Speed of Light | Catherine Baird

Put some jazz on the radio, buckle in, and get inspired cause we're moving at the speed of light with Dashboard ACD Catherine Baird.

MINIBIO
Swooning over the nuances of Monet's Water Lilies at U of T; Calling the shots at little guy ecentricarts, Following an idol to Paris, Running with the big guns at Henderson Bas; Yeah, Catherine Baird has done that. Not to mention surviving the gauntlet that is Sheridan Web Design. Now she brings her wealth of knowledge, experience, and talent to the Dashboard family... and to us.

THE WISDOM
Inspiration and Passion. 'Get Inspired' and 'Do what you love'. Love design, love technology, love your work, love who you work with, love to learn, and love to work. If you work hard and love what you do you'll always be inspired and engaged. When you love what you do, it's not a job it's an adventure. 

CATHERINE SAYS
BE A REALLY REALLY GOOD DESIGNER
Even when your overwhelmed with technology, you are first and foremost a designer and you will be getting applying for a design job
Creative directors don't care about your coding, they care about design

UNDERSTAND (AND LOVE) TECHNOLOGY
The tech world in an ever changing environment, embrace it

Play. Get excited for new toys and new tech.

LEARN FOR YOURSELF

Learn video editing, flash animation, proper social media design techniques

The more you know the more adaptable and hireable you are

UNDERSTAND UX & IA
User Experience and Information Architecture
First things first, your design has to work

Most importantly, design for the user

WORK HARD, BE FLEXIBLE, AND KEEP UP
Embrace the changing, evolving, moving industry you're in

Stay late when needed
Prove yourself

WORKS

If a varied portfolio is the sign of a well-traveled hard-working designer put two checks by Catherine's name. She's saved you money, she's saved christmas; she knows what's happening in Toronto and she want you to too. Whether it's for peanut butter of the Olympics Catherine's checkmarks keep piling up: talented (check), passionate (check), inspiring (check).

SO?
Big affable grin in tow Catherine came with a message of inspiration and passion and she walked the walk. She also has some pretty solid advice: learn, love, design, grow, succeed. So I'm coming along for the ride. Lightspeed. Punch it.

Enjoy the Ride | Steve Coomber

Today we were treated to the rock and roll styling of designer, advertiser, TAXI driver, Sheridan grad, and sole Coomberville resident: Steve Coomber.

MINIBIO
Recently the feature of an Applied Arts Article (well... a feature) Steve, Guelph BFA in hand,  cruised out of Sheridan's Web Design Program in 2005 and promptly landed feet first at some of Toronto's Ad giants: namely Organic, Young & Rubicam, and is currently picking up fares for TAXI (How many more taxi metaphors can we throw in here? Who knows?) 

THE WISDOM
The big message Steve laid at our feet? At it's core: learn, work, and socialize. Pretty simple. Below are Steve's actual words but in essence it's all about being willing to grow and evolve through a willingness to learn, to work hard, and to still have fun. 

STEVE SAYS
SPEAK UP
Make your passions known
Jump at opportunities when they present themselves

FIND A MENTOR
They know your job better than you do
Learn from them at every chance you get
Then... be a mentor

NEVER TAKE SHOTGUN
Always sit in the drivers seat (His metaphor, not mine)
You should be in control of your career
The company needs you as much as you need them
Go to Seminars and get your company to foot the bill
Get involved in the projects you want to work on

TWEET
You don't have to love Twitter, but...
Twitter is a great marketing tool
@mashable, @theNextWeb, @TaxiCanada, @ConanObrien

DRINK BEER*
*Or your delicious beverage of choice
Socialize and network
Network and socialize
Beer. 

DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY
It's not brain surgery, it's fun

BE PASSIONATE AND HAVE FUN!

SO?
With mantras like 'Drink Beer' and 'Don't take yourself too seriously' it's safe to say Steve's message resonated with many of us. Be passionate? Steve clearly is. It shows in his work. With The Canadian Tire House of Innovation, a favourite project for Steve, playing on our big screen Steve beamed with pride; clearly happy to show off his work. His passion. So I think it's time for a little social drink... Taxi!

Weeks One & Two | The Adjustment Period

A few weeks into school now and I'm only now getting around to writing my first blog post. It's been a bit of a whirlwind two weeks or so with me starting school, moving to Oakville, freelancing, and just wrapping my head around all the changes going on. Now though, I have settled in and am excited for school to ramp up. I'm definitely looking forward to the guest speakers on whom this blog will be centered.
With so many different backgrounds among my classmates and the chance to pick industry professional's brains the opportunities to learn and develop skills, which ultimately is why I'm here, certainly will be many.