They say, “Practice makes perfect!” and I’m a big believer in that. This week, I faced something I dreaded the most…mounting. I don’t want to complain here—if anything, I am truly grateful—but the one thing I always got criticized for in class was my craftsmanship. Even if I were to design something that I found satisfying and pleasing to the eye, presenting the final product on a black board has always been a struggle for me. Perhaps it’s my impatience or lack of will to start something over, but I dread making books in class. The content might look fine, but the book itself might end up looking like it will fall apart.
On Monday, the minute I was told that I was going to mock up boards for presentation, I felt my heart race with anxiety:
They’re definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone here. The projects that I was assigned to cut, spray and mount aren’t mine to mess up or to re-do…things just got real. I’m not the type of person to back down on a challenge. Besides, I DID just enroll in an artist book -making class to improve on my craftsmanship skills…I just hope BatesMeron shows me grace if I screw things up…
After a couple of boards and flysheets, I found myself grow more confidence in my mounting skills, thank goodness! Attaching flysheets to each board was also a new thing for me. I wouldn’t say that my mounting is perfection now, or even close. However, I am truly thankful they are helping me with presentation prep, which is crucial in design. I hope I’ll be a mounting pro by the end of this internship!
Other than that, I am thrilled to say I’ve learned some new techniques and useful shortcuts on Illustrator and Photoshop from our art director, Melissa. I find this really helpful because it’s important to be quick and efficient especially with tight deadlines. I hope that one day my hands will move around the keyboard as fast as Melissa’s. One can dream, and one can practice and hope for the best!
Friends, I can say—once again—that it has been a successful week. ‘Til next time!
Your intern,
Josey
Erin Pine is a Senior Art Director at BatesMeron Sweet Design. In that role, she both develops her own creative designs and nurtures the wor...
As designers, we’ve worked tirelessly to hone a craft we hold near and dear to our hearts—stemming from sleepless nights in the matte room t...
Some websites have "About Us" sections with five bio writeups, others have product catalogs with hundreds of entries. But many sites we've w...
