Archive for April, 2008

In the Workplace with Joe Sak

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Name: Joe Sak
Title: Senior Web Developer, Artemis Solutions Group
Website/Blog: http://www.joesak.com
Location: East Lansing, MI

Joe Sak

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I graduated from Michigan State University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media. In school, I worked for the Eli Broad College of Business in Computer Tech Support and Web Site editing. After school, I was hired full time at Artemis Solutions Group as a web developer and have held that position for nearly 3 years.

Tell us about your current job.
Currently, I am primarily responsible for the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code that must be written in order to turn our designs into web sites. I am also responsible for client interaction, communication, and management. Some of my other talents involve Search Engine Optimization, Usability research & testing, User Experience design, prototyping web applications, content integration, and post-go-live web support.

(more…)

How I spent my Friday night: whirlwind web design

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

I’m a nerd. A serious nerd. I’m so nerdy I will stay up past midnight on a Friday working on a web site.

I recently attempted to [re]design my online portfolio. 

My last semester of graduate school I spent an entire semester developing, organizing, and synthesizing  to articulate a professional identity and design a web space to present my work from the last three years. I was pleased and proud of the result. That was then.

screen shot of old portfolio homepage.

Despite the long hours and tremendous thought I put into the portfolio, somehow that representation of my work was no longer accurate or adequate for my current professional needs. I’ve been in the workforce for two years now and the way that I think about my work has changed.  

About the time I started to realize all of this (a year or so into my job) I took down my online portfolio. I was embarrassed of the pink and grey color scheme and the table-based web design — certainly this was not the way I wanted to represent myself. At that time I was not ready to invest the amount of work needed to make the changes. So for at least a year, I had no web presence at all. (more…)

In the Workplace with Vishal Iyer

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

This post is the first in a series featuring designers, editors, and writers telling us about their work and professional interests. Many thanks to all the professionals who have already agreed to be featured on beyondwords!

Name: Vishal Iyer
Title: Sr User Interface Designer (I prefer Interaction Designer though)
Website/Blog: http://www.vishaliyer.com/
Location: New York/Washington D.C.

Vishal Iyer

Tell us about your educational/professional background.
I did my undergrad in Computer Science, then switched over to Design in grad school. Go Spartans!

Tell us about your current job.
I work for AOL in the eCommerce division. The design team works as an internal agency and I work on their Shopping, Autos and Travel websites among others.

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In the Workplace Series

Friday, April 18th, 2008

As part of our ongoing professional development, we thought it’d be helpful to hear from professional writers, editors, and designers in the field about the work they do.

This is the inspiration behind our “In the Workplace” series, where featured professionals will share with us how they create and communicate in their job, what resources they use, what tips they have for other professionals, and much more.

The first in the series will be up later this weekend, so be sure to check it out. We’re looking forward to what we feel will be an exciting series, and a huge thank you in advance to all of our featured professionals for sharing with us!

Event: Arts Marathon Weekend

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

As part of Michigan State University’s Year of Arts and Culture, this weekend (April 18-20) is the Arts Marathon Weekend in East Lansing, MI.

If you’re in the area and want to check it out, there are some great events on the schedule. Here are a few:

    48-Hour Animation Slam: Participants create short 3D animation movies in 48 consecutive hours.

    RCAH Poetry Slam: Interactive celebration featuring the competitive art of live poetry performance.

    Comics and Animation Workshops: Demonstrations of creative software for producing comics and digital movies.

    Online Interactive News Graphics: Sharing and discussion of award-winning interactive and animated graphics.

    From the Page to the Stage: Learn how to create a play on the spot using basic elements and unique shortcuts.

If there are events happening in your area that you think would appeal to professional writers, editors, and designers, please share details in the comments.

Professional Interviews – A few brief tips

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

interview questions 

Spring is finally upon us, and for many seniors and upperclassmen, that means job and internship interviews. Before you don your best suit and give ‘em the old firm handshake, take a few steps back and make sure that you’re prepared.

As a recent graduate I remember well what it’s like to be on the job hunt and how intimidating that first interview can be – take a deep breath…

Ready?  Now start putting your portfolio in order! (You do have a portfolio, right?) (more…)

Blogroll Call

Monday, April 7th, 2008

Are you a professional writer, editor, or designer? Do you blog about it? If so, brag about it! Post your blog URL in the comments and we’ll add you to the beyondwords blogroll.

Welcome to beyondwords

Monday, April 7th, 2008

Welcome to beyondwords, an online space for professional writers to share, create, learn, and explore what it means to be a part of the professional writing community.

If you are new to our site, check out our Blog Philosophy to see what beyondwords is all about and take a moment to Meet the Authors.

We invite you to join us in our exploration and we look forward to your feedback!