Portable Media Players & Using Them To Your Advantage!

It’s been a very long time since my last post but, that’s mainly do to freelance work.  While I’m still looking for that perfect job and waiting for the market to improve freelance has been good to me.  So what’s the subject of this post?  Well it’s really about you and your Personal Media Player aka PMP.  There are so many players to choose from ipod, iphone, ipod touch, zune, zune hd, etc.  The list goes on and on and on but, have you ever used it to your advantage with a prospective new client?  That little device in your pocket which is fun and entertaining is also a useful tool in your daily networking.  Wherever I’m at I have a PMP with me with my entire portfolio.  I’ve got my demo reels, photos, Photoshop work, After Effects work, etc.  So your asking why?  Well why not it’s only bettering your chances to showcase your skills to someone.  It’s always the same thing “Here’s my card and take a look at my website.”  When you have your little digital portfolio with you all the time your chances of getting new work is 100 times better because you can showcase your work there and now.  Your prospective client gets to see your work then.  Your business card becomes a little more valuable.  Turn your PMP devices into a working tool for you.

Are You A Preset Pusher!

So many times I’ve seen the same effect over and over and over in youtube videos and the like. If your an After Effects artist or Photoshop user design your own presets. Your job as a designer is to be original and when you go and use presets it becomes a carbon copy of another designers work. Hey don’t get me wrong it’s such an easy thing to do. You go online and you find some amazing preset and say to yourself “My work would totally look amazing if I use this preset.” Here’s the catch with that way of thinking. Your work starts to look like another designers and that’s a bad thing. Why not deconstruct the effect you just saw and learn from it. Create your own original effects presets and use them in your design. When you create your own effects your learning more about the applications your using and you become a better designer.

As a Designer Play!

Now that doesn’t mean go to the nearest game console.  What I’m referring to is down time.  Yes we as designers often go through periods of downtime at the work place.  Instead of going for that next twitter post or Amazon purchase keep designing concepts.  By doing so your not only discovering new design concepts for yourself.  Your also building your arsenal of digital weapons for future projects.  Who’s to say an experimental design you created a few weeks ago wouldn’t be perfect for an upcoming project that’s coming your way.  This applies to all forms of design 2d, 3d, After Effects, Photoshop, etc.  It might sound like more work but, in reality this is an unrestricted way for you to design freely and without constrictions.  So keep designing!