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Job Interview

2007-07-17T09:09:00.000-07:00

1) Why do you want to work for this organization?
2) Are you a team player?
3) What is your philosophy towards work?
4) What irritates you about co-workers?
5) What's your biggest weakness?
6) What position do you prefer on a team working on a project?
7) What is your greatest strength?
8) Are you willing to put the interests of the organization ahead ofyour own?
9) Would you be willing to relocate if required?
10) Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor

Resume

2007-07-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

Yamila Souki Méndez
yamilasouki@gmail.com

Profile

I’m a creative and reliable graphic design student. I’m great working alone or in groups. I also have outstanding computer skills and ample knowledge in computerized programs for design.

Training

Studying at the moment graphic design in URBE, Zulia.

Skills gained

Web Design (HTML and CSS language)
Digital Design
Photo edition (Using Adobe Photoshop)
Drawing (digital drawing as well as hand drawing)
Use of the Color
Use of most of the programs from the Adobe Family such as Adobe Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop and Illustrator.
English as second language and Spanish as maternal one.

Objective

Find a great work in a company where I can grow as graphic designer and also contribute with my knowledge and creativity.

Experience

Design of Web pages and Logos for different Companies.
Design of multimedia tools for promotion.

Education

High School Graduated at Bellas Artes School.
Studying at the moment the 7^th Semester of Graphic Design in the Rafael Belloso University.

Interests

Photography
Playing Video Games
Reading fantasy and mythology
Watching movies

The Job

2007-07-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a talented user interface designer experienced with both web and client-based application UI design to help us plan and realize future online projects. The UI designer's primary role will be to visualize application process flows and create UI mockups based on project requirements, iterative and collaborative design discussions, usability testing, etc. The ideal candidate has strong ideas on optimum UI layout and has the graphic design and prototyping skills necessary to represent these ideas in a visually convincing way. The ability to create interactive prototypes in Flash is a big plus. Excellent oral and written communications skills are a must as the UI designer will need to clearly present ideas to various groups and help build consensus on a single UI direction.

Requirements

Extensive experience developing user interface flows and mockups for web and client applications based on project and business requirements
Graphic design skills with Adobe Photoshop or equivalent application
Awareness of current trends in UI design, interactive design, and competitive software to identify opportunities to enhance the user experience
Ability to observe, understand, and translate research (field observation, contextual interviewing, task analysis, usability testing, competitive analyses, industry trends, social trends, and stakeholder interviews) to actionable insights and user interface improvements
Ability to manage and act as UI lead on specific projects, including taking ownership of project deadlines and deliverables
Strong oral and written communication skills; good analytic and problem solving skills; an understanding of user-centered design principles; knowledge of industry best practices and standards; ability to communicate professionally within and outside of the design team

Plusses:

Game industry experience designing UI for software titles
Prototyping skills with tools such as Adobe Flash
Advanced artistic and graphic design skills with Adobe Photoshop or equivalent application
Experience managing a small team
Experience with web design technologies such as XHTML, CSS, javascript, etc.

Please send a cover letter, resume, and salary history to resumes@blizzard.com with art samples attached or a link to an online portfolio in the body of the email.

Cover Letter

2007-07-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

July 6, 2007
Blizzard Human Resources
P.O. Box 18979
Irvine, CA 92623

Dear Mr. Jack Sterling

I am writing to express my interest in User Interface Designer position as advertised on http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/. I have more than five years developing user interface flows and mockups for web and client applications, and I’m skilled in the use of all this programs:
*Adobe Photoshop
*Adobe Flash
*Adobe Illustrator
*Corel
*And others.
Also I have extended experience working with XHTML, CSS and JavaScript.

I’ve work with UI design before so I keep myself informed about the current trends to make a better work and also recognize possible flaws. I’m really good working as part of a team and also as leader.
I’ve always wanted to work on a big video game company and since I enjoy deeply the games you’ve created I think this would be the perfect job for me.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule an interview, I can be reached at (0261) 7410430 Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Yamila Souki Méndez

Interviewing myself

2007-06-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Name: Yamila Souki
Date: 30/05/07

1. Could you please define graphic designing in your own words?

Graphic Design is to communicate a message or idea through graphic elements, visual communication.

2. What influenced you to pursue graphic designing?

I guess the bigger influence I had was when I was studding journalism, I had a class called graphic communication where we studied the history and graphic design and got to design many publicities and advertising campaigns, so I got really interested in it, as a way to be more literate in communication, but after I start it I began to like the graphic design better and finally stop studding journalism.

3. Could you please describe the educational process required to become a graphic designer?

To become a graphic designer first need to learn the theoretical part to understand how the elements used on your designs are interpretated by the public and how to create new ways to express the ideas. Also a lot of creativity it’s needed and like in every job the practice makes the mastery.

4. What are some of the skills that are involved when designing?

Creativity is the most important thing and also not being afraid of try new things and tool. Most of the work is done under pressure, so gotta deal with that. Also in the actual world of the graphic design is really important to be good working with computers and computerized programs for design.

5. What job considerations were you looking for after you completed your education?

My dream job would be in a video game company, designing environments, skins, textures, characters, publicity or audiovisuals for video games.

6. What's something in your student life that you enjoy the most.

When I get to sleep a lot on weekends and after I’m done with all the work and get to relax… maybe doing other things related with design.

7. What is the most difficult aspect of graphic designing?

Get new ideas when you get blocked or uninspired.

8. What are your plans for the future?

Graduate and start working, start my own design company and get a lot of clients ^.^

9. Point out your most personally gratifying moment in graphic designing.

When I finish my work and actually feel that it is complete and good. (Not very often since I’m really perfectionist and my harshest critic)

10. Why would you recommend graphic designing as a career?

I recommend everybody to study why they like, maybe in my country the graphic design work is not so respected or well paid but it is always gratifying to do what you like to do.

US design salaries down, but trend is steady

2007-06-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

Graphic designers are generally inspired by more than just money. But that doesn't mean that a good salary isn't important to us. At the very least it is important that we are seen to be valued in our jobs.

But without having anything to compare against, it can be difficult for designers to know whether the wage they are being paid is in line with the rest of the market. For graphic designers in America, this is where the yearly AIGA/Aquent graphic design salaries survey comes in.

Last year the design salaries survey reported an upward trend in graphic designers earnings. For 2006 salaries were slightly down, but the trend is still looking good from a workload point of view. According to the survey; "margins are tighter and clients are contracting for work against smaller budgets". But, according to the report, the overall trend is still positive, with signs that American businesses are recognizing the value of innovative design in promoting themselves internationally.

As ever with design job descriptions, it is difficult to make exact comparisons. But there are a few interesting pointers in the report. As expected art directors and senior designers earn considerably more than junior designers. Freelance or self-employed designers tended to earn the equivalent of a senior designer's salary.

From a regional point of view there were also wage differences. For example, graphic designers in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Atlanta were near the top of the salary pile. Whereas designers working in jobs in Denver, Dallas and Philadelphia appeared to earn at the lower end of the income ladder last year, overall.

Source: Desing : Talkboard

Welcome to my blog

2007-05-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

My name is Yamila, but people call me Yami (irl anyway) in wow they call me Latipa, and Luis, my boyfriend, start calling me Yami-Chan when we start dating. Yami-Chan is like saying little Yami in Japanese.

I live in Maracaibo, Venezuela and study graphic design in URBE, I’m in the 7th trimester so I’m sort of close to finish -Finally!!!- I like music, mostly rock and punk, but also like funk like jamiroquai :D I don’t watch TV much cuz I don’t really have time for it but I love going to the movies, with my friends, especially on weekends. I’m not the type of person that likes to go out much I like better spending time at home. I like many kinds of food, especially sweet ones :P. I like cats a lot but I have the cuttiest dog in the world, his name is cooper and my in game friends don’t like him much cuz he is too loud.

I (heart) Video Games, most kind of them anyway. I spend most of my free time playing World of Warcraft, raiding with my guildies and stuff ^-^ I’m a Hegemon in Hegemony Guild, so yea I’m really into wow. I have a Shammy level 70 in the HORDE and a Priest level 66 in the alliance, my shaman is resto and I really like healing, I’ve heard that is cuz it is girl’s job or so but actually I’ve always like range support on most of the rpgs I’ve played, and healing is certainly different from range dps. Playing is where I practice my English the most, since it is an rpg online and most of the people are from US I need to speak English to communicate with them, also we use voice programs to talk during the raids and write things under the forums to communicate other events and details about the guild.

Well I don’t know what else to talk about so thanx for reading, take care and see ya later. :D