good morning,waiheke!

The view from our house on Friday morning:

High School Ad

BELIEVE we have a winner! The principal finally liked my latest design for the ad. So here it is:

No other news really going on lately. Except we saw Star Trek in Imax theater and it was awesome! And I have about 5 weeks left of work then I'm gonna be unemployed again. Hopefully, I'll have my degree NZQA assessed by then and at least have the A+ certification test scheduled. So, insha'Allah, I'll be more employable in about 2 months. That's if people don't start knocking down my door for my sweet as designs! :)

EDIT: btw, built my new computer desk yesterday too! Materials I used:
3 tier bookshelf x 2
white shelf
velcro tape
handmade designer paper
Total cost = < $50NZD I bought the white shelf at the local material store (Placemakers), similar to Lowe's. Then found some handmade paper at a Fair Trade store in Tauranga on sale so i bought two rolls. (only about a meter in each) Then Saturday, we found an awesome sale on bookshelves! 2 for $25, baby! So got a couple of those in black. Put them together then used the velcro tape to better secure the white shelf top. Using the velcro means i can quickly, easily take the desk apart so it won't be a pain when we move. I used enough (the length of the shelves) to firmly secure the top though. So it does take a little muscle to pull it apart. Here are the pics of the final construction.

Graphic Design

I'M beginning to see the pains of having client's as a Freelance Graphics Designer. I'm creating these brochures and ads for the local school mostly as a favor. I didn't have them sign any of the normal Freelance contracts or agree on any stipulations before taking the job. I saw the previous brochures/ads and knew I could create something better in my sleep. Unfortunately, I think they are under the impression that they actually have me contracted professionally for my design skills. I'm under no obligations in my opinion to give them the "perfect" design they are looking for. I've already exceeded the previous work. yet they have turned down my first designs and are asking for more. When I give them a look that says they are a bit nuts for asking for something else, they bring up that they'll "find some money to pay me" for the work i'm doing. A vague promise isn't the same as having it in writing. really, its not so much about the pay, even though these jobs should cost them hundreds of dollars a piece. nope. its more about getting my name out among the locals of what skills I bring to the island. it's just irritating that i'm expected to put a lot of time and effort into a job i'm doing almost pro bono since its for the education system that employees my wife. if it was a shit design like this one i fooled around with:












Then feel free to tell me to try something else. BUT when its a decent design like in the previous post or this one here:




or this:

then please. just thank the nice man for his work and move on.

"Taking The Piss"

Ah, Mondays. Whilst cleaning my practice rooms today, I found the following:
1. Graffiti in yellow highlighter (5 separate places)
2. Trash, trash, and more trash
3. Broken string on electric guitar
4. Missing acoustic guitar

Boo. Needless to say, the children will not enjoy the rest of their week in music class. That will show them what happens when they "take the piss" as they say.
But I shall dwell no longer.

In other news, I am starting a staff band! I figured it would be a fun way to inspire the students as well as have some fun ourselves (more the latter reason, of course). Rehearsals will start this week and I am very excited - will keep you posted on the future rocking :)

Adam has been working a lot at school lately which has been great - I have to admit, I am not looking forward to his time at the school coming to an end after this term. Its been so awesome to have him there during the day, even if I only get to see him for a few minutes, and I will definitely miss that.

Now I just wish this silly coughing would stop. The allergies have gotten better little by little due to many new and effective meds :) Including a steroid nasal spray - but the doctor assured me it won't cause me to fail any Olympic drug tests.....Whew! Also included in the treatment is a lovely thing called "sinus rinse." If you don't know what it is, its not a pretty sight, but apparently its amazing. We shall see.

On that note - until next time...Dolly's on TV and I am shamelessly hooked.

need. more. time.

THIS week the school has asked me to help fill in for some sick staff. So i've actually had to work full days. i haven't put in a full days work in a loooong time. but getting some extra hours is good. except that it leaves me less time to create the lessons for my night class. i did get two lessons up on the site i made for the class so they have stuff to work on. i just have to figure out what the plan is for next week. while i'm finding time for that, i've also been asked to re-design the Community Education brochure, their web site, and create an ad for the local paper for the High School. think i've got the site figured out thanks to Wordpress and its easy to install open source software and free themes. here is an idea for the new brochure:

waiting on a response to that design to see what needs to be changed. have to figure out a good design for an enrolment ad now and i'll be some what on track. and once that's done, i have to find time to study for the CompTIA certification tests.

Photoshop images...

MADE some example images for my photoshop class that starts tomorrow night. did all these tonight. some i don't like but they easily show some different tools and techniques. others i think are not too shabby. (i like my "desk" best) think good thoughts as i start teaching my adult classes. i know that i have at least one teacher from the high school (the art teacher no less!) so there is a bit of pressure. (oh and the turban guy might not look like much without the before image. it was a retouch job.)

As promised....

So finally got our pictures of the Zoo developed. (we forgot our digital that day so had to buy a disposable, take them to the camera place, etc. feel like i'm working with stone age tools) but without further ado here's the pics. oh, and i forgot to get them put on a cd so i had to scan them then corrected the color and contrast real fast in photoshop. never taking my digital camera for granted again.



i know you want explanations. sarah is in a dinosaur egg. she likes to get into things. granted, this time i had to prompt her to jump in and we scoped it out for a minute before she did. but the picture was worth it. note the children climbing around her in the background. side note: my wife is awesome. those are meerkats about to fall asleep (3 of them decided to take a nap in the sun and sarah about passed out from the cuteness). sarah petting a loose Emu. kinda popped up out of nowhere in the kangaroo exhibit. (stupid 'roo was sleeping. so were the wallabies in the background.) monkeys, obviously. pretty bird in the aviary. bird eating my Guiness hat. didn't think you're xmas gift would go to feed the animals, eh sis? don't worry, i got it back. he just chewed uselessly on the bill. heh. bird bill chewing my hat bill. lol. and elephants walking through the zoo(!) bit shocked when we saw some animals walking around outside the cage. (not pictured: kiwi birds. not allowed to photograph as they are nocturnal. but they almost beat out platypus for wierd/funny animals.)