Promos


Self promotion is tough when you are not a full-time business. I don’t dislike my current job, so I’m usually not pounding the streets in hopes to expand my client base, But when you have a family of five, anything extra always helps out. Basically, I feel that I have to pick my spots of when to go out and drum up some extra leads and/or contacts. Few placesare better for rubbing elbows with new contacts than a conference. But with all the business cards people collect, you need to find an edge, maybe something that reminds folks that BD Eyes is ready to help chip in.

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Everyday I’m Scribblin’


Once in a while I get a job where I get to let loose and break out the crayons. In this case, I’m being literal. This effort came about to create a youth education aspect to an already existing adult curriculum. Sometime I forget how fun it is to scribble.

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PSA


Taking a step back from my design-minded life, I’d like to give a shout out to the great people and volunteers of the Red Cross. Today I’m donated blood. I try to do so as often as they allow me because it has become a positive habit in my life. Realistically it’s my wife fault. Bridget is O negative, universal donor, but she was in the UK during Mad Cow season and therefore can’t donate. So, I go in her stead. I don’t love needles and I have even had some bad donations along the way, but no matter what occurs I always know that my time and blood is worth it. Just to give you some facts from the Red Cross site:

  • Every two seconds, someone in the United States needs blood.
  • Across the country, blood centers are struggling to keep pace with demand. Nationwide, an average 44,000 blood donations are needed each and every day to meet the needs of accident victims, cancer patients, and children with blood disorders. When disaster strikes, this need may be even greater.
  • A single blood donation can help save more than one life.

So even though you might be frightful or uneasy about the idea of donating, take some time and really think about it because it’s the small things that combine to make the biggest of impacts.

Schedule your next appointment — www.redcrossblood.org/make-donation.

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Keeping up in Trends


Sometimes working at a University, it’s hard to keep the groups up with technology and trends. Mind sets are usually set and like how things are and that’s that. But every once in a while you get to seek something in that makes them say ooh.
For one of Montana State Extension’s promotional pieces I customized QR codes that had linked back to many of Extension’s program areas. It’s a fun little piece that helped get some buzz going in a younger generation.


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The Darkside of Designing


Usually being a designer is fun. Creating for your clients. Giving them something physical that they could only imagine in their minds. Whoever before, during and after these projects there are always three items that you never have deal with, or even talk about, while in school: bidding, billing, and archiving. Never fun, always time consuming, but alway a necessary.

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Possiblities


Got to love it when new vendors pass along samples. Re-invigorates the mind on what is physically possible in the print world. Now which client will I get to pitch this to first?


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Sharp-dressed man


It’s suprising what a little extra coth around ones neck can evoke.20120201-221404.jpg


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Upgrade annoyance


So I had this cool idea all figued out with dynamic content and colorful new sytle only to find out that my idea doesn’t translate well into php, thus making the dynamic part a bit harder. So to quote Marvin the Martian, “Back to the drawing board.”


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Thirty years behind


Hind sight is always 20/20, no matter what, but I really am kicking myself for not getting into coding and the likes earlier. Especially when my best friend was/is and uber-geek. Maybe that’s why I stayed away. Anyway, now with building a new site from scratch again and wanting it to be up-to-date and dynamic I feel that I am simply playing catch-up for the past thirty years. But whatcha gonna do but keep on keepin’ on. Better late than never right.


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