MCCC DMA 250

I'll update this list as I get more links:

Sara Reffler
Suha Gur
Kyle Anthony
Brad Shutack
Krysta Hujber
Dan Asnis

We've already talked a lot about how important cover letters are. This is the first time you are talking to your potential employers. If they don't like what they hear, there is no way they are going to click on a link to your portfolio or download your resume. And if they don't do either of those things - this semester was a waste.

Okay, so lets not let that happen. Lets write amazing cover letters. Most cover letters are sent in the body of an email. Do not attach cover letter .doc or .pdf to an email! Potential employers will likely never open them. So, for an email cover letter, here's what we need to do:

Preparation
1. Research the company

• Whats their mission? What do they do? Why are they doing it?
  
• Who do they serve? Who is their customer base? Do they work for other companies? Or work with the public directly?
  
• What sets this company apart from the competition? Is it their values (sustainability? giving back to the community? serving under represented demographics?)? Is it their quality? Speed? Quantity? Clientele?
• Where are they located? Who is their competition?

• What function do you and your talents serve in the workflow of their company?
• What will you be required to do?
• Who will you work with? Who will you answer to? Who will you be responsible for?
• What experience is needed and/or expected? (not always the same! you can make a case for having less experience than is expected if you have enough to fulfill the needs of the position).
• What software/hardware/technology are needed/expected?
• What creative skills are needed/expected?

• List all the major projects and accomplishments (you are students! Think about big projects, especially group projects!).
• List all the skills needed to complete those projects - not just creative skills! (think about teamwork, leadership, time management, etc).
• List all your work experience and volunteer experience
• Think about your professional network - do you know anyone who would be able to initiate an introduction to someone at the potential employer's company?

• Compare your list of assets with the needs/expectations of the company
• Find connections to your values and theirs (are you a fast worker with speedy turn around and are applying to a design agency specializing in fast delivery? volunteer at animal shelters and applying to a job that donates 10% to the SPCA? love fast cars, applying to Speed Network? snowboard every weekend? love cooking? shop thrift stores? recycle everything?) Find what you're interested or are really good at and see if their is some overlap with what the company values or promotes or specializes in.
• Write down the needs/wants for potential employee and check off the ones you have. Which ones are you amazing at?
• List specific projects that highlight these desirables.

• Keep your letter to ONE PAGE!!!!!!! This is extremely important. Try to keep it at about 3-4 paragraphs.
• Keep your tone professional. Even when applying casual companies, employers still want to see that you can think coherently and communicate clearly and effectively.
• Avoid slang or sloppy English. Remove every instance of "very" "a lot" "many" or weak words that do not carry much weight or add significantly to the meaning of the sentence. (ex: "I am able to work very quickly on many projects at the same time." verses "My work flow allows me to work effectively on different tasks simultaneously.")
• Spell check.
• SPELL CHECK! no really. S.P.E.L.L. C.H.E.C.K
• Do not use contractions (don't = do not, I'm = I am, can't = cannot, etc).
• "Should have" is not spelled "should of" - ironically enough, "could have" and "would have" follow suit!

• INTRODUCTION: Start of by introducing yourself and your current position (being a Digital Media student is perfectly fine! and it is a real "position") and where you are working/studying.
• Explain why you are applying for the job. Remember way back in the beginning of the semester when we talked about why you want to work in creative services? This is where that gets used.
• Briefly mention how your skills/experiences will not only fulfill the requirements of the position but actively contribute to their mission
• BODY: match requirements of the desired position to your skills and experiences.
  
• When possible, link to or talk about specific projects that illustrate these skills in action (this will get them into your portfolio faster and that is where you really "talk" to them).
• Always try to work in the research you did about the company and demonstrate how you can contribute to the bigger picture.
• CALL TO ACTION: in the concluding paragraph, you want to wrap up everything (more about the company's mission and how your skills can not only meet expectations but exceed them) and call them to take action (download resume, visit portfolio).
• talk about scheduling an interview. If you know your availability, mention that as well.
• Provide contact info! Make sure they have your telephone number!
• Thank them for their time!!!

• Wiki-how has a great Cover-Letter-Writing-Exercise but please don't follow it exactly! Make this letter your own - it needs to show off your personality!
• Trinity College has a great, quick tutorial
• College of Computer and Information Science has some good examples
• www.how-to-write-a-cover-letter.com is aptly named
  

This guy is intense... but he makes valid points. If nothing else - something to giggle about for a couple minutes to break up the stress of production?




"It doesn’t fit in a Roledex because it dosen’t belong in a Roledex. It’s the kind of thing that even if they don’t like you they won’t throw it out."

Cool Business Card Designs
Most Creative Business Card Designs
24 Creative Business Card Designs
10 Most Creative Business Cards

I use Digital Room for my cards because they are very reasonably priced, but am considering getting my next batch die cut. In that case - I will use Taste of Ink Studios.

Shop around before choosing a place to get your cards printed. If you are not a "designer" consider hiring a design student to help you out. It will make ALL the difference in the world. I know several of our classmates do business card design professionally.

Cards are not a requirement of the class - but are generally helpful in the professional arena!

FYI - having trouble with Dreamweaver? Check out this great tutorial!

Web sizes to remember:

• 800x600 - will fit on all monitors without having to scroll, slightly smaller than necessary now-a-days
• 1024x768 - will fit on MOST monitors without having to scroll, gives you a lot more screen real estate to work with
• 960 - happy medium between 800 and 1024, and basis of the 960 Grid System
  

Wireframes, as defined on Wikipedia:

A website wireframe (also "web wire frame", "web wireframe", "web wireframing") is a basic visual guide used in web design to suggest the structure of a website and relationships between its pages. A webpage wireframe is a similar illustration of the layout of fundamental elements in the interface. Because of this, they are often completed before any artwork is developed. When completed correctly they will provide a visual reference upon which to structure each page. Wireframes also allow for the development of variations of a layout to maintain design consistency throughout the site. This is an important part of the initial development stage because it creates user expectations and helps to develop an awareness of and familiarity with the site.

• Get Wireframed
• Building a Wireframe in Illustrator
• Grey Box Method
• A Vital Step

Sara found a great site to help you all design your site maps! This is a great resource - make sure you look it over.

A visual vocabulary for describing information architecture and interaction design

Check out this site for all the fonts that are commonly used for the web.

When looking over these, you will notice major differences in the SOW you will be writing due to the fact that these are written for clients. Since you are your own client, your verbiage will be slightly to very different. These are great to look over though, both for helping writing your own and just for future reference!

• Elance Project Agreement and Statement of Work
• LulieVision.com Statement of Work v2.0 (pdf) [really good!]
• Sample Statement of Work for Blog Design Services
• Wikipedia entry for "Statement of Work"
  

Andrew Baron is founder of Rocketboom and is extremely well versed in the [new]media industry. After reading a recent NYTimes article about the Television industry, he was reminded of a blog post he wrote in 2007. He revisited that post this week to question its relevance in the current market.
Read what Andrew's post and decide whether you either accept or reject his points. Consider how this economy is changing your industry. Consider how technology is changing your industry. Think critically and respond in the comments.

This is a copy of an email I sent to the class this morning. Decided to post it here to help you all along.

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A lot of you seem to be having some trouble with the home work assignment that is due tomorrow, so I figured I would give you some more direction. In general, I would like to see a higher level a research in your blog posts. When I say "think critically" or "research" something, I don't want you to just make stuff up. You can do a little bit of imagining if it fits the situation, but every thing you write should be informed by SOMETHING.

Tomorrow's assignment asks you to research your audience and write about who this person/people are. For an example, I am researching the audience I would need to speak to if I were interested in a job as an interaction designer (flash).

To start off, I found two companies I think I would like to work with and spent some time on their site. I paid careful attention to the language they used. Please note - their audience IS NOT you! It is their clients! But if you can speak in that language when you contact them in your cover letter or in your portfolio, it'll be easier for them to imagine you as part of their team because you obviously understand the needs of their client base and how to talk to them effectively.

These are are the sites

• http://www.jrvisuals.com/
• http://www.sigmagroup.com (the latter of which we looked at in class).