Perhaps I Should Stick to Making the Coffee

September 11, 2008

In case you haven't caught on, I'm seriously swamped with work. (I know! Totally out of character for a girl like me--right?)

I've been assigned the job of designing a new website for my organization and it's seriously consuming all of my spare minutes--which really isn't a surprise, considering the fact I have no frekkin' clue how to build a website.

This project has also opened my eyes to the fact that my true calling in life is definitely not as a graphic designer. My brother-in-law, my two favorite friends in Texas, and my new favorite friend in Maine are all seriously talented designers--and let me tell you, each and every one of them make it look so easy.

Then there's me. As much as I'd love to be the catchy creative type, I pretty much blow beach balls when it comes to computer graphics.

The President of the Board is all, "Amy. What is this?"

And I'm like, "It's a little turtle, wearing blue Converse, and holding a balloon, Jeff. And it's animated," with my voice trailing off. "....Can you see the little guy kicking?"

"Amy," he'll continue, "what does that have to do with the mission of our group?"

And I stop, and I think, and I say, "I think it makes us look fun, and friendly, and approachable. Not to mention the fact that we have many types of turtles in our local lakes."

That's when he usually pretends that his phone is ringing, excuses himself from my office, and counts to ten before kicking each of my car tires with his snappy little prescription shoes.

Then there's the organization's logo. We're an economic development group, so of course I picked a canoe to be our front and center. When the Board of Directors asked me why I selected the canoe graphic, I paused, offered a quick shrug, an upside-down smile, and replied, "Well, we have some very nice lakes and rivers in this part of the state. Indians used to like canoes, you know. And I guess it also suggests slow and steady movement in the right direction?"

One woman said, "I think we should find a graphic that speaks more specifically to this region."

And I pursed my lips and nodded in agreement as the following though ran through my mind: You want a logo that features an '88 LeSabre with a snowplow attached to the front? Then consider it done.

Except I don't know how to do that either.

12 comments:

joolee said...

Where can I get me some snappy lil prescription shoes? And the real question....can they do more damage to tires than say, snappy lil non-prescription shoes?

chattypatra said...

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/10/how-to-create-1.html


You can do it, Amy!

Jillybean said...

Did you know that you can get a website through Costco? Go to their website, look under small business services. They have quite a few templates to chose from.
Or you can pay them several hundred dollars and they'll have one designed for you.

And no, even though it is Costco, they don't sell the websites shrink wrapped in packs of six.

Brad and Rebecca said...

histerical...hire brad to freelance it for ya....everyone will be very impressed with "your" skillz... ;)

Brad and Rebecca said...

hysterical...hire brad to freelance it for ya....everyone will be very impressed with "your" skillz... ;)

DB said...

http://icetemplates.com/

It will save you time and money AND make you look like a genius! And we, the avid readers, will get more uplifting, funny stories from you! Win-win-win! Thanks for sharing your life and making us smile!

jed-laura said...

haha- Us graphic designers sure get a kick out of your story! I'd offer to help, but I'm on vacation... in MAINE!

We might be able to stop by to say hi on Tuesday. We'll be at Bar Harbor until then.

Good luck with the logo, and the website.

-Jed

Cheryl said...

Yeah, I think you're getting close. A logo of a rusted out plow truck up on blocks, sans tires, doors hanging off... that should be just about perfect! :-) Or a nice pine tree with chickadees.

Harshes said...

Hey, can I be your 3rd favorite friend in Texas?

LisAway said...

You're awesome. You've really got ideas!

Grandma said...

helloo...a fish driving a big pick-up.

Kent said...

Amy, if you need to learn how to build a website, I recommend using an awesome book that I bought: Head First HTML and CSS. It makes the whole thing a lot easier. Then find yourself a nice free CSS template you can use, and you're halfway there. That's what I did when I got volunteered to make www.kabuldolls.org for a lady at church.