Define: Design

My degree is in Graphic Design and I refer to myself as a Graphic Designer but I also simply refer to myself as a Designer. The term “graphic design” may bring to mind images of graphics but my degree really focused on solutions. We just happened to produce solutions in a print format- most of the time. Our Senior Thesis wasn’t required to be print. Some did videos, 3D installations, and there was even a machine/noise installation.

And though I am a Graphic Designer by trade my life and passion is Design. All types of design. Right now, I am very interested in Interior Design and combining my love of graphic design with our home and working with my hands. It’s a lot of DIY but not because I’m obsessed with Pinterest or looking to cut the budget but because I love working with my hands and building.

So what is Design?

I don’t believe this. From the above, Design is just buildings or making art.

To me, it’s so much more.

Design is problem solving and solutions that functionally and visually please.

But I bring this- er- I am working to bring this to every aspect of my life. Designing a life that works for us inside and out. Planning and function to give us a full and successful life.

That’s why I love design. It’s everything and all around us.

Customer Service

Expect for my time as a Typesetter/Graphic Artist – I have been working in customer service. I have worked customer service in retail environments, campus coffee shop (which is an experience in itself), email and on the phone. In total, I have about 5-6 years of working with customers. I also have 25 years as a client and a customer. Yes, I have been someone’s client or customer since the day I was born. We all have. In one way or another, we are all serving each other.

 

The basics of customer service lie in simply being kind to the customer – or rather, kind to a fellow person and show respect. It’s two things we deserve from everyone – no matter if we are the customer or the employee or even fellow customer/employee.

 

It is understandable though that sometimes the service received is limited by the polities of the company. The sweetest, greatest employee can only work within their limits to satisfy a customer. There are cases where an employee has paid for merchandise for the customer, maybe ran a coupon is a different way to make the computer think it should take it or helped put the customer in contact with corporate. But should it be that complicated for an employee to serve a customer?

 

Every brand and company has a way to work with unpleasant situations. It is in these situations were companies can really make their mark with a person. By the end, the company is judged by the satisfaction the customer feels when their situation is resolved. There are hundreds and thousands of places people can shop for similar or the same services and merchandise. How the person is treated makes all the difference.

 

I am personally most impress when a company’s standard to helping customers is easy, polite and satisfactory for the customer (and company of course).

 

Company A

 

Back in college, my aunt bought me a microwave as a Christmas gift. It worked for about 2 seconds before it met the Big Microwave in the Sky. She didn’t have the receipt so my parents called the store and spoke to a manager. Yes, since we would be exchanging for a new microwave we didn’t need the receipt. Easy enough? Wrong. When we arrived at the customer service desk for the exchange we were treated rudely and told we needed to review store policies before returning merchandise – even for exchanges. The women behind the counter said they were managers and the manager we spoke to wasn’t trained correctly and told us wrong. Since the microwave was over $25 there was nothing that could be done.

 

My parents and I decided to call corporate right there and the managers gave us the number and told us, “Good Luck” and laughed. The person we were connected to at corporate repeated the manger’s statements (at least they were consonant) and there was nothing that could be done – oh wait, we could call the Microwave company and complain.

We returned home and threw the microwave out.

 

I would have a second return about a year later at another location. I was afraid to try but I did. I had purchased a pan and when I got out to the parking lot I noticed the pan had rang up higher than the price on the shelf it was on. I went back into the store to return the pot and was honest with the return – I thought it belonged on the shelf where it was and with the price it stated but I don’t want the pot for the real price, I brought it less than five minutes ago. Again, the woman was rude and told me to read the signers better. Of course you can’t get this pot for this price! Duh?

 

The store is a national chain, I can tell you that. I rarely shop there now but when I do, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I am very careful about what I purchase and if there is a chance I may need to return it.

 

 

Company B

 

I’m a little fuzzy on this one because I’m not sure what I did. I think I downloaded an application that was free for several months before being charged. Since I never figured out how to work the application, I deleted it. I guess this wasn’t enough because three months later I had an odd charge on my bank account. It didn’t tell me what the charge was for – only the company’s name. It was later I found how what it was when I called. I was picked up fairly quickly during mid-day by a kind woman. I explained to her that I had a charge on my bank account to the company and I wasn’t sure what it was for. She quickly figured it out and, without berating me for being ignorant on proper deleting and unsubscribing, credited my account. I received my credit, was unsubscribed and followed up with by email to make sure I was completely satisfied with the resolution and the person I spoke with.

 

I think it was the email that was the best part – Hi, we think we fixed your problem but do you think we did? Can we do anything else? Did I personally meet your expectations?

 

No, Company B, you went above my expectations. I expected a fight, I expected you to tell me I downloaded so I pay. Not sorry for your (my) troubles, let me fix that…

 

Company C

 

Two years ago went on vacation to the beach. When we arrived, my sunglasses snapped into three pieces. The arms came off at the metal pieces that connect them. Now let me tell you about these sunglasses – they are beautiful. They are the right shade of translucent brown that is casual and business. On the side is a lovely swirl engraving. I loved them…I loved them enough to purchase them for a second time after the first pair snapped the same way. This time though, I was upset because I needed the glasses for vacation. I made a comment on Twitter and tagged the company. About 24 hours later I received a private message. They apologized and wanted to have their customer service get in touch with me. At this point I had cooled down over the sunglasses. Yes, they were beautiful but they were less than $15.

 

The company’s rep emailed me back and asked for a picture and what they can do for me. Asking for a picture of the broken product is standard; my role has required me to do this. I sent the picture, explained where they had broken, explained this was my second pair (but my first return was handled very well by the store – I event let them know what store it was) and said along the lines: thank you for reaching out, I’m expressed the company cares so much, I will continue to be a customer and I hope my experience helps with the buying process to ensure quality.

 

My situation was handled by two girls (the first had to leave on maternity and gracefully introduced me to the new rep that would help me) and both were amazing. I am currently waiting on a new pair of sunglasses.

 

So that’s three examples of how customer service and a company have stuck with me. It’s just about giving the customer want they want; it’s about helping to create faith for the customer in the company. Faith and trust that the company cares. Company C could have given me a discount coupon and I would have been just as happy to continue shopping there just because they reached out to me.

 

Customer service is a way to for companies to stand out but the policies need to be there as well as kindness to get a customer to keep coming back.

A new name.

For several months now, I had today mapped out to change my name. For over a year I have thought about this and debated it. If it didn’t happen today, it wouldn’t happen for awhile due to my schedule. But that’s neither here or there.

A name change is something, for the most part, women choose to go through. I say choose because we don’t have to have it done in the sense it’s an official requirement. We may FEEL like we have to change our names once married.

I never felt like I had to change my name for society but there is a twig of not being the “wife” if I didn’t. I could socially be Mrs. Thompson but legally be Jacek.

My husband, fiancé at the time, wanted my name changed. He’s from a pretty traditional family but he wouldn’t make me. He understand.

However, for over a year I have struggled with changing my name.

But here’s the weird thing: my younger self wouldn’t have had these thoughts or issues with the name change. My younger self couldn’t wait to change my name. Jacek wasn’t special. Everyone pronounced it wrong (Jack and Jason) and it just seemed blah. My name was the only last name pronounced wrong at my high school graduation even after correcting the speaker twice and handing him a card that said “JAY-SICK”. Know what he said? “JACKET.” This was devastating and hurtful. Friends said they didn’t realize it was me walking across the stage.

I was determined to change my name one day.

Then I met a strong professor in college who, to me, was a powerful and intelligent woman. She had hyphened her name because she had built a career and life around herself. She taught me everything that opened my eyes to design and brands. She taught me how much of a designer I was and how much it was me. Since then- I have been Tara Jacek. I forced people to recognize and pronounce my name correctly. Her guidance helped me find myself and be a stronger person and woman.

So now, for 27 years I have been who I have been and suddenly today after visiting a new state offices I am someone else. I mean, I am still ME but my name has changed. My middle name, Ann, is gone and my maiden is now my middle. (This is to honor my grandfather and distinguish myself.)

It’s an odd feeling to simply fill out paper work and wait in standard building for this ritual. I suppose the ritual I was waiting for was our wedding ceremony but that was 13 days ago.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the ancient Egyptians and their value and respect for a name. Your name was everything and the way you made your mark on history.

I feel sort of sad over the lost of my name. I know two girls who ran out the next day to change their names. I have to admit, I was a little disenchanted with them and their lack of remorse over losing a part of themselves. But these girls never had lives of their own or careers. They waited for this moment to be wives and mothers. That is their life and that’s ok for them. For me, I will always be one half of this whole. We are equal partners. Two giants coming together. The best part of us is we don’t need each other, we want each other. We can survive alone but our lives are enriched together.

So at the end of the day, I will be determined to make my mark on the world with my new name. I am sad for the loss (and wondering if I made the right choice for my middle name) but this is just a level up and a new adventure.

You don’t know it but there’s been a lot going on this year…

Are City Domains Good for You?

LA and NYC just turned the curve for branding. City domain names. .LA and .NYC can be yours for a price. But is it worth it? More cities will follow in time but are these vanity domains or can they really help business?

As more businesses, brands, organizations, and individual people create their own websites and blogs they are also buying urls. The urls are an easy short cut to getting places, specially for small business and individuals. It’s better than a namenamename.wordpress.com (too long and if you ever more to blogspot.com that’s going to cause an issue) or “find us on facebook” deal. S

ince more people are buying .coms, .nets, .orgs, etc there are less available. City domains reopen url names that are already taken. For those of you confused – tarajacek.com, tarajacek,net, tarajacek.nyc, may all be three different people. And since I did not renew tarajacek.com, none of them are me. (For the time being, and since I’ll be getting married next year I don’t foresee any of them being me.)

For me, the city domains are really going to localize a business and a brand. This is good and bad.

| Good |

Community – For places that are landmarks, local hot spots, community brands, etc, these domains are going to show the brand’s pride in the community.

Opens up more Urls – Again, if tarajacek.com, tarajacek.net, and tarajacek.org are all taken and I’m luckily enough to live in a city with a domain available I can be tarajacek.nyc.

Localize – Have two stores in two different cities? Instead of storenameNashville.com and storenameNYC.com you can have  storename.nyc. Pretty cool, huh?

| Bad |

What Happens When You Move? – Will it cause brand confusion when your store location or you move? Will people think I still live in NYC when I move to Mississippi because my domain is .nyc?

Opens Up More Urls – So there’s a downside to this too. tarajacek.com could be me, tarajacek.net could be a stripper, tarajacek.nyc could be a freedom fighter. Now granted, there are A LOT domains out there – there could be 20+ tarajacek.SOMETHING. How do

you know people are going to find you? I guess we have been asking this since we realized you can Google someone and a lot of us share a name!

Cause confusion – Again, what if you move and who really is tarajacek.nyc?

What’s right and wrong for your brand is up to you in the end. I’m pro city domains because I really think it’ll give localand small business an edge and something to be proud of.

I have to say, I hope we get to see a lot of creative domain names come out of cities. Chattanooga- can you be .noog? Just saying.

How Are You Handling Your Store Event?

image (c) whfilms

I got engaged a few months to go and I’m not ashamed to say that I actively look for bridal events in my area. I only get this experience once and I want to make the best of it. Plus, the wedding is a big event that costs a large lump sum and I’m on the hunt for the best deals.

This past weekend I attended a so called “Exclusive Bridal Event” at my local mall. It was hosted by a store that caters to memories and engraving. Since they provide custom imprints and gift items they are up my alley in the promotional product department. Plus, it’s sales for an event – another world I’m familiar with.

I am not mentioning the store’s name because the experience was terrible. Actually, there was no experience. My dad hates this store to begin with, his only experience with the retail chain was very unpleasant and rude. I haven’t had a bad experience with them since then but it hasn’t been delightful either. The sales associates are never warm and welcoming and they always act like they don’t want to be there.

But, I figured, this is a “Exclusive Bridal Event.” I thought they would have a special encounter waiting there. Like what? Maybe a sale table set up, a kind person to explain their reward program, ideas for bridesmaid and groomens gifts. The store event promoted a few gift engraved with my married name – I figured they would want to “sell” something to me.

Well, we got there and no special table. No greeting at all. There was one person working there and she was already unpleasantly helping another couple. I looked around a bit at the items. I had looked online at some of their products but I wanted to know the quality first hand. I expected someone to appear from the back and start to sell to me.

Nope.

After a few minutes I waited in line for my free gift and filled out the form for the engraving  I had to ask for a bridal catalog. I shouldn’t have to ask to be sold to. We grabbed some okay mall food for lunch/dinner (we hadn’t eaten since that morning and it was already 4) and went back 45 minutes later. The keychain was okay (I wanted the heart they advertised but the girl didn’t know what I was talking about) and the engraving was good. I thanked her and she said to think of them for bridal gifts.

Yeah, probably not but thank you for the keychain with my future married name!

This made me really think about how we advise our customers to help with events. Someone is not advising this company correctly. What should you be doing for your store event? Here are my ideas:

Image (c) Robert Dyer

Put your best branded self forward

Everything should be clean and arranged nicely. On brand papers, signs, materials, etc. should be readly available.

Have someone dedicated to the event – at least one person if not two

You don’t need to bring in special people for the event but at least one person should know all the details – 2 for best measure if the first one is busy. They should know the details of the brand and what they are selling, they should understand the purpose of the event, and they should have a goal.

The person in charge needs to be welcoming

Apparently you attract bees with honey or something like that. Really, don’t put someone who is rude, short, or doesn’t care in charge of greeting your customers.

GREET 

Everyone arriving at your event should be greeted and welcome. You invited people to come, make feel like it!

Have “a go away”

What’s “a go away”? I think I just made it up but it refers to a tangible thing the customer can leave with. Maybe it’s a flyer, catalog, or a free gift. It doesn’t matter, they should leave with something that they can refer to later.

Things I Learned in College I didn’t Realize Would Prepare Me for the Working World

(Almost) Nothing Goes as Planned

Up all night studying for an example, a project that falls apart as soon as you get into the department’s door, repetitive study groups, leaving early and still late to class, an easy A class you fail…all of time doesn’t go according to plan. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try we will fail. It’s okay, it’s part of life. Just try again next time.

Build in Extra Time

My work deals with in hands dates and timelines and one of the first extra things I learned in college was to build in extra time (specifically for the printer to not be working but that’s another story). Leave space for something to go wrong or extra time to review details. You won’t be sorry for finishing something early or having an extra day to complete a project.

Be Obsessed With Something

College isn’t grade school. For the most part, all your life the same teacher or set of teachers taught a lot of your classes. I had a Health teacher that was also my Chem and Anatomy teacher. For the most part, teachers in college specialize in something. They are inspiration to knowing all about a field or subject. They are inspired by it and seek to inspire others. You need to find something that sparks your light and keeps you learning.

You May Not be as Valued as You Should Be – but keep going

Don’t give up. Teachers are undermined and underpaid but they never give up. They keep going. You may come into a situation where you are underpaid, undervalued or under-appreciated – by all means work to fix the situation but also keep doing what you love and follow your heart.

2nd year of Pet Pictures with Santa

Last year, I volunteered for a local animal rescue group as the photographer for their PetSmart Pictures with Santa. It was a blast and a great experience. This year the group invited me back to volunteer. This year was even better than the last. I even had a great helper. My friend, Katilin, came and was my Elf, a.k.a. the dog whisper.

The experience really made you think and observe the smallest members of our families and how each family thinks of pets. Some people rolled their eyes at the thought of pictures of Santa for their dog. Others were excited.

To me, animals are part of the family. Our family has always had a stocking for the animals and Christmas gifts.

It’s not just about Christmas. Rescue groups do a lot for the unwanted and abandoned animals. Many groups do not receive any or enough funding. The workers of these groups give a lot to the animals and receive a little in return. You may think $50-100 adoption fee is too much money but that hardly covers the vet care, time, energy, and food it takes to raise a kitten or puppy or save a stray cat or dog.

I guess with the season and all the time I spent with the group and animals it has made me think a lot more about helping those that can’t help themselves – animals and children. They need our help and protection.

I hope to volunteer more or do something in the future for animals and children. Wouldn’t it be awesome to make it part of my life’s work?

Admitting print may die.

MorgueFile.com

“They” have been saying it for years – print is dead. I didn’t want to believe “them.” I love the smell of an old book like Carrie in Sex in the City the movie. I love the feel of pages. I like to tuck a paperback into my purse. I imagine sitting by the resort pool with my super sexy one piece (yes, one piece), my floppy hat and large sunglasses drinking the drink of the day while reading a folded paperback.

But it’s not just books, it’s newspapers and magazines. I wish I had the dream of reading the morning paper while I sipped my morning coffee. However, by the time I was interested in the news I was checking it online. I don’t have the patience to look through a newspaper and it’s odd folding. That’s a little dramatic but I feel as if the paper is large than me. As a graphic designer, I have a lot of respect for the printed newspaper. I don’t want to see the large printing presses locked away in warehouses to be forgotten or put on display at museums next to the dinosaurs.

The death of the newspaper is almost easy for me to understand because I didn’t see if happen. But magazines and books – they are dear to me.

Today, I received my first magazine on my iPad. It’s Elle and after getting about half way through it I want to tell Elle to save the tree and not send me the magazine – I’ll take the iPad version. Instead of the linear design of a printed magazine, the iPad version of Elle is full of sliding linear and up/down. Articles are tucked together, ads slides down to reveal another page that I don’t have to look at, there was even a 30 second video ad that I didn’t have to watch but did for the fun of it. Lucky for Elle’s advertisers, I paid extra attention to the ads. I marveled at the beauty of the photos on my iPad and looked for little extras that only a digital format can provide.

At some point I realized I was sad to enjoy the digital version more than the printed – but the graphic designer in me was excited. There’s still a job out there for me to design the layouts for the magazine – and I could tuck away extra information in pop up graphics and sliders.

As for books, there’s still something about holding it. Handling it. I’ve read on the iPad and KindleFire and even though I can tuck the KindleFire into my purse, it’s not the same. I won’t be able to give up my books but the newspaper and magazines – I’m excited to see what’s next.

Excuse my ramble.

Presentation

As a graphic designer, part of my concern is presentation. I have recently been working on sample kits. Part of my focus is the presentation of the received it. How do the items fit together? What are they packaged in? I have always used the internet as a resource for inspiration and ideas. Pinterest has become my go to for all sorts of ideas and inspirations – as well as logging things I would like to remember.

The presentation or look of everything is the first experience the receiving person may have. The best example I can think of is: you always check the wrapper of the candy first. You look for the name, the brand, the trust, the value.

From MrKate.com

Don’t you feel special when your lunch is packed neatly in your favorite lunch tote with a note from the love of your life? You would choose that over a few snacks

http://www.nandlnotes.com/

thrown into a paper bag. But it doesn’t mean you can’t glam it up. The bags to the side is a way to dress up something (a plan brown lunch bag) into a snazzy presentation. The beauty may be on the inside but let’s face it: we look at the cover. With so much going on around us we are judging books by their cover more and more enough.

Companies think about presentation all the time. Have you ever bought a brand new Apple product? The packaging is part of the experience. Apple has thought about it.

I bring this thought over to my gift wrapping – especially for Christmas. I have already began wrapping my holiday gifts and they have wrapped with care of the wrapping, ribbon and tag received. And yes, I also have a Pinterest board for that as well. :)

 

Source: tarajacek.wordpress.com via Tara on Pinterest

Check out my Presentation board.

Check out my Gift Look Ideas board.

Please share with me your presentation ideas!