Now that you’ve got your business name, logo, and an advertisement to spread the word about who you are and what you do, it’s time to get out there and get a job!

Your assignment for the next while is to get to work designing and making products for a business/service/cause/department/whatever!

If you are in Grade 12, I STRONGLY recommend that you try working for a real client! If you are in grade 11, you can try that if you wish, but you could make something up instead. Either way, you are going to need to regularly seek feedback and revise your work. A client can be difficult  at times. Rarely will you get it right the first time. Most professional projects go through several different drafts. No matter what you choose, you will need to have someone to bounce ideas off of and someone who will give you honest, constructive feedback. Someone who loves everything that you do is going to be TERRIBLE at helping you make your work better. Carefully consider who is going to help you come up with your designs & products!

PICK AN AREA THAT YOU’RE INTERESTED IN! You will have a lot more fun, the ideas will come more easily, and you will come up with better work! It helps if it’s an area where you might actually be able to find a client who would appreciate your services.

ex. I am a music nerd. I love music. I would definitely try to work in that area. Like my pal Stu, who you met at the beginning of the semester, I would most enjoy promoting great music. For me, it would make sense to choose a band/artist, record label, festival, or music venue to work for. I know a lot of people in the music industry, so it wouldn’t be hard for me to email a bunch of people and offer to design some things for them. If music is your thing too, I can try to find something that might interest you.

You should come up with an area that you could work in. You will need to tell me about 3 potential clients and what kinds of things you’d offer to do for those clients. I’ll look that over, make some suggestions, and then you can pitch your services and see if someone would be willing to “hire” you. Unfortunately, you CAN NOT ASK TO BE PAID at this point. Your services are FREE. That having been said, if someone likes your work and offers you something upon completion of your work, well…

Then you’ll have to write a letter pitching your services to a prospective client. Make it look and sound professional! Explain to them what you can do for them and why they should hire you. Show off some samples of your best work. Make it clear that this is for a class project, and that they are not expected to use your designs for anything if they don’t want to, but they have the right to use them if they like.

If you’re in grade 11, or you want to keep it in-house, there are several jobs that I could offer someone.

• I love promoting Jimmie Jam Radio. We have a nice logo that was made by a student last year, but I’d definitely consider a different one and some promotional materials.
• I work for a great radio station called UMFM. I’m sure we could put you to work somehow.
• There are lots of individual shows on Jimmie Jam and UMFM (as well as CKUW,) and I’m sure there’s one that might interest you, and might have a host that might need some promotional materials…. like me! I host two shows. I have logos, but I’m getting mighty tired of them. I could use some new stuff.
• I host concerts in my living room, a venue I call The Sunset Saloon. I’d love to promote it better.
• Ms. Tuchscherer would like someone to help with some designs & promotion for the Sustainability Club, aka the EcoJimmies
• The PE staff would like someone to design some things for our basketball teams. In particular, they would like posters and brochures with the teams’ schedules and rosters to display/hand out
• Mr. Sculthorp would like some posters designed explaining the P.E.A.C.E. process in English. (probably not a full semester project, but something worthwhile that could be done while you have some down time or in conjunction with a larger project.)