As for now, exciting news! I will be heading down to San Francisco next Tuesday for the HOW Interactive Design Conference. I’ve never been to the land of trolleys, Rice-a-Roni, and the Golden Gate Bridge, so besides getting to learn a bunch of neat-o design skills, I’ll get to do some site seeing and exploring as well. The conference is 3 days long and chock full of sessions with great speakers who will be teaching us the newest in multimedia design, and how to transfer your print work to be more interactive. This will directly help me with my job at Boeing, and I’m hoping to bring back some helpful tips for my coworkers as well. Can’t wait!

Here's hoping I run into DJ Tanner

The photo is from the Topping Off Ceremony for the new 787 interiors fabrication building in South Carolina, and I MADE THOSE BANNERS!  I designed them, had them printed, and then shipped them off to Charleston just in time for the event.  Pretty exciting to see my work on such a big scale!

Banners at new 787 facility in South Carolina.

I started my career at Boeing as a temp in 2005.  It was the Summer, and my three roommates who were still in college were on break.  The position I took was only supposed to be for a week, then I could get back to relaxing and enjoying the Seattle Summer festivities with them.  At the end of the week, my temp agency contacted me to say that I had a request to work with another Boeing group for three months starting that next Monday.  It wasn’t often that temps were personally requested, so it spoke highly of the work I was doing.  Flattering as it was,  I was devastated.  A full time job during the three best months that Seattle sees a year?!  I called my mom looking for sympathy, ha.  She told me to quit whining and that it was about time I got a job.

Taking the new temp position ended up being the start of a great career at Boeing.  That 3 months got extended to 4, then 5, and eventually turned out to be an 8 month stint.  I was supporting the European Sales group as a temporary office administrator, and after those 8 months a permanent position in the group opened.  I applied, and got the job!

I love working for Boeing.  The best perk without a doubt has been the educational support.  Boeing paid my way to obtain a second Bachelor’s degree which I used to leverage myself into a new position in graphic design.  I’ve been in my new group, Brand Innovation and Experiential Marketing, for 7 months now, and love it.  I’m excited to see where Boeing will take me as I continue my career path.

My selected anniversary gift of fresh water pearl earrings with my appreciation certificate.

I created this design to match the bluLink Solutions brand.  It includes a guide to what you’ll find on the facebook page, as well as links to their blog, twitter page, and LinkedIn account.

Check out the bluLink Solutions facebook page to see my work, and “like” them!

Like most design, it can be hard to get started when you don’t have a concept already in mind.  When I’m out and about and see a cute card, I’ll take a picture to get inspired.  I’ve always been drawn to notecards, cute thank you’s, etc… and have to resist the urge to buy them all since I hardly have the need for them (especially when I can create it myself!).  I’ve always thought it’d be fun to be in the greeting card business, so who knows, maybe I’ll start up my own line someday!

Here are a few of my recent favorite designs.

In the few weeks I’ve been here, I’ve already done a wide range of projects.  So far, I’ve done a lot of print jobs like posters, binder covers, a banner to go on an airplane fuselage, invitations, brochures, and CD labels.  I even get to do some branding with a logo design I’ve been asked create.

I’ve also gotten to work with outside printing companies that we use, and got the full tour at Sunset Press.  It was pretty awesome to see the machinery they use, and learn about all the work that goes in to offset prints vs. digital printing (maybe a whole blog post to come on that since I found it so interesting).

There are four designers in my group, one of which specializes in multimedia, so I’m excited to learn more about that from him. We all work separately on our own projects, but it’s nice to have them here to collaborate and bounce ideas off of.  It’s been great to be a part of the team!

Click image to read the entire cartoon.

You can find a lot more funny stuff like this at The Oatmeal.

]]> http://laynesoike.com/blog/could-you-make-the-design-pop-a-bit-more/feed/ 0 http://laynesoike.com/blog/my-new-j-o-b/ http://laynesoike.com/blog/my-new-j-o-b/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:58:02 +0000 admin http://laynesoike.com/blog/?p=308 I am very happy to announce that I was offered and accepted a new job at Boeing as a graphic designer!

As I was starting school, I introduced myself to the director of the graphics department at Boeing.  I wanted to let her know of my interest in the group, and continued to keep her updated as I finished my degree.  After graduating in March, I kept my ears open for any opportunities to move into the design field.  It was only a few months later when that opportunity came.  A position opened up in her group,  I applied, submitted some of my design work, and a few days later I was given an offer for the job!  With the support of my current boss, I happily accepted.

The next couple of weeks will be a transition period for me; supporting my current group while taking on a project or two for the new.  I then leave on the 14th for a vacay to NYC (for the first time!) with some girlfriends, and when I get back I will be officially settled in to my new role.

I am so excited for this new opportunity!  I’ll be doing something I love, be paid more for it, and have room for growth in my career.  The timing and everything worked out so perfectly, it must be meant to be!

Click on the below images to view the animated banner ads:

I really enjoyed the class, and have already started implementing what I learned into existing websites as well as a new website that I am just starting to create.