design: June 2004 Archives

Yay! Replacement phone arrived.

*grumble$75*grumble*fuckingtaxidriver*grumble*shovethatoldphonesomewherewarm*grumble*

List from when I was trying to come up with names:

chupa design - we suck and we know it
69Design - putting you in the right position
inbred design - we'll treat you like family
Optical Industries
The Furnace
Papercut
State Design
Ligature
Exchange Street Design
DesignBitch.com
MediaHussy
Design Tease
Tease
TypeSlut
Pineapple Design
The Design factory
Washington Design Factory
Design Sweatshop
Hero Design Group
emanon
akima
clear
spot color
inspire(d)

DONE - Send thanks to D

DONE - promote the company to family and friends

DONE - send letter to existing clients
- mention referrals appreciated

send letter to old clients

follow up with emails

DONE - ask d

ask j for referrals

contact School

DONE - contact fax-guy

contact web-guy

DONE - contact j g

contact P

contact M

contact J

contact D

contact E

Yes, I'm still alive.

My last few days at Old Company were busy, finishing projects, starting some last minute ones, cleaning out my office, and teaching people to do what I do. I did more in that last week than I had for the previous 3 months.

I finished work at 6:30 PM on a thursday, and flew out of DC at 4:30 AM on Friday. Family thing in Texas. I actually took a job with me, because it couldn't wait.

Got back from that on Tuesday evening. Spent Wednesday stocking up and setting up. Picked up most of my identity package from the printer. They do good work, but you have to keep an eye one them. They didn't do enough business cards, and the envelopes weren't ready. Spent the evening setting up mysa daaaeaaaskfg gggggggggaggnggdg 78wo8r8k888s88p8a888c8e8888888
888888888880

Sorry about that... danger of working in a home with a cat who thinks the keyboard is her bed.

... desk and workspace.

Served Jury duty and Thursday and Monday. In between, I started up a marketing list, with all my ideas of what and how to market. I check things off and add them as necessary.

Turns out the people i my court case settled. Tuesday I did a bit more marketing. The last 2 days I've had some work to do, and marketing as possible.

Marketing List and stuff to come...

I spent the morning at the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, over on N. Capital Street. Interesting system they have there. "Have a seat, and we'll talk amongst ourselves and see if we can figure out what you want". If half the people coming in there weren't regulars, they would have been in trouble.

Only after waiting for an hour and finally getting my application looked at did they tell me I basically needed a permission slip from the owner of my building. Why on earth does the main application ask you if your landlord approves and what is their contact info, if they are just going to make you fill out a whole separate form on the subject.

So... four cab rides later, all I know is that I should call back in 3 to 5 business days to see if they approved my application.

Go on... ask me if I give a shit wether they turn me down.

I haven't been in that area before. The area between N. Capitol and 10th, and F and L. It's pretty run down in some parts... but oh do I want to go over there with a camera. The place has some amazing character. North Capitol Street alone has an amazing view towards the Capitol.

I inquired about an old thermal fax machine that has been floating around work for years, and "D" gave it to me. Not bad. Not a great machine... but it works. And until it runs through the 8 rolls of paper, it's all good.

As sent out on Wednesday:

This letter is to inform you that as of June 11, 2004, "Old Company" will no longer be actively marketing graphic design services. While we are always happy to help you with any of your marketing and promotional needs, we have chosen to focus on the promotional product aspect of our business. We feel this will allow us to use our resources to their best potential.

However, as of the 14th of June, "P" will be independently providing the same graphic design services that "Old Company" has been offering. "P" has worked as a graphic designer at "Old Company" for more than six years, and been involved in most of your projects. He will continue to work from the downtown Washington, DC area.

We hope that if you choose to continue working with "P" for your design needs, this will provide as seamless a transition as possible. "Old Company" will continue to be available to work with you on all of your promotional product projects.

Should you have any questions about this change, feel free to contact "D" at XXX or "P" at XXX. We both look forward to working with you in the future.

Sincerely,

*sig* *sig*
"D" "P"

Two days ago I wrote up the letter to send out to Old Company clients who I want to take with me. I was amazed at how eloquent and professional it sounded. I'll put up a copy here as soon as I remember to grab it from work. D approved it with no changes. So yesterday I printed up copies, had us both sign them, and sent them out. Guess I'm screwed now.

Cell phone is still a thing of beauty, though no one has actually called me yet. I'm sure that the honeymoon will end soon 'nuff.

My official last day is next Thursday.

Going to the DC zoning office tomorrow. I may or may not need a permit to work from my apartment. No one on the phone really knows. "Betty" told me to just come in prepared to apply for a permit, and someone will probably kick me out if I don't need one. They open at 8:30 AM, and I will do my damndest to be there by 8:35.

After that, the only legalities have to do with registering with tax agencies. Waiting for advice from my advisor/friends-mom. If I don't hear from here by tomorrow, I'm going to switch to someone else. There's still Gretchen's husband.

I was hoping all these clients would hold off on their regular jobs until after next week, so I could have some initial work. But one of them came in today. I sat there at my desk, saying 'fuck' over and again. It was the cheapest of the regular jobs though. And I know this particular client has more work coming up for conferences.

D stuck a joke in my mailbox today. A fax we received from someone trying to sell us something. Obviously a freelancer. It was full of misspellings and bad language. It didn't look bad... It didn't look like anything at all. The cover letter was just a blank sheet with some typing on it. The other sheets were obviously done in PowerPoint or some clipart program. D's idea was that I would offer to help them out, since it was an easy sale to point out what they could improve. I think I may actually do it though. As soon as I get my letterhead package back from the printer, I have one or two companies I know with horrendous designs that I may just drop a letter to.

Did I mention that my letterhead was out to the printer? I came up with a design on Monday, and dropped it off on Tuesday. Costing me about $500 for the package. I got a thousand of everything. The printers are nice guys... been working with them for years. Said they would see if they could lower it anymore.

I think my cat is gonna get sick of me being home all the time.