When tides turn...
If you asked me a few months ago what I would be doing in CA. I would've replied "looking for work...working on my portfolio...playing video games working on comics and art....". A couple weeks ago I responded to an ad placed on craig's list for a call out to design assitant and interns for 13 minutes magazine (http://www.13minutesmag.com). 13 minutes magazine is a bi(multi)-cultural magazine aimed at asian women(and discerning asian men)aged 25-35. So I go in for the interview this past thurs to find out more about the mag and what I'd be doing for them. I found that it's a small staff and crew running it on a shoe string budget yet somehow they're managing to turn out this great looking magazine. Due inpart to the fact that the printer's facilities are next door and that the aforementioned printer is the parent company of said magazine I guess it also helps if you're also run by a former photographer turned printer/publisher/entrepenuer.
So I go in today to the staff meeting and introduced myself and met the rest of the staff who all seem to be fresh out of school and driven. All of them asian women ranging in age from 20-35. So after the meeting we have drinks and dinner at habana and drive back to the office where the creative director pulls me aside to talk business. So he goes on to ask me what my career goals are nad where do I see my self and what kind of time commitment can I make to the start up magazine. I tell him aboutmy other gig and how it's not fullfilling and that I'm more than willing to make/bend my schedule around for the magazine. He then proceeds to offer me the SWEEEETEST gigs I've been offered in a long time. yeah I've worked in publishing for 5+ years...yeah I've written, drawn and designed comics...I've put together magazines,flyer and cd's for way under the amount I could/should ask for...And guess what all the toiling away late in the night...all the canceling of dates and fun....all the obsessive hours of collecting and pouring through magazines,books,manuals,treaties,stock photo catalogs and font books has finally paid off. I am now art director and print shop assistant! This means I get a paid position for something I was initially willing to work on stipend for. PLUS I get to learn a whole new set of skills...plus I get access to setting up my own print jobs whch means I can sneak in flyers/ business card designs/ and eventually comics to be printed on ANY spare space on the printing plate! Not mention all the perks of being an art director at a fashion lifestyle magazine. Comped hotel rooms...travel...women...shit what did I do to deserve this? I guess it makes sense if you're nearing 30 and have worked on the variety of shit I have knocking around in my portfolio...Life in the OC is fucking good! And it's gonna get a whole lot better! It just took some sacrifice, a break up and move back west to show me that life can still throw out those wonderful little surprises when things are looking down and out. Now if I can get this to last long enough before the world will end.
So I go in today to the staff meeting and introduced myself and met the rest of the staff who all seem to be fresh out of school and driven. All of them asian women ranging in age from 20-35. So after the meeting we have drinks and dinner at habana and drive back to the office where the creative director pulls me aside to talk business. So he goes on to ask me what my career goals are nad where do I see my self and what kind of time commitment can I make to the start up magazine. I tell him aboutmy other gig and how it's not fullfilling and that I'm more than willing to make/bend my schedule around for the magazine. He then proceeds to offer me the SWEEEETEST gigs I've been offered in a long time. yeah I've worked in publishing for 5+ years...yeah I've written, drawn and designed comics...I've put together magazines,flyer and cd's for way under the amount I could/should ask for...And guess what all the toiling away late in the night...all the canceling of dates and fun....all the obsessive hours of collecting and pouring through magazines,books,manuals,treaties,stock photo catalogs and font books has finally paid off. I am now art director and print shop assistant! This means I get a paid position for something I was initially willing to work on stipend for. PLUS I get to learn a whole new set of skills...plus I get access to setting up my own print jobs whch means I can sneak in flyers/ business card designs/ and eventually comics to be printed on ANY spare space on the printing plate! Not mention all the perks of being an art director at a fashion lifestyle magazine. Comped hotel rooms...travel...women...shit what did I do to deserve this? I guess it makes sense if you're nearing 30 and have worked on the variety of shit I have knocking around in my portfolio...Life in the OC is fucking good! And it's gonna get a whole lot better! It just took some sacrifice, a break up and move back west to show me that life can still throw out those wonderful little surprises when things are looking down and out. Now if I can get this to last long enough before the world will end.