Creating a Theme for a User Interface in JQuery

Today I was given an assignment to create some Powerpoint® slides for Vineyard Church North Phoenix. I already had the foundation of the artwork created, as the slides would be a spin-off of the promotional campaign that went out for Women's Evening at Vineyard Church North Phoenix. They are also refreshing their website and I got a call to ask if I could create a theme for the skin at jqueryui.com. This is exciting for me, since I've never used this template builder before. You can customize the look of your buttons, widgets, fonts, etc. in the template builder. You can also choose a template that has already been created. Once you are finished, you just select "download template" and it zips it for you, downloads and is ready to use. Pretty neat.

A Slow Start to This Week and Adobe CS5 Launch

It's been two business days since I've had an assignment. No work means that it's time to update the portfolio, look for jobs, brush up on my skills and update my blog, of course. When you're freelancing, one day without work can seem like an eternity! Luckily for graphic designers and artists, there is so much inspiration out there to keep us busy for a day or two.

On a lighter note, I'm excited that Adobe CS5 will be making its global launch on April 12. I'm currently using CS4 and I love it. I can't wait to see what new innovations Adobe will bring with the updated version of Creative Suite. I can't wait!

Just Created My First Magazine Advertisement as a Freelancer

I just finished a freelance project for DeWied International. It was an advertisement to be printed in the April edition of Meat & Poultry magazine. I only had two days to create the ad, receive edits (there were two rounds of edits), make changes, finalize and send it to the publication for print. Once that took place, I worked with their digital systems analyst to make sure that DeWied's logo would print correctly in cmyk. A quick cmyk breakdown of their Pantone™ colors were submitted, and I triple-checked that the breakdown was correct in my Photoshop artwork. I can't wait to see it in print. Word of advice: Always make sure you have written approvals from the client before submitting artwork to print.

ATX

We decided this Friday to drive out to Austin for the day and just soak up the vibe. I absolutely love Austin, Texas.  I love driving in to Austin on the 35 North and looking at the buildings downtown. Almost immediately you know this city is unique with the local residents proudly displaying their "Keep Austin Weird" bumper stickers on their cars. Austin is buzzing with creative electricity and evidence that the city is loved is apparent by how clean the Austinites keep it. My husband and I had lunch at Freebirds World Burrito, where the atmosphere is coined "not normal". The food was fast, good and reasonably priced. We then went on to enjoy a gorgeous day at Barton Springs/Zilker Park. I love that Austin has a natural spring/pool with this beautiful woodsy surrounding right in their downtown area. We caught the twenty-minute train ride on the Zilker Zephyr that takes you around Zilker Park. I enjoyed watching the Austin residents getting their workouts, walking their dogs/babies and rowing in Lady Bird. There's so much more to enjoy in Austin, but this was how we spent our Friday in the ATX. I'm hoping that we will be able to make our move to Austin very soon in the near future. This is where I want to live life!