Panoramic Photos: A Creek Runs Through It

The creek that runs through my backyard.  This is a panoramic photo that I shot and put together in Photoshop.

#2 Ad Man portfolio part 2

This ad was designed for Randy Hartgrave of RHarts Greenlawn.  Published in the spring of 2010, the client liked it so much he used the ad in many other publications and had me redesign it other formats for different uses.

#2 Ad Man portfolio part 7

Union Auto is a weekly advertiser with the Conrad Record.  December 2009, The Record ran a special Christmas section.  Union Auto requested that their ad feature their normal “cars for sale” look but had a “Christmassy” theme to it as well.  This is what I came up with.

#2 Ad Man portfolio part 5

Ladehoff’s Lawn Care wanted a full page ad to celebrate their 15th anniversary.  They supplied the photos and the bare bones concept.

#2 Ad Man portfolio part 4

This ad was commisioned at this size because the client was very impressed with what I designed for the full page ad (part 3).  Again the photos are all mine as was the concept.

#2 Ad Man portfolio part 6

The only gas station in town shut down for remodeling.  The local farm co-op wanted potential customers to know that they didn’t have to drive 20 miles to the nearest available gasoline.  All photography was mine.  I was given a bare outline for what the ad needed to say.  The client was so impressed with the ad they decided to run it for four consecutive weeks.

#2 Ad Man portfolio part 3

I’m especially fond of this ad (and the next).  I shot all the photos for this ad and the concept was mine from start to finish.  The client liked the ad so much that they commissioned one for Mother’s Day 2010.

#2 Ad Designer portfolio part 1

 This ad was designed in October of 2009 for a Christian organization advertising their seminar.

Heigh-ho Heigh-ho, It’s off to work I go…

Monday, April 27 my mother brought over a help wanted ad.  The paper in Conrad, Iowa was in need of a graphic artist/ad-man.  Since that is what my degree is in, Mom thought I’d be interested.  Money has been tight since Mrs. VS went on disability because of her cancer.  The redemption center was never designed to be the family’s sole source of income.  The funding that the church was supposed to get starting in January hasn’t materialized as yet.  So needless to say I was interested enough to call.

The editor of the paper took my call.  We set an interview for Tuesday afternoon.  I began the immediate search for a vehicle other than the can van to get me to the inerview and back.  I also began making plans for Mom, the PITs, and my new employees to run the redemption center that afternoon.  Monday evening I made sure my resume and portfolio were up to date and settled down for fitful night’s sleep.

Tuesday afternoon, nervous as a cat in room full of toddlers, I left for my interview.  Chuck Friend, the editor/publisher of the Conrad Record is a very nice guy.  He and I talked about my previous job experience and why if I’m a small business owner in my own right do I need a job?  After an interview of about an hour and half, Chuck gave me a trial assignment.  The previous ad guy had designed a pretty crappy sign touting the paper’s in-house copy business.  Chuck sat me down at the computer and said, “Fix it.”   20 minutes later, I had indeed, fixed it.  Chuck handed me an application and told me to bring it back Thursday morning filled out.  I asked if he was offering me a job.  Chuck told me to plan on being at work all day on Thursday.  Easiest job interview I ever had.

Drove home, excited, nervous, worried and called the sellers of a used ’94 Ford T-Bird.  Told them I’d take the car.  Spent Wednesday buying clothes that don’t look like I count cans all day long.  Picked up a new sponsor for the blog (but that’s another story<g>).  Also got Mom and the PIT’s ready to take over the can company for awhile since My work schedule is part time and we need to restructure the can company’s hours to fit the job schedule.

This morning I woke early, got dressed and headed out to my first day of working for aomeone other than myself in nearly three years.  When I got there, I was shown my desk and given an immediate assignment of redesigning some in-house forms and the paper’s masthead.  I actually got to design an ad today as well.  I was very nice to actually use my degree for  a change.  Eight hours flew by.  I will be doing a redesign of the paper’s website as well.

I’m psyched.