So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Being considerate involves compromise. You need to be observant of people’s behaviors and feelings so you can determine what needs to be done. If someone you know is having a bad day, you probably shouldn’t do/say anything inappropriate that would hurt their feelings. If you see a friend or colleague drowning in work, and you happen to have free time, lend a hand. These types of things are hard to forget. More after the jump…

What NOT to do/say when someone is having a bad day:

• Suggest that they should’ve listened to past advice.
• Be passive about their situation.
• Suggest activities that may worsen their mood.

If you know that someone prefers something a certain way, compromising and finding middle-grounds with him will earn you huge points in their books. When you treat people with that type of respect, they will remember, and vise versa.

At the end of the day, it comes down to respecting others and being a good comrade. I have helped people get through some tough times, and they have helped me in return. Is there a better way to maintain a strong network of loyal friends and colleagues?

Related posts:

1. Being inconsiderate of others
2. Building a strong network
3. Design School – Prestigious vs. Not So Much, Part 2

A strong network is important because you will take it with you wherever your career takes you. The amount of opportunities you are presented often depends on who you know. Your former professor may recommend you for a job, or a former classmate may need your expertise in some project. In contrast, if you ever need a hand somewhere down the line, who do you ask?

Say a former colleague of yours becomes an Art Director and is building a team of professionals, who will he go to? Most likely the people he knows and trusts, which could be you. I have been referred to clients by my friends and colleagues simply because they knew I did design work. People often make recommendations based on good experiences. The more people you meet and impress, the more likely you are to be recommended. More after the jump…

Key factors of building a strong network:

• Always be willing to meet new people, especially within your field of work.
• Try to be remembered for reliability by performing well with others.
• Meet people hoping they may help you, and so you may help them, too.
• Don’t break connections with people because of irrational feelings.
• Always carry business cards. Read: Why Business Cards Don’t Suck.

I hope this post has provided some insight about the importance of networking. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter, so please feel free to comment.

Related posts:

1. Creative Business Card Ideas
2. Being inconsiderate of others, Part 2
3. Why Business Cards Don’t Suck

In his class, I learned how to truly work as a team with partners, how be actively productive, and how to go above and beyond what I thought I was capable of. These are the types of professors that shape and mold us into who we are as professionals.

When you’re just entering the working world, you don’t have much experience under your belt. Your schoolwork is pretty much the only thing you have to show for yourself. For designers, this means that your portfolio does most of the talking. For those with careers that don’t involve portfolios, your resume should list your accomplishments, activities, and so forth that define who you are and what you’re capable of.

By mid-May, I will be launching a portfolio that will highlight a lot of my schoolwork. It will including some great advertising campaigns I worked on in Douglas Davis’ class. I can’t wait until it’s up an running!

Related posts:

1. A little taste of a stress-free vacation
2. Design School – Prestigious vs. Not So Much, Part 2
3. Going Back to School and the Real World

Knowing what you want is one of the greatest challenges in life, even though the list always changes. We may not always have the answers in front of us, but if we learn to look for answers in the right places, many problems can be eliminated. We all have the ability to research, try and experiment with anything that interests us, whether it’s music, the arts, programming, sports, and so forth.

Self discovery is a life-long process. Even when we reach the point in life where everything is going our way, it’s no reason to stop growing as a person. There is too much to see and learn about in this world to be fooled by some success. Success, after all, is a state of mind, and must be actively sought after.

Remember: Not knowing isn’t the problem. Not knowing how to get what you want is the problem.

Related posts:

1. Procrastination Be Gone!
2. Being inconsiderate of others, Part 2
3. Design School – Prestigious vs. Not So Much, Part 2

Flavors.me is a GREAT way to get you started if you don’t have your own website, and a great addition to your online presence. It allows a decent amount of customization such as colors, fonts, and various options for Facebook, Flickr, etc. With this service, you can link people to just one page and have them access everything else. Great for potential clients and networking.

On another note, I’m getting decent traffic from my Flavors.me page back to this blog. I don’t know how that happened… haha.

Related posts:

1. Upgraded to Flick Pro, Added More Photos
2. On the Web: Penzu, Free Private Journal & Diary
3. MacHeist App Bundle – An offer you cannot refuse

“For designers, for business, just as for nations, risk is the essential component to great success.” – Andy Rutledge.

Andy created a series of Desktop Wallpapers based on the article. Risktakers stand out and achieve great success. Take a look at every successful company that has shaped our world today (Google, Apple, Microsoft, YouTube, Facebook, etc.). The question you should be asking is: What do you want to be noticed for?

Related posts:

1. A Key to Success: Self Discovery

Not to give an excuse for only completing 20% of the 2009 to-do list, but College work was harder this year than any other semester, period. Any normal person would’ve gone mad while going through the things I did. I hated it with all my guys, but now it’s all good – and I love it!

2010 will be a very interesting part of my life as I am graduating in June, and the rest of the year will be dedicated to job hunting and working… full time (whoah!). Getting through the final semester will be a pain in the ass FOR SURE. A friend of mine went through it and has now graduated. I will be following his footsteps in no time.

I am also thankful for having travelled to Israel this year and seeing family members I haven’t seen since I was a baby. It was a great experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Unfortunately, I wanted to travel to another location in the world (goal was 2 for 2009) but it didn’t happen.

This year, I am going to make 2 resolution lists instead of one, simply because some things take priority over others. The 1st list contain all of the important developmental things I will set out to achieve. The 2nd list will list things that I should always be keeping in mind, like going to sleep on time instead of writing blog posts 5:30 in the morning!

Here are some of the things that will be on the lists:

1. Further develop my programming skills. PHP, MySQL, JavaScript (jQuery), ActionScript, etc.
2. Learn mobile web and web app development. Creating mobile phone optimized sites is insanely important!
3. Write tutorials for this blog! Too bad this didn’t happen in 2009. I love teaching.
4. Start doing Icon Design. This is something I’ve always wanted to do. I LOVE symbols!
5. Work on personal projects! There are at least 4 projects in the works, and 2010 should be the year where it all comes to life!
6. Start earning money from what I do online. I think it’s time to start earning a profit from all of my online activity. This means placing ads on this blog, which everyone tells me to do!
7. Graduate. This will mark a major milestone in my life. The final semester will be tough, but I am ready for anything!

So, what about you, guys? It’s a brand new decade! What do you wish to accomplish in 2010?

Related posts:

1. Coming Very Soon, January 2009
2. Creating a New Year’s Resolution List
3. A little taste of a stress-free vacation

The fact that I am graduating after next semester (June ’10) makes things extremely exciting! Regardless of the amount of classes I am taking come this January, nothing can surpass the amount of work and sleepless nights I just went through. Here are the classes I took:

1. Advanced Web Animation (Flash, ActionScript 3.0, Web Animation)
2. Advanced Web Strategies (Web strategy, marketing, a bit of JavaScript, PHP, MySQL)
3. Advertising Design II (Concepts, concepts, and more concepts)
4. Design Internship (Interning at an Interactive Design/Development agency)
5. Art History (Prehistoric to Gothic)
6. Macroeconomics (Economy, supply & demand, economic conditions, business)
   

90% of the people who see this list call me crazy, and I don’t blame them. I don’t regret anything one bit. I learned and achieved more this semester than ever before. It’s funny how all the best work happens right as you’re about to finish your degree.

I learned invaluable skills in Flash, and gained amazing portfolio pieces from Advertising Design II. The Design Internship allowed me to work on projects for Fortune 500 companies, and so forth. More after the jump…

Next semester, I will be taking all of the senior level courses, as well as 1 math class, and 1 elective of my choice:

1. Senior Project (Semester-long project that will be graded in the end)
2. Design Team (Work in groups with real clients to provide design solutions)
3. Portfolio (Develop our portfolios both digital and print)
4. PHP Programming (Learn to program and develop web apps in PHP)
5. Quantitative Math (A class I should have taken in my 1st year)

I absolutely cannot wait until Senior Project! The project I have planned (an Operating System) will define who I am as a designer, and everything I can do. This project will be very close to my heart, and I plan to document its development on this blog. I am certain you will find the process very fascinating!

I plan to have a very good job after I graduate, and this project combined with my portfolio, will be my ticket. I will master everything I set my mind to. I will create anything in the best possible way, utilizing my skills in Web Design/Development, Flash, Advertising, and more.

Related posts:

1. Be amazing in your schoolwork
2. Movies, Sleeping Late, and School
3. Getting into Mixed Martial Arts

Imagine what life would be like if time could be charged on credit. Some would have tons of time to do anything, while others would be falling behind on everything – all depending on their credit scores. Those will good credit history (aka productive time management) could buy more time to do whatever they wished.

Let’s be real for a minute and consider what “buying time” is really like in the world of flesh and blood. You’re probably thinking it all depends on what you need time for. Certainly, finding time to acquire a Master’s degree is different from getting an extra hour or two of sleep at night. To me, time is something we mold and sculpt to fit our lifestyles. We each have different likes, dislikes, ambitions, and plans for the future – including exactly how we’re going to get there.

How do you price time and at what cost do you buy it? I heavily invest into my future. For better or for worse, I don’t rush things and take things very easily. I often fall behind on accomplishing things, because of… you guessed it… time. I have plans to take over the world, but I just can’t afford the time, you know? Maybe I should up the credit line on my credit card.

Moral of the day: Time is responsible for our past, present and future. Befriend her and learn to play nice. Find your style of how you buy and spend time, get comfy, and set out some goals.

Related posts:

1. Creative Business Card Ideas
2. Why should you buy a Netbook?

1. Staying in touch and up to date the minute with your friends
2. Following big-time celebrities like Oprah, Jimmy Fallon, Al Gore, Britney Speakers, and you name ‘em!
3. Keeping up with the news way faster than traditional print and TV media (ie; Iran Elections).

What I’m trying to get at is that Twitter is a lot more than what the average person thinks it is. It is not only a social networking service, but a tool for business, professional networking, resource mining, and virtually endless knowledge.

Since I am in the Graphic and Web Design field, I will be talking about its relationship with Twitter and all of its benefits. More after the jump…

Following established Professionals: Being a web or graphic designer means that you have to stay up to date with the industry, and what the professionals are doing by keeping up with trends, news, and so forth. Most of the people I follow on Twitter directly or indirectly relate to my field. These people share their latest designs, talk about the latest trends, and link to countless inspirational and educational resouces. The amount of new knowledge I have discovered since I became active in the Twitter community is priceless.

Having a well-developed Twitter network: Say, one day, you run into a problem that you can’t get a good grasp of, you Tweet a question and someone in your network is bound to respond with an answer. If they don’t, then work on building up your network even more (you should never stop building, really).

On top of Twitter having professional benefits, it also has great socializing pluses. When you follow like-minded people, whether or not they’re in your field of work, it’s a given that you will be curious about what they’re up to, and vise versa. When people in my network Tweet about things like social events and design conferences, I immediately take interest. These are the types of places and events that will help me professionally, and allow me to meet great people!

Finding jobs and hiring talent on Twitter: If you’re new to the whole Twitter revolution, you’ll find it surprising that people actually find jobs and talent (depending on what you’re looking for) for work. When you’re a part of an active network, someone is always looking for something. A few months ago, I was searching for a team of iPhone App developers. From the moment I Tweeted about it, I had 5 responses from interested candidates by the end of the day.

If you’re a freelancer looking for some gigs, or even part/full-time jobs, you’ll be surprised to find that Twitter is a good job search engine. I keep getting back to the point of networking with like-minded people. To put it simply, it’s the best advice I have to offer. You will not only have fun interacting with people who you respect, but, along the way, you will gain life-long knowledge.

What’s to come: I am currently working on a follow-up article that discusses even more (and fun) ways of taking advantage of Twitter.

Please subscribe to my feed and follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates. Also, if you have anything to add, I URGE you to comment below.

Related posts:

1. More Reasons to Finish College, again
2. Top 5 Reasons to Finish College
3. Building a strong network