I'll bite.

I have a big boring flash contract to work on. So I've been busy finding other things to do...like going out to lunch, going for walks, cooking, reading, and trying to finish Metroid Prime on the GameCube. Right now I'm typing this message to avoid work.

Otherwise thing are OK.

What about you?

We're potty training this week.

Oh, I'm a'ight.

Been busy, need to get some sleep today. But stop by my blog tonight if you get a chance.

BYOB

See you there? A'ight takeiteasy.

I had one of those moments today walking into work. As I strolled by the countless parking garages in downtown Chicago, I noticed some really horrible kerned caps on the 'PUBLIC PARKING' sign. So I said to myself, "Self...does anyone else see that kerning problem, and if they can do they give a rat's ass about it?"

(man, I gotta stop reading emigre on the train ride into work)

pretty geeked for the flyers game tonight...

kinda tired...

everything else is cool, i guess.

i really wish someone would learn to make a decent pot of coffee around here.

yeah, definately having that problem with my eyes. you know the one, where you can't see doing any work today?

and how are you?

For some reason I woke up with a headache, but it's going away now.

Taking a trip down (American) memory lane for a project. Looking for things to "appropriate".

My desk is so full of shit (not literally). I should clean it soon.

Maybe I'll drop by Tom's blog tonight… but I will have to leave early to feed the cats.

thanks for asking,

hey, things are pretty good. its sunny. work is good. the water is boiling which means my coffee will be ready in 3 minutes.

it is hard to get back into the groove of things after a week in milan. which of course was strictly business.

cheers,

ps

I got my first speeding ticket on Tuesday.

Going 37 in a 25. There is no sign from where I pull out of my driveway to the stop light down the street. I never realized the limit on that particular road was 25.

I have never had a speeding ticket in the 16 years that I have been driving.

85 bucks. I think I have learned my lesson. Saw the cop yesterday sitting in the same place where he nabbed me. I hope he makes hs quota this month.

And you?

had a great meeting with an AIGA person the other day - so it looks like we will indeed be setting up an AIGA chapter here at school.

in a Michel Gondry kick for movies right now... after seeing the Director's Series of his work, im now halfway thru "Human Nature."

Way too much, life is busy but ain't we all. Lots to read and do to get prepared for next week's GDC National AGM in Victoria (all fun of course). On the flip side I'll be visiting family in Seattle after the agm/conference and hopefully having lunch with some familiar su authors. Aside from that I'm trying to get motivated to pack boxes for the move to the new house. Time to get some more coffee and play some foosball... cio

i'm doing great, how `bout yourself?

woke up on the right side on the bed this morning. feels good. i don't do well when i wake on the left side. maybe that's why my neck doesn't hurt. i should wake up on that side more often.

anyone up for another cup `o joe?

Breathing a little easy today - reached a project milestone yesterday and am awaiting feedback. Waiting for specs from a new client and prepping a quote for another.

Chicago weather had been good so the biking has been real good lately (I bike all year round).

Gearing up for seriouSeries 3 - need to sort out my thoughts and whatnot for it and also get ready for my good friend's wedding - I'm the best man.

Does anyone else sort of think of time in that way? Little markers in the timeline that are made up of events that are led up to - such as a live show, a party, a presentation, a project deadline, etc? Thus you get worked up and then relax a little more pre and post?

I keep having this dream. It's the same dream every time. Nothing ever changes about the order of events, and I'm the only person in the dream. I see myself asleep, and it's so dark that all I can make out is my eyeballs. But there's something giving them that reflective quality. A light source does this, and as I look at myself asleep, I wonder Where is this light coming from?

My head swivels. Frantically I look for some speck, some clue. Finally, I see a crack of light and scale upwards through dirt---lots and lots of dirt. The climb takes what seems like hours, and the tight space makes me anxious. Breathing becomes difficult. I reach the top and after gaining my whereabouts, I realize I'm in a cemetery.

Six feet from me sits a tombstone with my name on it. The horror! The horror!! It's set in brushscript!!! I awaken, relieved that it was a dream, a mere nightmare.

Mother in law coming in this evening for a five-day visit. Granddaughter Ellen, two, is excited. Cleaning house and clearing up loose ends on projects.

Like Tom's blog link.

disclocated my jaw when i was hit in the face with a soccer ball the other day. fun, huh?!

Well Brook, that should teach you a lesson: if you had been at McDonald's instead of exercising you wouldn't have that problem, huh?

Pretty busy, but things are going well.

Joined AIGA and waiting for some sort confimation beyond my credit card being charged and an email asking for my class schedule. Working on starting a chapter at school this fall. People are so wishy washy. They need to make up their minds.

Two weeks of school left and then I'm free for the summer. Can't wait for that!

Looking for another job so that I can spend more time with my fiance than I do. I currently get to sleep with her and that is about it. Not much time for communication or doing the family thing. Breaks my heart everyday.

What's new with you?

Well Brook, that should teach you a lesson: if you had been at McDonald's instead of exercising you wouldn't have that problem, huh?

hmm...i suppose so. the bad side effect is that it now hurts to chew. so i guess i'll just keep playing soccer.

_Darrel: We're potty training this week._

That's awesome.... how's it going?

We're starting to think about packing up the subi for the move in June. Our year in Alaska is almost up.

I had a beautiful walk to work this morning. I saw four bald eagles, some crows, an arctic turn, a bunch of gulls, and some other birds I have no idea of the name. Remind me why I'm moving?

Yeah, man, thank's a lot for asking. Could be better, y'know?

My sleep pattern is all fucked up. My wife has started staying up later than me, which should be no big deal, but I never realized how dependant upon her presence in our bed I had become. Sleep comes slowly, and when it does I can look forward to hearing my 1.5 year old crying at around 2am. We're trying to get her used to soothing herself, so we bite our lips and let her cry it out. it sucks.

There's just not enough coffee in the world sometimes to life the fog that descends.

(good luck with the potty training, darrel!)

What's new with you?

My three-week old is new.

Other than that, I've been making header images for 200 pages worth of website in two days.

Not much sleep in these parts.

i finally quit smoking three weeks ago, and new things are happening to my body. i turn 34 on sunday, so that means i smoked for almost 14 years. i'm figuring out how much fun it is to keep on dancing or stay on the crosstrainer for twice as long without that "you're gonna die" feeling. my skin's texture is changing as well, and i can smell/taste a lot more. kicking myself for missing out on so much for so many years.

and i'm learning to design with my hot boyfriend su, which is really cool. he makes typography for online reading spaces that i can't even touch.

oh, and i finally fixed the toilet handle. that's been bugging me for months.

My coffee (Circke K, as usual) is too hot to drink yet so it sits on my desk just taunting me.

I am listining to the new Modest Mouse CD and doing boring paperwork before digging into creative work.

I may leave early to go to a coffee shop later to "research" magazine design (a.k.a. sit outside in the beautiful weather and catch up on the last few issues of various magazines)

** Jason, I've had that same nightmare, only the font is Fajita

How about you?

• Full belly from worlds largest cheese burger

• Listening to Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes Live

• Enjoying a cold Canadian Beer

• Ready to cheer the LEAFS as they take out Philly

• Off tomorrow and Monday

• LIFE IS GOOD!

Cheers...

What's fajita look like, Valerie?

Hmmm...nothing like holing yourself up in your office only to look out the window and realize a gorgeous day has passed. I think I'll try taking more walks around the 'hood.

Congrats, Patrick. I can't even comprehend. My wife nearly brought home a puppy for us to foster for a week and I freaked. I think I'm not ready.

I'm working on designing an identity guide website, a pro-bono (gratis?) logo and poster for our local animal shelter, and a teeny-tiny packaging job for everyone's favorite Millman.

I've been contemplating hitting a few design conventions to get myself energized, but not sure if I can make the financial commitment. Typecon sounds great, not only because I could be surrounded by type freaks, but because it's in San Fran. Anyone else got anything good to attend?

And I'm buying shrubbery for the front yard this weekend. So psyched!

from Mitch: in a Michel Gondry kick for movies right now... after seeing the Director's Series of his work, im now halfway thru "Human Nature.

- Must be going around: I should be getting that Director's dvd from Netflix today. Just saw "Eternal Sunshine..." on Sunday. Awesome!

Also:

- Sleater-Kinney tonight at the 9:30 Club. Girls kick ass! But why am I so psyched it's an early show? (Doors at 6:00; home by 10:00). Is 35 THAT old?

Ciao.

Can't complain.

Have had business meetings all week, but not today, so I'm slumming it in jeans and a tshirt at the office. Aaah.

Fighting the end of a nasty cold I caught from Mason, my 2yr old son. Hate the aftertaste of cough drops. Blech! Got my appetite back though.

We're in the process of buying a new, bigger house. All of a sudden, two kids turned our cozy, wonderful love cottage into a shoebox. Found a terrific new house, but the price is scaring the crap out of me. My wife doesn't understand the hesitation -- she just dreams of bigger closets and a real kitchen. I have nightmares about a mortgage that would choke a horse.

Debt never ends, does it? *sigh*

How 'bout you? What are you doin for lunch?

She's beautiful Patrick.

> What's fajita look like, Valerie?

Brace yourself.

> Typecon sounds great, not only because I could be surrounded by type freaks, but because it's in San Fran. Anyone else got anything good to attend?

Jon, TypeCon is really great, I highly recommend it. I'm going, 'cause I'm speaking (please, before you get out the tomatoes, I'm not bragging! Really).

In talking to someone on the phone this morning, there was a brief lull in conversation, followed by this exchange:

me: "Is that Flock of Seagulls I hear...?"

him (sheepishly): "Um. Yes. It is."

me: (stunned silence)

him: "It's my 80s Rule! iTunes playlist."

me (audibly smiling): "Oh. I see. Yes."

I loved that about today.

Thanks Armin.

At least it's died down a bit since it was such a favorite in the 90s.

It's still a Chili's favorite though.

Hmm... maybe I'll have fajitas for lunch. Anyone else?

That's awesome.... how's it going?

Not bad. A few accidents, but he likes his new underwear and is making every effort to make it to the potty in time.

Ironically, we're the only ones calling it a potty. He prefers to call it the toilet. No mincing of words with this kid.

Remind me why I'm moving?

You miss the craziness of the contiguous folks?

I'm going to see Squarepusher on Sunday in Ashville, NC. I'm ready to hear things I didn't know speakers could do.

i saw phantom planet and the thrills last weekend. that's a good show to catch if they make it to any of your neighborhoods. freakishly enough, my girlfriend has won tickets to 4 consecutive concerts. and winning the phantom planet tickets entered her to win tickets to see a show in ireland. a 1 in 15 chance, so hopefully her luck continues.

ahhh, how refreshing. It's almost like being at a party where everyone is discussing politics and getting up to move about a bit and finding a group of much nicer people discussing something like movies, dogs or something you care much more about at the moment (being at a party and all) Thanks again for giving me a reason not to work while i sit behind my computer.

oh yeah i forgot to mention... i lost my ipod. I'm crushed

Had a dentist appointment this morning. Had to have major cleaning. Didn't hurt to bad. Checked my email to find out my "Ask Any Question" form does not play well with Mozilla browsers.

Thanks again for giving me a reason not to work while i sit behind my computer.

Amen to that!

(Though that applies to my relationship with Speak Up pretty much any day...)

pk - how did you finally quit smoking? I've been trying (halfheartedly) for years.

Hey, thanks for asking. I'm actually busy for a change ... in a way.

I got interviewed last night for an article in The Vancouver Sun, (re the Vancouver Review, the a new mag I'm involved with) so that was exciting. Something to send my mum.

I've been spending days dealing with various nutty complications (including Customs) over having some business cards shipped to the states for laser cutting. I'm excited about the laser cutting, I'm kicking my ass for causing myself a ton of work.

i just got back from the city, and I saw something Speak Up-worthy on my way back and will post it in a bit.

Then I'm going to be a lazy bitch and go sit in the sun.

Oh yeah, and i rebuilt one of my websites from the ground up and relaunched it, if anyone cares.

Like surts, I have a ton of reading (skimming) to do for the GDC AGM in Victoria next week. Surts -- I don't recall making a lunch date ... you snubbing me?

> Oh yeah, and i rebuilt one of my websites from the ground up and relaunched it, if anyone cares.

Again? I think you have some sort of condition Marian, you better get that looked at.

You are probably tired of me hearing this, but I still think your Pixilluminations are as wonderful as wonderful can get. And now all in one page, mmmmm…

> Had a dentist appointment this morning.

I hope Bryony doesn't hear that, she's been bugging me to go to the dentist for a long time — longer than I would like to admit. I do brush three times a day, so I don't feel that guilty.

good things:

- finally launched my illustration focused website

- Saw the Pixies on Sunday

- Seeing the Wailin' Jenny's on Friday

- Yoga class tonight & post yoga beer waiting in the fridge

- LOTS of new exciting work

bad things:

- kitty still has kidney failure problems, don't know what will happen,

send good vibes to my pal isis please.

- pain in the ass clients

I made a startling discovery today. If I show a design mock-up to my boss in full colour, he immediately wants to increase the budget to print the job in colour. If I show the mock up to him as a B&W laser proof he'll easily settle for a 1 or 2 colour print job. Mental note: always always always show it to him in full colour.

Hey - Someone above made a comment about going to see Squarepusher - be warned, he's nutty. I saw him play here in Vancouver last week & he just flailed - he made no attempt at making his performance sound like organized music (I love his recorded stuff btw) he just played random drum loops and bashed his hand against a bass guitar. It was ... different ... definitely not what I paid to see however. *sigh

p.s. Marian: I recieved a christmas card you designed(from bonnie at Printing ink) this last x-mas season & was stunned at how beautiful your art is. Nice work - i love love love it!

seany o.mac,

we should do one of those stupid bets like the mayors of cities in the super bowl... maybe i'll offer up a cheesesteak and box of tastykakes and you can offer up... uhm... i dunno... maybe some labatt blue?

should be a great series, eh?

Wow Marian. In-freakin-credible. I sit silently in awe.

I wish I had your patience. I'd get through like three and a half loops and try to figure out a way to make it simpler so I could go on to something else.

Oh wait, someone asked how I was. I'm good, I'm trying to help plan a wedding in Pennsylvania. I live in Kansas, so that's a little harder. My fiancee (did anyone ever notice that all you have to do is drop in an "n" and you get "financee?") is from New Jersey but her parents moved to Penn. when she moved out here to the middle of BFE to be with me. (Sucker.) But anyway, getting all my family and groomsmen booked on flights and in the hotel is proving....interesting (read: frustrating). All this has taken time away from the portfolio website that I promised myself I would finish by April (read: June). The cool thing about not finishing yet is that I had a bunch of good ideas along the way.

I sympathize with the debt, Tan. I'm not where you are currently but will be soon, I bet. Woo-hoo!

Life is good for me, thanks. I'm going to see The Black Eyed Peas this Sunday--for free, because I have "connections." Will shake my bon bon muchly.

I recently saw Kill Bill 2 and enjoyed it. Pai Mai! Though, Kill Bill 1 is my fave of the two. O-Ren!!!

Recently walked around Leduc, which is a city just off Edmonton, and watched as my boyfriend and his friends pretended to be samurais and play-swordfight. You're never too old to pretend to be a samurai or a ninja. But I stayed up too late and now I'm sleepy as hell.

And Amanda, that illusration site is too cute for words. Good job!

Like surts, I have a ton of reading (skimming) to do for the GDC AGM in Victoria next week. Surts -- I don't recall making a lunch date ... you snubbing me?

Marian, I was going to call, really - I'll drop you an email in about one minute. 1-2-3...

Things are generally good, thanks.

Had a one month freelance gig at Young & Rubicam, but now I'm chillin' waiting for the next thing.

We've recently discovered one of our 2 dogs has arthritis, as well as the common rotweiler/shepherd bad hips; and he's only 6 1/2. But after putting him on condroitin/glucosamine (sp?), he seems to be pretty much back to his usual whacky, bratty self, which is really great.

Since my wife found out that one of her coworkers was able to buy a $400K house with only a $25K income and no money, we figure that pretty much anybody can get a house loan these days. So we're now seriously looking into buying the house we rent (or if the landlord gets greedy, some other house in the area with a "reasonable" price). It'll be our first home, so it's kind of exciting. We need to see what kind of loan we can swing, as well as get a ballpark estimate of what our basket-case house is worth. We know the house needs loads of work, but it's cute and in a good neighborhood and we get along pretty well with most of our neighbors, so it would be worth the hassle for a good price. I just want to lock into a good interest rate before it goes up, as Greenspan is starting to indicate it will later in the year. Anyway, it feels good to get the ball rolling: another step forward in life!

Hey Tan, in worrying about house prices, check this out: 2 bedroom, one bath houses (cottages really) on our block are going for $500,000+! So things could be worse. ;-) We're going to be pushing for much better price than that for ours, though.

I'm also in the midst of redesigning my site. I was initially going to completely change the UI, but then decided to not open that huge can of worms just now. K-I-S-S is a more practical way to go. I have just felt that there was too much typographic complexity for the current Neo-Mod sensibilities and it was looking dated. But I'm happy with the direction I'm taking.

The weather in the Bay Area is glorious today. Makes me want to get out into the flower beds and putter. Now that I've done huge amounts of weeding and pruning, what's left is mostly the fun of planting and primping. My front bed is looking quite glorious at the moment: a floral explosion of red, purple, pink. and blue, with a smattering of white.

Yes, it's looking nice out. Time to take the dogs for walk.

ciao for now...

Thanks armin, jemma, greg.

Again?

I know. I'm nuts. That's the third time in a year (and there was an interim redesign which didn't make it out of Photoshop). I just printed new business cards, too, and I don't like them so now i have to start over. Sigh.

BTW, I always thought su was a woman, so thanks for clearing that up, pk. Those are the kinds of things you learn at gatherings like this.

today was a pretty stressful day and it'll be even more stressful tomorrow. i also just realized that my internship (that you fine folks helped me land, btw.) is winding down in about three weeks and really wish it wasn't. this is probably one of the the best experiences of my life so far.

i'm about to make some dinner. it's a beautiful day in the city and i am resisting the urge to walk over to 3rd Ave and eat at Josie's on the sidewalk. what are you all having?

Well Kurt Miller continues to taunt me from the grave . . . wait he's not dead . . . yet. Other than that things are the same, I'm at home this week. Sitting around dreading my next and last trip to Ireland.


I can't complain about anything . . . except Kurt Miller and Ireland.

>what are you all having?

Grilling some salmon tonight, topped with a sundried tomato pesto glaze. Maybe with a side of parmesan polenta if I don't get too lazy. Gotta do it before the salmon goes bad.

oh yeah, and yak some more with my wife about the house thing.

>Hey Tan, in worrying about house prices, check this out: 2 bedroom, one bath houses (cottages really) on our block are going for $500,000+! So things could be worse. ;-)

Yikes! Thanks Steven -- you helped me remember that Seattle's house market is still not nearly as bad as CA or SF. You guys have an absolutely insane market down there.

>what are you all having?

Mmmmm ... burrrgers ...

A quiet night at the library, where I pass the time serving the public as I wait for that perfect design job. Today's a two-handshake day. There's far less interaction, (dare i say physical contact) with strangers these days. Thanks for a great resource Armin (and everyone else!)

We've recently discovered one of our 2 dogs has arthritis

Steven: The same exact thing just happened to me. My 6 year old corgi has it in her knees. She's so short I didn't even know she had knees. I've been taking her to this holistic vet who's been doing acupunture. Only in California.

Other than that, just waiting for the perfect design job to land in my lap or find someone to pay me to read all day. Whichever comes first...until then I, like Patrick, am doing everything to avoid a boring job.

Friends was terrible, they better get their act together for their last two episodes.

Time for the NBA playoffs now.

I'm having trouble with French idiomatic phrases (along with figuring out the proper articles for each verb, and the usages of "mettre" -- which depends on context).

For example, "ne t'en fais pas" is idiomatic for "ne t'inqui�te pas" (don't worry); or my current favorite: "Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas?" (what's the matter?) where "qui" acts as a relative pronoun. But then, I'm only at an early stage in the process; and speaking in the present tense.

To paraphrase Suzuki:

Before studying French: Trees are trees and mountains are mountains.

When studying French: Trees are not trees and mountains are not mountains.

After studying French: Trees are trees and mountains are mountains.

To add to the difficulty, the French seem to all be mumbling -- with the only exception being Godard films.

� plus tard!

let's see.

lots of work.

and some more work.

thinking of goodies for seriouSeries 3.

being teased by our Chicago weather.

reading a really bad book.

dreaming.

looking forward to a new (refreshed I hope) week.

- wrapped up taking an experimental comics class from Matt Madden

- personal projects still left embarassingly unfinished

- now waking up at 4am to "get stuff done" (i.e. said personal projects and classwork before work work)

- consequently, i've been shredded at work work in what is an unusually busy time time

- meaning of course, i'm a day late and probably a dollar short to the chit chat

- for nyc, sleater-kinney comes this monday and tuesday...i will have trouble managing the 4am thing the following day.

Its been glorious down in St. Pete the last few weeks. Not much to complain about there, other than my little civic needs to have its intermittant AC looked at.

- I am trying to get 2 banner projects out the door for the ol' day job. How much fun can you make 20% off silver jewelry anyhow?

- Worrying about a reprint on some business cards the printer happened to screw up for a freelance client. The printer is making good on these for me, and the client is a good friend, so I hope it all works out.

- I am totally obsessed with getting back into RC car racing. Really. Its that bad. I have been researching chassis, motors, electronics etc. for the past week.

- Trying to get excited about a couple of small freelance websites that i may have coming in as freelance, if anything they will finance a g5 or a Nikon D2H, or, with some stroke of luck... BOTH!

- Gonna help a pal install some speakers in her car tomorrow, and then relax over some sangria and coversation down at the beach with the wife and our normal crew.

Ironically, we're the only ones calling it a potty. He prefers to call it the toilet. No mincing of words with this kid.

That's really funny. I have a friend whose parents used the word "urinate" when referring to going potty. Yeesh, that's crazy.

You miss the craziness of the contiguous folks?

Um.... I'd love to say that's true, but i have a feeling I'll go nuts when I start living in "the real world".

I am doing good so far. But I have to get this out of my chest -

How about that new Miller Commercial. The one where the 'presidential candidate' tries to talk down on the 'King of Beers'. I always found it lacking in creativity when the products try to compare each other and obviously bring themselves forward. I think this method of advertising is quite outdated. Is there anyone out there that tries to make a product look great just because it is. I am sure not many marketing directors read SpeakUp. If they did things would have been different.

Now I feel bad for being so harsh, oh well...

The weather in New York is overcast yet beautiful. Funny how so many people comment on the weather. It is all encompassing.

I am having an ethical debate with my job. Seeing that it is the first source of constant income since moving to NY a little over a year ago, I find myself accepting a lot of harsh treatment. All employees here are underpayed and personally, I can not afford health insurance. My employer asked me why I am not paying for health insurance, seeing that I am contracted and not eligible for provided insurance. I told him that I could not afford it. The sound advice given was that I should contact my parents and ask for money.

Shouldn't an employer provide a living wage? This is an insult on several levels. Is anyone else experiencing such problems?

Bah.

Wow, designers being human for a change. You know, that's the one thing I hated about design school - the cold, unpersonal, 'work or die' ethic. If people talked, it was never to get to know one another. It seemed no one really gave a shit about collective progress as a class, a design program, or design as something else beyond an extension of the self's ability to be "successful".

I'm ok. Looking to get my portfolio updated and prepared. I'll soon be looking for a full-time gig. My first design job after art school (grad. May 2001). Had a few set-backs along the way: Broke a wrist (radial styloid to be exact, it shattered into 5 pieces.), so that set me back almost a year (including therapy and rest). Got sidetracked with the wonderful world of letterpress printing for a year and a half and quit to start looking for what I really want.

So that's where I'm at, in this weird kind of limbo.

Friends was terrible, they better get their act together for their last two episodes.

I agree, I think the last 2 or 3 years all the characters have become extreme caricatures of themselves. Not likely to rebound in the last two I'm afraid. My fiance is beside herself that it's ending this year.

Doesn't it seem like when that show and frasier started, they were both kind of high-brow comedy? Now it seems like the writers stopped trying.

Yea Kim. I was going through the same things while working for my previous employer. It was horrible. I could barely pay for gas to get to work. I asked for a raise for couple of times based on my credentials and productivity, but it seemed that I wasn't getting anywhere with it. What I decided to do is to leave the company and start one myself (About a month ago). For now I am a happy design-studio-owner with no huge clients and competing to get my name out there. It's exciting, scarry, rewarding, and simply put - awsome. Now, I am not suggesting for all to quit their jobs and start a design studio...what I am suggessting is that moving on and finding happiness should be key to everything....

I heard someone say:

"Money can't buy the key to happiness, but with money you can have the key made..." - I know its corny but you know what I mean..

Valon,

What steps did it take to start your own studio? How did you gain the clients to keep you a float? I was freelancing before this position and the current market scares me still.

I guess, I should follow a Cageian quote that you should live life as though in the middle of a leap... The unpredictable is so much more exciting than the day to day. I just need to make the first hop...

Kim - This is a good place to start.

Well let's see...

I took a trip to Atlanta and then New Orleans like two weeks ago...something like that. I smoked a lot of weed and got drunk every night and ate at a lot of great restaurants. Then on the last night I met some girl, a dentist, with leather pants and we decided to switch jeans for a little while. Later that night I broke my glasses of four years and replaced them sometime late last week. The adjustment period has been difficult but I'm getting through it. I went from looking "artsy" to looking "professional."

On Monday I worked until about 7pm, but that wasn't enough so after jacking up on a three Red Bulls at my favorite bar with my friends who work there, I returned around 1am to create a CD-ROM for a new business pitch. I slept through American Idol but managed to catch 24. I periodically had aimless conversations on AOL IM in order to save cell phone minutes.

I developed a new hobby as well--surfing eBay desperately looking for late 1980s high fashion items by Paul Smith or Yamamoto, even Versace if possible. Set my price limit at 20 bucks and have been having a grand old time with that, while getting courted by numerous good-looking gay men that I'll never go out with.

But the real story is that I've been at work a lot and haven't slept nearly as much as I should have. Far and away the best thing aside from my puerile vacation was the StL Symphony Orchestra's performance of Mahler 2. That was unreal. Music doesn't come more raw, human, or emotional than that.

Kim -- AIGA does have some health insurance support information. It's a common concern and topic with freelance and entry-level designers. Insurance policies does vary state to state, but often times, it's a large employee investment that some firms can't afford (or won't afford) to offer to all of their employees.

But there are labor laws that can protect you. According to most state employment laws -- if you work more than 75% (51% in some states) of a work week for a company, and have done so for more than a year, you have a right to get equitable employment benefits that other salaried employees have in the company. There may be different degrees of higher benefits, but basic health insurance should be a group provision.

Microsoft and a bunch of large corporations across the country have been threatened by the labor department for keeping long-term contractors without giving them benefits. It's an illegal labor practice that has traditionally been low enforced. But that's changing as more people become aware of their rights.

You should call your state labor department and find out more about what you are entitled to. Then tell your employer that's what you decided to do instead of calling your parents for money. See how he likes that :-)

Yea Kim, I always go with the gut feeling and when something does not feel right (such as my previous job) I tend to move on and find other ways to create. But, to answer your question:

What steps did it take to start your own studio? How did you gain the clients to keep you a float?

1. First I had money put aside, because I was planning for the big step for few months now. I had put enough aside to keep me afloat for the first few months. Also, emotionally I made sure to always keep myself busy and not look back. The bottom line was that I was so fed up following my art-director's "art direction" that I got to a point where I asked myself "Did I go to a Design School for this purpose?! I think not." And that was it.

On the other hand...

I am still struggling or I should say surviving each and every day. I make myself think that 'The Market is Bad only if I believe so'. What I mean is that I work hard in getting each and every client that I can and try not to think about the economical difficulties. From my experience clients tend to be more affectionate towards the work that I am providing when all I talk about is how my designs will make their image better in many ways. (Here you have to be a great communicator and never hold back.) I wasn't born with the trait, but having your own studio and meeting expenses every day is quite an adventure and you find yourself doing things that you didn't think you can. Sometimes I have to go lower on pricing work, but I don't turn a client down. As long as the final outcome is 0:0 (expenses-profit) than I am OK. So yea, you should go with the gut feeling and no matter what, things find a way to work themselves out at the end. // Hope I helped and not confused you even more :)

Thank you all for sharing — it was really fun just to see what you are all doing. Have a great weekend.

And I want to hear more about the Bradley pants-switching story.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my post. It really is wonderful to get feedback from people within the design community... A small bit of of sanity has been regained.

Missing this thread,

Missing Montreal,

Missing my head.

Thanks for asking.

Also working on a new website and going absolutely crazy trying to define my concept of beauty (stupid MA!!!! can someone remind me why I got into this again?)

Talked to a talented architect today who told me to beware of the Big fish in a small pond. Scared me to death.

I was aware of my fear today.

Tried to be brave anyway.

Pushing through the work for the freedom to go to Milan for 6 weeks.

Really hopeful that the ulcer is worth it.

Felt the fear of entrepreneurship again

and again

Ulcer

Work

Milan

Architect.

Kim-

In New York, a good place for health insurance (cheaper than through AIGA) is through Working Today, the freelancers' union. My wife and I have been using it for about a year, as we are both freelance, and have been fairly happy with the coverage, through HIP. Not quite as complete as what employers tend to offer, but much better than nothing. For us, it has been about $550/mo. A single is exactly half that, I believe. Still a lot of money if on a small salary, but much cheaper than getting coverage on your own (ours had been over $700/mo. with Aetna).

Feeling alright, thanks, though it appears I've missed the prime response time for this thread, having only discovered Speak Up yesterday (by way of leafing through a copy of Emigre that I happened to come across).

Zero hours of sleep Thursday, 8 hours Friday, 4 hours Saturday. One entire box of Cinnamon Life consumed within the last 36 hours.

Internal debate: To send out emails applying for summer design internships now, because it needs to be done — or to wait until tomorrow when I have a good night's sleep under my belt? Conscience dictates the former; current mindset, the latter.

I have been sitting here thinking about all the work I have to do. Its my first day back from semester break. My tutor has just given me a quick assignment to look up this site and give a response to one of the topics. Next week we will discuss what was on this site. It is early in the morning and I am thinking how good it was to sleep in over the break. Also all the work I could have done on my break. Eight more weeks to go and my degree project is due. Busy busy busy.

Kim-

From personal experience, one thing I strongly recommend is putting together a good legal contract for your design services, and knowing what every clause in it means and how it can be modified to meet individual projects. When you're a single person studio, it's very easy to be exploited because people think that they can get away with it. Back in the late 80's when I was actively trying to be a "design studio" (as opposed to a freelancer) I had a few times when a client would simply decide that they didn't have to pay my bill. Having a solid contract totally saved my butt and allowed me to eventually get my fee (although it usually ended the relationship, which is fine for deadbeat clients).

Anyway, that's my two pennies of advice.

Best of luck!

What's up?

Getting ready to become a fulltime freelance designer/illustrator. I'm taking the slow and cautious route. I researched the tax end of it, talked with my accountant, talked at length with a few local freelance designers and generally got the word out. Now if I can just find the time to fix and finish my site I'll be ready to go.

My not so new pet peeve that has reared it's ugly head this Monday morning:

"Hey Bill, what-da-ya know?" The most asked question by management where I work. What a stupid question. Does anyone have a witty response for it. It's rather tired. My brother-in-law put a nice twist on an old question. He asked me, "Hey Bill, what's hang'n" To which I responded, "Not much." (thinking I was being asked how it was hanging) That was met with hearty laughter on the other end of the phone.

(thinking I was being asked how it was hanging)

That should have read: (thinking I was being asked what's up)

New personal rule:

No posting before my morning coffee.

I found happiness in letting go of kerning issues. If there is one thing I adore about public signage is bad letterspacing. We designers can do it better, but why bother? As long as the message gets across, the type can be set with dried macaroni and Elmer's glue for all I care. 95% do not care. You want to make them care?

i can't believe some of the house prices you folks have to deal with in the US, yikes! My husband & I are casually looking for a house right now (nothing set in stone yet) and we are looking at places around $150,000 - $200,000 CAN. That amount of mortgage freaks me out!

If y'all want to feel better about your house prices, in my neighborhood (West Village, Manhattan) the above mentioned half-mil would get you a one-bedroom. Most likely in a co-op with maintenence fees on top of your mortgage. In case those of you outside NYC are worried about my sanity, we bought our studio for much, much less.

Feeling good today. Freelance is going well for me, lately. Today I have noticed that all designers I have met have their desks piled with stuff. From coworkers to fellow classmates. Are ALL designers this way. I would like to meet a designer who has a pristine desktop. How have you been?

Move to the middle of the US if you want a house.

1100 square feet: 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, half basement, garage cost me $53,900.