Summer 2014 is a season of changes, of moving forward. On the home front, our son is building a house down the country road from us which means that soon he, his partner and their baby will be within arm's reach – very exciting.!

I am reaching, too, working on expanding my web knowledge to include a more complete understanding of WordPress. Lynda.com offers many comprehensive lessons on everything digital, and is the professional's answer to keeping up with technology, and acquiring new skills. The jury is out on whether I want to move right in to coding websites for clients - I am really more a designer and that is where my skills are best applied. However, having a greater understanding of the possibilities and functionalities of this most popular web application is of fundamental importance when conceiving a web project. As well, the ability to identify and modify code is very important in drafting email campaigns and in customizing templates provided by other online web building software like Weebly, which I do on a regular basis.

All in all, learning new skills is part and parcel of staying abreast is technology surges ahead. I am on my surfboard, heading for the wave!

Welcome to my first post in this 'Design' blog, which will focus on all things in the design world that occur to me to write about....This first – expanding my client base.
   Following the suspension of the Print Media Program at Algonquin College last year where I was a partial load professor in my field of Graphic Design, I find myself ramping up to increase my client base and/or seek freelance opportunities. Having posted my resume online, and having built this simplified website to support this effort, I find myself thoroughly immersed in the world of online job seeking. And a perplexing world it is!
   Many (if not all) positions posted list required skills that would make a seasoned veteran of the biz (myself included) wince. Said skills are then juxtaposed against an experience level requirement (2-3 years on average) clearly designed to discourage the same skilled professionals from applying, the implications thereof being...very low pay expectation.
   A word to employment services out there: Dare to reach for the top! Experience tells, and only experience builds the skill sets outlined in these advertised posts.