Tracy Perkins

Graphic Design and Brand Development

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The Ups and Downs of Job Hunting

I have been looking for something a little more permanent as far as employment goes for a few months now. Freelance is great for a flexible schedule and having different types of projects to work on, but as most creatives know its not the most financially stable form of employment. And I, like most people, really do not enjoy living paycheck to paycheck.

Recently I had a stroke of good fortune when my friend Yukiko was asked if she knew any designers who could do some web prototyping and she reached out to me to see if I was interested. I was definitely interested and she worked with me to get my rusty web and coding skills up to par. I forgot how much I love working with HTML/CSS and how much it can annoy me at times—I’m looking at you missing ” from my class name in the div tag.

Yukiko passed my information along to the hiring manager who got in touch with me shortly afterward. She informed me that the prototyper position had been put on hold and if/when they decided to reinstate the position she would keep me in mind for it. Needless to say I was quite sad about this as I had let me hopes get up there.

This experience seem to follow a pattern I have noticed with my application experiences—that pattern being that every time I really get my hopes up as I know I’m the right person for the position, I get let down. After going through this cycle as many times as I have, I almost don’t let myself even think that I have a chance to get a certain position anymore. I know I’m making it harder on myself as thinking that I don’t have a chance totally drains me of my motivation and excitement.

However, some good has come out of this whole experience. I’ve gotten back into web design and used this a great opportunity to finally overhaul my website, tracyiperkins.com. This was something that had been on my to do list for a very long time and it feels really good to have it done. The overall design isn’t the greatest, but functionally it’s awesome. Following my excitement with that project, I’m now looking into taking on other web-related projects, such as combining this blog with my webpage.

So keep a look out for the change of web address and let me know your approach to job hunting.

Mapping Out The Path

Self promotion and marketing are huge in the freelance world. They can make or break your career. Sadly these two have not been some of my strongest attributes. However, I am aiming to change that.

Working for Whole Foods Market as a signmaker helped me figure out that while I like lots of projects all of the time, I like to have projects that differ from one project to another. This means I need to either find a studio to work at or a series of freelance jobs to keep me busy.

To help me get back on track in the freelance and job hunting world, there are a few simple steps which I’m taking:

  1. Revamp My Resume and Portfolio—Nothing says “Hire me!” quite like a really great first impression and that goes for your resume and portfolio too. So it’s time to give those two very important documents some love and attention.
  2. Research Where You Want To Work—Having the greatest resume and portfolio will not do you any good if they are not tailored to the studio, company, job you are going for. I’ve always found it helpful to have a ‘general’ portfolio and switch out pieces to customize my portfolio for each job.
  3. Set Dates and Goals—You’re self-employed when searching for your next job, even if you are trying to get hired as staff at a studio or company. Having dates and goals for yourself will help you keep on track and keep up both your productivity and creativity.
  4. Be Open to Opportunities—Whether it’s a weekend freelance job for a company out site your field or a once in a lifetime event, don’t let your long term goals get in the way of making time for other opportunities that may present themselves. These opportunities tend to help you grow in more ways than you can imagine.
  5. Maintain a Daily Routine—Setting work boundaries helps you distinguish ‘work’ from ‘recreation’, preventing you from always feeling like your on the clock. It will also help keep your professional edge intact. Plus, if you are productive all day you’ll feel like you earned the right to relax and enjoy yourself.
  6. Have Other Projects to Work On—There is inevitably going to be downtime between submitting applications, hearing back about bids, etc., and you’ll also probably need a break from the single-mindedness of searching for work. Having a constructive project to put your energy into will help break everything up, keep you busy when you have nothing else to do, and will look great to employers as you are not just sitting around waiting for them to call.
I’ve taken similar steps in the past with great success, but with some input from Jake and having more experience under my belt this plan of action came about. I’ll keep you updated as I progress through them. Enjoy!

So Far, So Good

I feel like I finally made it. I don’t have the highest paid, most prestigious job ever, but I’m finally working the field of study that my degree is in. Normally this seems to be a moot point that isn’t the most important thing, but as a design major it is. Mainly due tot he fact that I spent all those years learning those different programs and work flows for a certain type of industry. And it feels so good to be a part of it. On top of it I have fairly set hours at somewhat “standard” times of the day. (Most days I’m a 9-5er, with the exception of Wednesdays and Fridays for changeover and one day sales.)

And training this week has been a most awesome experience, mostly because I’m being trained by my old Unitrans Marketing Assistant, André. He’s just a fierce as always and has really given me a good grasp on what I’m getting into, since he knows what my design background and experience are like.

So far the only downside has been that I’m having to commute to San Francisco during the bridge closure.

My first glass writing.



A Spark and A Little Inspiration

After a few months hiatus and some well timed encounters, product releases, etc., I’m back!

And I don’t just mean to this blog. I’m back to being my creative self.

The resurgence started with us moving to a new apartment that actually is a bit of an inspiring place to be and work at. Plus, since I’m on the lease, I get to decorate and hang up old artworks that help keep me sane as well as inspired. Additionally, all of my stuff got moved back from Washington so art supplies are in abundance.

Last weekend I went with Jake to his work and ended up talking about freelancing and my portfolio with his producer’s husband. Turns out he got to work on the graphics for the film pitch I had helped his company secure. Also, he gave me some great pointers on how I can improve my portfolio.

Then Adobe released the Creative Cloud and now Jake and I have access to all of their programs and I can work on getting my portfolio polished up. Which is great since I’m all jazzed up about it. Plus, I’m tired of my job that gets me by. I’m not going to flounder this time. I’ve got the talent and the resources, so let’s make this happen.

With A Little Help From My Friends

After feeling totally unproductive yesterday I got a phone call that turned the day into one of my most promising in terms of employment in months.Yukiko called to let me know that there was an opening at Snapfish for the Creative Marketing Manager position and was curious if I was interested. Considering that marketing that leans more toward advertising is my strength and what I have primarily worked in I was more than interested. My time with Unitrans and Bel-Ray both revolved around marketing and advertising with a dash of design. The design background helps me to better understand who I am marketing to and how I can go about reaching them most effectively. 

I have to say that I am incredibly greatful to Yukiko for the referral. More than once she has helped me find out about jobs and has always been a huge encouragement and support when it comes to me finding something other than Starbucks to work at. It just goes to show that you should be greatful for your friends and them looking out for you.
Later in the evening when Jake got home, he had a listing of open positions at Eleven, Inc. that they were hiring for. Eleven Inc., being the advertising company that his company, Ntropic, partners with from time to time. So even more good news on the job front. Especially since Jake knows people at Eleven Inc.

So now less than a day later I have an interview set up for tomorrow and a bunch of job leads to follow up on. Wish me luck!

New State, New Focus

Since I’ve been having issues finding gainful employment in California and what little I had saved up ran out I have moved to Washington to live with my parents. It’s humiliating, comforting, frustrating and hopeful all at once.

The good news is that I now have quite a bit more drive to find a job as I don’t want to be stuck at home with my retired parents all the time. Love them to death and love going to coffee daily with them, but I know I need to get out of the house without them every now and again. I also found when I was up here visiting over summer that I feel more creative for some reason when I’m here in Washington. It might be the focus that this town (Anacortes) puts on the arts or it might just be the more natural environment. Either way I feel more compelled to draw, paint, design than I have in quite awhile.

So here’s to new beginnings.