So, understandably, most of you have probably forgotten that this blog exists – I think I might have even forgotten for a while! Yet, alas, the changing of the season (and many far more significant changes) has inspired me to return to the blogosphere and resume my once regular updates of the goings-on in my life.
Where to begin?
I’ve finally joined the ranks of real world professionals – I got a full-time job! And better yet, it’s in my field – using both of my degrees! Today marked my first day of employment as a Production Designer at Tiny Prints, Inc., a web-based card retailer that specializes in announcements, invitations and greeting cards. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am about this job! The company is pretty young, they launched in 2004, but they’ve had incredibly impressive success in the last six years. They’re based out of Mountain View, CA and they just opened a new office in Tempe on June 1, so everyone is either new to the valley or new to Tiny Prints, which makes it a pretty interesting time to join the team since we’re all transitioning together. The product line is amazing and almost entirely developed by contract freelance designers, so the company itself has very little creative involvement on that end, but they encourage employees to share their own work. My position as a Production Designer is more of an editing position, so after a customer submits his/her card, I edit the text, photos, and layout to guarantee that everything is as close to perfection as possible, and then we send it off to printing. Beyond being totally impressed with both their product and success, the company promotes a family-like culture that I am honored and excited to be a part of. Everyone seems to genuinely love working for Tiny Prints and it was even chosen as one of the Best Places to Work in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times! I feel like I’m writing a press release for them, but I’m just so thrilled that I found such a wonderful place to work! Seriously, check out the website, and tell me that you don’t love them, too! And family and friends, there’s a discount in it for you, too!
Here's some samples of their work:
My first day of work was great. There is one other girl who was hired as a Production Designer and she and I will be in training for the next two weeks, learning about company standards and quality assurance and everything we need to know to be awesome at our new jobs. Today was very introductory – we filled out lots of paperwork, met the other people in our department (there are only 7 right now in Tempe), and started with our training. Also, there’s no dress code so I can wear jeans and flip-flops to work everyday! Amazing!
Obviously, my various other activities took a hit since I’m now occupied Monday-Friday from 9-6. I had to end my internship at the Children’s Museum, although I’ll still volunteer there when I have some time. I tried to stay on at Anthropologie but I just can’t commit enough hours and summers are very slow here since no one wants to visit the 120° weather. I haven’t figured out what will happen with Free Arts, but that will be the most disappointing activity to lose because I so look forward to seeing the kids each week. My partner and I both stayed on through summer so we’ve been with the same kids since January and I really don’t want to leave them!
That’s enough of an update for now, but I still have lots to share so I’ll be back soon! Happy summer everyone!
