Work

Becka’s projects

Design

The eighth grade changed everything.

Elementary school was easy; there were no choices. Everyone was required to attend music class on Tuesdays, art on Wednesdays and gym on Fridays.

Seventh grade wasn’t so bad, either. Each trimester (trimester!) I got to choose two electives. E-lec-tives. That word still has a sparkly quality for me. In addition to math (which I loved) and social studies (a dream!) and English… OH English! With its verbs and nouns and diagraming…, I was allowed to take Drawing and Computer Applications and Family and Consumer Sciences. All of those capital letter classes showed me little bits of the worlds I’d later have to choose between. But back then, when I was in the seventh grade, I was in heaven. I could try everything. Do everything. Learn everything.

But the eighth grade changed that.

During the second trimester of eighth grade, I was forced to decide. Half a year before I’d start high school, my middle school counselor forced me to choose. I had to fill in neat little boxes on an enrollment card, telling the high school what math, science and English class I was eligible to take. Then I filled in the one (ONE) box marked “elective.”

I chose Yearbook.

And that changed everything.

Because of that one little box on that one yellow card, I now have nine years of design experience under my belt. I also have a degree in journalism, with a transcript that will show you my focus was on the visual presentation of journalistic information (a fancy way of saying I took every design-related class I could fit into my college schedule but that my college believes journalism is about writing and reporting).

Click here to see samples of my work.

Resumes

Job hunting is one of my (many) obsessions. I like to look through Craigslist listings and imagine the candidates the posts attract. I also enjoy thinking about the way people who respond to such postings present themselves. One of my current projects is a series of resume redesigns. I am attempting to combine the personality of the applicants and the character of the companies receiving the resumes to present a visually appealing and accurate picture of job seekers. (That’s one hell of a thesis statement, huh?) This project is just getting off the ground. To get started, I am playing with my own resume.

Download the first iteration here.

Beale’s projects

Dog art

Cat Cam Photos

For one week in February, Beale wore a camera around her neck everywhere she went. View her photos here.