone just how cool we became at school!!! Our first assignment was to write a paper about what we want to do with the rest of our lives. Dr T said we could change our minds in a day, week, whatever, he just wanted us to write about exactly what we wanted to do right THEN.

Pretty much everyone I talked to about it was in the same boat as me: we just want jobs...preferably good ones. We don't care (yet) if we're working for solely non-profits or for glitzy Design Army or Disney or the Nationals (they have a whole graphics section!), we just want to work and add something to the resume. Well that's not what Dr T wanted. He wanted us to zero in on ONE thing and figure out how to get there.

Seems to me to be a little unfair, because I'd be happy working just about anywhere. I loved working with non-profits, I've also loved making sites for corporate companies and I loved making a whole system designed around a food truck. I like it all, okay?!?

Well here's what I ended up writing. I'll find out tomorrow what he thinks.

My ultimate goal is to start my own firm with a business model similar to that of TOMS of People Water.

I want to start a non-profit design firm that goes to places in need in America and designs websites, brochures, logos, and brands for struggling businesses. Maybe we will even go as far as interior design for their business.

How to start something like this is (at this point) beyond me. Start out as a consortium? Start at a design agency to build funds and connections and then head out into the world? The founder of TOMS was a wealthy kid with $500,000 just chilling in his pocket. I’m not exactly as privileged. I realize that TOMS has a benefit for two very different groups of people: trendy shoes for middle/upper class westerners, and a pair of workable, wearable shoes for those in need. This agency would have to make something desirable as well. It could be anything, from our own fonts to sell or bags, shirts, etc. Our message would have to be loud and clear: sometimes all a business needs to boom is good design.

I’ve had this idea in the back of my head since summer 2011 working at openbox9. My boss taught that unless you’re giving back, you’re not going to be happy.  They deal (pretty much) exclusively with non-profits and design great websites and whatever they need relatively inexpensively for their budget conscious clients. My goal is to bring good design to clients who probably won’t have any sort of budget.

That is my ultimate goal, although admittedly not really realistic right out of school. Right away, I want to enter the workforce, working with a fast paced design agency that deals with non-profits and has a certain hand drawn, quirky funkiness about it. My design loves are typography, web design, system design and editorial design (layout design and posters) and a combination of the all is what I’m looking for. If Design Army or Hello Design had a kid with openbox9, that would be my ideal workplace. Fast paced, edgy design for non-profit organizations: sounds perfect. Openbox9, the agency I’ve worked at for the past 2 summers is about to boom in the DC non-profit niche they’ve created: they bought a brand new large office this summer and attracted new clients like the Super Bowl’s “Geaux” Green campaign and AAUW, and continue to work on clients like the National Wildlife Federation. Working at a newspaper or magazine such as the Washington Post, the Post Magazine, or Runner’s World would allow me to work in a fast paced atmosphere, work with the challenges of layout design, and still keep a certain level of funky freedom and I’d be working in another field I’m very interested in (politics, film, travel, the Nationals, running).

I want to live in Washington, DC, although I’ve been looking at agencies down south/the NW as well. DC is my home, and at first I could live at home and save some money. Anywhere between 10-20 would be the ideal design agency for me, 100 – 500 would be the ideal NPO.  To apply to these positions, I need a resumé and usually just an online portfolio. Several I’ve seen ask for a PDF under 10mb (Design Army), but most do not. Some of the positions I’ve looked at and are interested in require a Bachelor’s degree and 2-3 years experience. From my internships, teaching experience and work at the InnovationSpace, I feel I’m qualified at least in work served.

*another note: This past summer I spent a lot of time applying for the Peace Corps. It’s a 12-month process, so I figured if I got in, I’d set out end of summer/fall 2013. A few of my family members have done it, the most recent was a cousin to go to Mozambique and work with AIDS patients. I applied for the Business Communications section, which basically does what my business idea is, as well as more the marketing and financial side of things. I sent in the application and got an email almost immediately saying that no countries are asking for Business Communications volunteers, and that they’d keep my application around for whenever a country does. If that ever does come to pass, I’m extremely interested in becoming a volunteer. The Peace Corps also has deals with graduate schools: if you volunteer and get accepted into a grad school that has a partnership with the PC, the PC will pay for it. Once my 2 years and 3 months were up, I’d enter the work force for a few years then head to grad school using the PC deal.

So there it is. What I came up with for my life. Kept it a little vague and threw in a few options, which Troy will not be pleased with. Beyond that, though, sweet Danny Espinosa there is so much I want to do. Kayak and travel and run more and just backpack through South America and AHHHHH. First maybe I'll finish this shift at work.