I’ve recently disembarked into the Grandview area of Columbus, OH. It’s pretty nice…green and brown colors prevail in this territory. It is hyper-convenient too: just a 5 minute drive to work…except my job is evaporating and I am hypothetically minutes from unemployment. Again.

It’s not such a terrible thing—I did get to learn a lot from this job. Serving by myself as an entire company’s Creative Services Department, I got loads of hours and tons of portfolio material.

My quest for more knowledge is not yet complete, however. I’ve decided that it is time to get a solid foundation in programming. Trusting your IT department to properly execute your vision is foolish. Plus, it’ll give me stuff to talk about with my older brothers. It’s the holiday season, after all.

I’m starting with my own personal Web site: suzy234.com. It’s not the exact execution I desired, but it is more robust and web-spider crawlable than all previous iterations. Feel free to leave comments telling me what you think!

Looking forward to the next stop in this awesome future I’m designing for myself…
See ya there!

-suzy

This prank proves that computer nerds and hackers are superior to normal folk.

additionally, i want to go to SXSW so bad it hurts. Who knew they had an interactive festival? Why was I not informed in advance? Why does it cost nearly $500 to go?

Soo many questions… but the only one of critical import is this: I’m going next year, and all i want to know is who’s comin’ with me??

Become a fan of Wink on Facebook

Their presentation was pretty hilarious and the work they showed was inspiring. They have this illustrative style that is simultaneously simple, contemporary-sleek and cheeky. They showed me the way, too — an awesome new direction for my freelancing goals. Free Trade Agreements. Instead of Design for Hire, I’ll work the Design for Trade angle. First stop — Whole World Bakery. Mmmmmm I can’t wait.

ALSO

I’ve finally settled upon my ultimate DREAM JOB — DESIGNING FOR THE OLYMPICS.

Watch this: Transmoflection Video – Designing the Vancouver 2010 Olympics Brand

The killer part about this gig? The travel and photography time. So much research is put in before they can even contemplate the visual translation of a country’s unique and flavorful culture. The photography, colors and iconic graphics must communicate effortlessly and cross-culturally. Image is their universal language. In the case of Vancouver 2010, though the illustrations are good, it’s the textures and color palette that are truly inspired and make the brand so vivacious and memorable. nice!

keep out of this place

This past Groundhog’s Day I was laid off from my Graphic Designer position at the real estate office I’d been employed by for the last year. It was my first grown-up, professional-with-benefits job, and I loved it.

Yet I’m not writing to complain, nor receive digital empathy! Quite the opposite—I’m making the most of this new situation. As a creative person, I’ve always felt like with a little more time I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. Now that I am blessed with the absence of a 9–5 job, I can start putting these passions into action! My side projects have now become my obsessions and I’ve never felt so inspired.

For example, my new header image I created using Photoshop and a compilation of photos from a sweet photoshoot I went on last Wednesday. My cohort in crime was DJ Inform, and he was most gracious to show me this amazing location and be my art director / photographer.

DJ Inform is not scum (no matter what you may hear)

On the drive over to the spot I passed the ol’ office and thought of the Simpsons axiom, “working is for suckers…”

The location was an abandoned water treatment facility near Bexley, OH off of 670. It is a hidden spot for graffiti artists and hobos alike. We took the time to climb a 3-story water tower (whose roof is in dubious condition) so that we might properly moon the highway. (Photos not forthcoming).

Photography has always been one of my strengths, but rarely since I’ve graduated have I had time to go out into the sunshine and shoot some photos with my trusty Carl Zeiss-lensed digital camera.

unemployment will give me time to work on my Houdini act

My plan was to get some black and white photography of the graffiti art and some of me handcuffed to various found objects and edifices so that I might illustrate the “Fettered” part of my blog title. The header pictured above is the fruit of such photos, though still a work in progress, so let me know what you think!

Also, I’m greatly looking forward to my next blog posting about Wink,

who’s giving an awesome CSCA lecture on Thursday evening on The Ohio State University campus. If you haven’t plans, seriously consider attending!

Until next time,

-suzy

I suppose it must be satisfying in some remote way to have my thoughts published on a global forum in an instant. To be honest though it is also rather scary. I mean, who really wants to know what I am thinking? Most of the time I’m not too sure myself.

I think I may as well start by giving some explanation of my blog title and a smidgen of background info on myself.

The Unfettered Typesetter

<who is suzy234? what am i about? what’s the deal with airplane peanuts?>

I am a lowly graphic designer maintaining the mostly-unswanky lifestyle in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus, believe it or not, is a pretty sweet place for support of the arts. I believe we are proudly know as the indie capital of the Midwest. I graduated from the Ohio State University <read here: “O-H!”> for a Bachelor of Science degree in Visual Communication Design. I’m pretty damn liberal but I do my best to retain civility with those of opposing views. I adore animals <i’m semi-regular vegetarian> and have a couple cats. I am unmarried, of Peruvian descent <on my mother’s side> and I enjoy traveling, sunsets, holding hands and long walks on the beach.

Here’s a look at what’s been inspiring me lately:

Web Portfolios
Great texture and a unique format
Tiffany Lee’s creative portfolio — check out the avocado Tees!

Branding, Identity and Print
Chen Design (San Fransisco)

Expressive Typography
Spanish Designer Alex Trochet’s fluidity of visual expression and unique typographic manifestations

Web Interactive Studios
Fuzz Productions Studio
Resource Interactive

Video
Western Spaghetti Stop Motion Animation by PES

Until next time,
-suzy