Designer's Life

I drove my ass down to the other side of Fresno today to help my brother find a job. He is almost 20 and freaking out because he has never really been employed. His chances are already less because he has one arm tatted-up past the sleeve; and he won't even take it seriously enough to dress appropriately.

He just doesn't get that I am trying to help him succeed in finding a job. When I look for a job I find one within a few weeks. He has been "looking" for like a month now and has only applied to a few places online. Everywhere I took him today he said, "I didn't even know this was here!" I was so annoyed because he could have walked a block or two and gotten to all of these places on his own. I just drove down there to make sure he filled them out and turned them in.

He ended up turning in 8 applications and finding some that you apply online for. In total (if he does the online apps) he should have about 15 application out there. That is pretty good imo, but he stills needs to keep looking because he may never get a call from any of these places. Something needs to click in him to take life more seriously, I just hope it happens before its too late.

Here are some drawings I have been doing lately. I am really trying to do a lot more hand inking. It is somehow relaxing sitting with the crow quill pen and India ink just drawing away. I think I will make a new Vox header in this style, so be expecting that in the next week or so.

Zombie-Baby

Pipedreams of Perfection

Typography can go a long way to convey a message. A lot of times it is subconscious and the viewer doesn't realize it. Typefaces can deepen the message of any ad or logo.

Lately I have been feeling pretty

Why does the world always seem so

??????????????????

I have this old bike that my dad gave me. It had a black frame with red and silver logos and decals across the frame. It sat around for a long time and never got used. It now has a rust colored paint job and parts that don't work properly; multitudes of rust ruined its strength and broke the chain. I went to Walmart to get all the parts I would need to fix it and realized I could get a completely new bike. A brand new, rust free, bike ran about $64 and the parts I would need to fix my rust-bucket were around $60. I decided to get a new bike and not worry about the integrity of the frame as I pedal around town. My new bike has a black and blue paint frame with silver decals and logos. This time around I don't plan on letting my bike sit around and rust away; I plan on maintaining it and using it as transportation.

I took this new bike to a local bike shop for a tune-up and the guy said it only needed a little work. He fixed the breaks, oiled the chain, and some other stuff for around $25. I got a new, way more comfortable, seat for $30. So for a total of around $110 I got a new mode of transportation and wont have a sore bum after using it. I now ride my bike to work almost everyday which totals about 30 minutes of riding time. I can tell already that my ride to work will get easier over time. I am training myself how to properly ride a bike so that I don't waste energy as I pedal. I can see my self becoming a bike enthusiast and biking long distances for fun.

For the past two months I have been trying to live a healthier life. I was going to the gym on a regular basis and eating really healthy. I lost a total of 25 pounds so far, but I'm not going to the gym steadily anymore. I have kept the weight off by continuing to eat healthy, but I need to get back in the gym. Riding and going to the gym should be plenty of excersice to lose some more weight. I plan on losing 80 pounds total with my goal weight being 190 pounds. Its nice to think that I can save money by not using my Jeep and lose weight at the same time.

I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but I can tell I'm starting to like it. It is definitely nice to get out some writing every now and then. I always forget how much I enjoy writing. When I don't do it for long periods of time I get discouraged. But when I start writing again I realize that I'm not a horrible writer and everything is fine.

I'm enjoying using Vox for my blogs. I used to use myspace for the rare blog or two, but now myspace is lame. I hate going on myspace because most of the profiles are horrible and make me want to vomit. I like that all the templates on vox are simple and well designed.  When I am browsing Vox blogs I know that I will see well designed pages on every click and not have to worry about vomiting.

One thing Vox does lack is the ability to really get into the code and tweak the templates. I can only find templates that kind of represent me. I could make my own header, but them I'm limited to the colored backgrounds that vox provides. I hope in the future Vox will do something to enable users to customize even further.

Either way, I definitely will keep writing blogs.

Laundry is the Bane of my existence. Every week it eats approximately twelve dollars and fifty cents of my quarters and on occasion, a few socks. Where do those socks go? If I were to guess I would say I've lost over 100 socks during the laundering process throughout my life.

The apartment I live in is small and cozy and the complex is great. The only drawback is that we have to pay for laundry. When I put quarters into a washer or dryer I am just throwing it away for the convenience of having clean clothes. Then to add insult to injury I have to fold and hang-up all of my clothes while they are still warm so that they don't wrinkle. I think I will go on strike from doing laundry and just be a smelly bum for awhile; my wife would love that.

When I wasn't married I would sometimes keep my clean clothes in a pile on my floor and just pick up clothes from the pile as I needed them. Now that I'm married I find myself being way more anal about putting away my clothes and all that jazz. At first I did it to keep my wife happy, but now its drilled into my brain and I am more of a clean freak because of it.

Don't get me wrong, I still relish the times when I can get away with being a slob; life's just easier that way. 

Where do you want to be in ten years?
Submitted by baby3194.

In ten years I hope to be a successful graphic designer and husband. I don't care whether I am working for myself or for someone else as long as I am actually getting to design. I definitely wont get stuck doing boring-ass production work for the rest of my life. As a husband, I hope that I still love to cook for my wife and try to wow her senses with some new, healthy recipe that I come up with.

    If you think back to your childhood, what are the things you remember first? We all remember the holidays and birthdays, but other than that, what made the stories? When I think back I remember my friends and the memories we created. I can remember running through town with Brandon and finding the best hamburger place. Every Saturday we would go to the donut shop and have a hamburger and fries; they had the best in town. Friends are there for you in the good times and the bad. Even if you don't see each other for months at a time you can pick up right where you left off.
    Recently, I have been seeing a lot more of my friends than normal. I have really enjoyed it. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have such a great group of friends to chill with. When I see more of my friends I start to feel happier as a person. I can start my day out with a smile easier because I know I will get to see my friends on the weekend. I don't know how many people can say that they still hang out with the same friends they did 10 years ago, but I feel blessed to be living it.
    To all of you out there that read this, remember to acknowledge who your friends are and make sure to get some quality time with them. The reason for Christmas isn't to be a capitalist buyer, but to be a friendly presence in the peoples lives that you touch. Remember that holiday's are meant for coming together as families and strengthening the bond between everyone. Holiday's aren't supposed to be commercial, its the birthday of our savior.

Peace,
Hatefulcrawdad

A few weeks ago I heard about vox.com from a friend. She said is had a really good community base and tons of great writers. I checked it out and here I am, writing my first blog. I have wanted to start writing a blog for some time now, but can't seem to stay inspired to write. Maybe this time will be different. 

Internal Monologue
   
    "What should I write about"
    "I don't know, maybe a little about yourself?"
    "That is stupid, who would care about that?"
    "I'm sure your family would like to hear your thoughts"
    "I guess so, well, here goes"

******************

    First things first, my name is Chris (a.k.a. hatefulcrawdad for peeps on the net). I am 22 years old and I am just like you. What do I mean by that? I mean if you read my blog posts you will most likely find that I am very similar to you or someone you know.  That is one of the funny things about humans.  Everyone knows someone who reminds them of someone else.  It happens to me all the time when I meet new people.
    Anyway, I attend CSU Fresno as a Graphic Design student. I should be graduating in 2 more semesters if all goes as planned. When I graduate I plan on gettin' my ass out there and looking for a job in the field of graphic design. It isn't the most glamorous jobs, but I love to design so that is what i will do. Before I graduate I have another important milestone to get past. In January I am getting married to the love of my life. We are both so excited in anticipation. I can't wait to be able to have some place I can call home and know that I won't have to move out at the end of the school year and find new roommates. 
    Stability is something my life has been lacking for quite some time now. I don't mean that I can't survive it and better myself by learning from it, but a lot of things change on a regular basis. It starts to make you go a little crazy and get stressed. I take great joy in knowing that in January I will be moving the last time for at least a few years.