Hello my fellow DA heads.

Its seriously been about a year and half since I have been around and so much has happened since then. The toughest part is how to fill you all in without this turning into a novel.

First, I will start off with the career and its status. Last time I checked in, I believe I was working at Chicago Magazine as an intern. I did that for 3 months, then interned at one of the best packaging design firms in the city of Chicago, {akimbo}. I worked there as an intern for about 5 months, then was promoted to freelance designer status for an additional 3 months. I learned tons at this job and gained some fantastic portfolio pieces from it as well. I worked with clients such as MLB (Major League Baseball), Philip Morris, and Sara Lee. After my freelance time there was over, I briefly worked at another fantastic packaging design firm called Webb Scarlett deVlam. I worked there for just over a month, but gained some more valuable experience working with clients and designing for such brands as Valspar, Oral-B, and Stonyfield Farm. From there, I moved on to get a full time position as a web developer and designer for Tribune Interactive downtown. I have been here for about a half of a year already and its been a blast!

The most exciting thing professionally that happened since my last check-in was that I got to work with Chicago Blackhawks defenseman James Wisniewski on his clothing line. Several of my pieces such as shirts, hats, booty shorts, and golf shirts have hit production and are currently for sale. Check out [link] if you are interested. I will also post the work here eventually.

That is it for now. Til next time friends. STAY TUNED!

Ok let me paint the picture. I got an email about a week back from a potential employer and he wanted me to call him to talk about my work and web skills. Now, this phone call was definitely nothing like what I expected.

I called around 7pm last night and we talked about design in general. He also has a mentor-like personality and he genuinely sounds like he wants to offer me something in the future, but there is a small catch. This is an international firm and they do crazy crazy cool web work, alot of motion, sound, and dynamic layouts and design. Needless to say, its a bit out of my league with my present skill set. I sent him a few examples and he liked them, but said that I need to bring it up a level, which is understandable considering the work this company does.

Now, he could have just been a jerk and said "good luck" and hung up the phone after seeing that my work wasnt to the level that he wanted, but he didnt. He really encouraged me to practice at it, very motivational.

So the ball is in my court now. I can either sit back and wait to see if Chicago Magazine offers me a full time position soon, or I can bust my ass and get my flash skills to uncanny levels. Obviously im picking the latter option. I am to call him back in a month or two and touch base with him and show him some improvement.

Talk about a cool guy, he has really opened my eyes to further busting my ass to get better at my craft.

Now I have a fork in the road. It sounds like if I improve on my work and show him, then he will make me an offer for a full time spot in the firm. I also just finished my 3rd week at Chicago Magazine and im impressing them alot with my work. I feel they will make me an offer soon as well. Design and creativity wise, this firm is the obvious path to take to further my career, but Chicago Magazine is also good experience and its only a 10 minute el ride away from my apt.

I guess I will cross the bridge when I come to it, but starting on monday next week, I will be busting my ass to get my flash skills up to par and we will see what happens. Let's put it this way, id rather have the dilemma of multiple job offers than none at all. Things continue to look up, we will see how things unfold, how exciting.

STAY TUNED!

-cheps oner

Its been a few weeks since the last entry as I informed all that I got a job at Chicago Magazine as a website intern. Well its getting on my 3rd week of the job and its working out quite well. Im already diving in and doing important and vital elements for the site instead of kissing ass and bringing someone their coffee. I have done some Flash things for the site ([link]) and my name will be in the mastheads of all new issues of the magazine, so thats pretty cool. Everyone I work with are low key and casual people and my boss is nice as well, which is always good. I dont have that feeling of someone looking over my shoulder, I hate that, so thats great.

In another realm of my life, hockey is going great. In the past 2 games, I have scored 2 goals; one of them being a game winning goal that I scored with a few ticks left in the 3rd period. Its great to be back on the ice, im such a happier person now that im playing hockey again.

I have also received a call from a possible employer about a full time position with his firm on the northside of the city. He sounds excited to interview me, so maybe this can be a gateway to my career following the tenure of my internship with Chicago Magazine which will end in September.

Things are looking up people, I feel as though the world is my oyster ... my slimy little oyster!

Stay up people and as always ... STAY TUNED!

-cheps oner

I got the job at Chicago Magazine. Although it is just an internship, it will be vital experience, plus they told me that I would have a chance for a full-time position! Its an exciting day for me for sure. I plan on working this internship until mid-september to early october and then continuing my search for a full time position either at Chicago Magazine or elsewhere. This will pad my resume and be some great experience!

As always ... STAY TUNED!

-cheps oner

I have recently given my gallery a huge facelift. I deleted something like 75 deviations. I am also in the process of updating some of the images of previous deviations with the watermark feature and with better quality photos where it applies.

In light of the job hunt, things have been so-so. Ive had a few interviews, but no dice yet, but the good news is that its only been a little over a month. These things take time, but im seriously going nuts with boredom. Because of that fact, I have learned something new about myself ... im a workaholic. Design is what I love and it is my passion, so this "grace period" has been driving me nuts. My month of doing nothing is over though I have decided. Im so pathetic to the point where im going to be making up some mock projects just to keep me busy and to keep my skill set sharp. I am also starting to get back into my fine arts as well since its been such a long time.

In a nutshell, stay tuned for some fresh flavors coming very soon here. The job hunt continues, and the submissions will be rather plentiful.

As always ... STAY TUNED!

-cheps oner