TGIF......Fo reals

This has been a particularly bad week for me. I'm convinced that the lunar eclipse brought me some bad times. That's what the man who writes my horoscopes said anyway so I believe him. Yesterday was the culmination. Since I got stuck doing all the graphics for my PR group, I didn't have the time or energy to devote as much to it as I should have because of all of my other projects and the little bit of a life that I actually have. Well, I was putting the finishing touches on what I had done while I was in graphic design class yesterday when my teacher walked up behind me and asked what I was doing. I explained and he made some "suggestions" for my brochure. He told me the one I had done was clunky and dark and not attractive. Okay, it was a bit boring but it wasn't THAT bad. Well, he decided to sit down and totally redesign my brochure. Color, fonts, layout, EVERYTHING. I didn't really protest too much because A) he's one of my instructors and I am there to learn, B) I was spent and didn't have much more to put into it anyway and C) I am lacking in self-confidence and when someone says my stuff is shit, I believe them, even if I shouldn't.

Well, as usual there were printing problems and all the meetings had been scheduled right after each other so everyone was running around getting their stuff together, including Evann. I briefly showed her the brochure in the hall and she told me to trim it and nothing else. Okay, done and done. Well, we went into the meeting with the clients and when I showed them the brochure, they went silent. Crickets, people. Evann looked at me and was like "this isn't the brochure I saw. what IS this?" I told her that I changed a few things in class and she was like "UNDER WHOSE DIRECTION?" I stammered for a bit and told her that the other one felt clunky and dark and she kept asking who told me this so I had no other choice than to say that this other teacher suggested I clean it up and make a few changes. I really didn't want to bring his name into it but at this point I was backed in a corner like an angry badger. All the while, my clients are sitting there watching Evann bitch me out. Very class-say for me. She told me to go to the lab and get the original RIGHT NOW but I didn't want to tell her that I wasn't even sure if I HAD it anymore. That probably wouldn't have gone so well. Then I remembered that I had a rough copy of the original brochure in my bag so I whipped it out and THEY LOVED IT. Well, Evann was still VERY pissed off at me and she spent the entire rest of the meeting shooting me evil glances. I pretty much knew that I was screwed at this point.

When the meeting ended I went back to the classroom to await my wrath. The rest of my group were all concerned and even waited with me so I wouldn't be there alone. THAT'S HOW MAD SHE WAS. She finally came in and sat down and I began apologizing profusely for everything including global warming and the war. She told me that I had committed two cardinal sins. First off, I didn't consult my "art director" (her) before presenting to the client and that I didn't trust my own instincts and allowed someone to come in and steamroll my design. These are both true, although I thought about telling her that I had, in fact, shown her the brochure in the hall but I thought it best to just zip it and listen. Well, I felt like an enormous tool and I KNOW for a fact that had I done this in "the real world", I probably would have been fired on the spot. Now, of course, had they loved the new design, then I would have been a freaking genius and everything would have worked out with a sitcom ending. Instead I got yelled at in front of clients and could go nothing but just sit there and smile through it. The instructor that "helped" heard about all this from another student and felt bad but I told him it wasn't his fault. I should have stood up for my design and I didn't. I could have told him no or whatever but I respect him and figured he knew better. I had class with him this morning and he made a point of telling us all that we basically have to learn to trust our designs and that not everyone is always going to like what we do but that's just the nature of the beast. Art is subjective. Plain and simple. He also told me that he thinks I will make a good designer, although I think that was the guilt talking but I'll take it anyway. All in all it was a very bad experience, but I'm going to take it as a lesson and move on.

On a really awesome note, my kick-ass classmates secretly went and got me balloons and a card for my birthday today. They came in singing to me! I turned 73 shades of embarrassed but I can't thank them enough for such a nice gesture. I've said it before, but I am really grateful to them for making me a part of their circle. They are not only great people but they're outstanding designers and I'm privileged to work with them.
AND they made my week end on a high note. Thanks guys!