Post graduation and as the summer has come into full swing loads of changes are about. One of the biggest is having a new addition to the apartment. Debatably more exciting than a puppy, meet Alex.

I’m actually not entirely sure how to describe Alex in just a few adjectives but what I do know is that he is a mastermind. Of what - can’t be sure. He’s sort of like the Master Hand, for those of you who can relate to that. On top of being a general business meets marketing meets technological genius, he interns with my company EnduringFX. Where we utilize him for those skills…and skills he doesn’t have too.   
We really haven’t changed much about the apartment except for being exceedingly busy. This means over 40 hour work weeks for both of us…so we can’t remember the last time we picked up (sorry Mom.) And so to be even more efficient when we work from home we’ve moved both of our desks into the living room. Because of this I have decided that I’ve probably spent more time in the shower than I have my room over the last month.  

So far living with Alex has continued to support what I’ve been learning lately - and what I think is highly imperative to adapt to in the newly adult part of life - is to be more flexible, positive and comfortable with spontaneity. Some things just aren’t that big of a deal. In fact there are plenty of things that are so you might as well focus your efforts on the ones that are actually going to count. The best use of the rest of your time is cycling through summers storms and celebratory beers on rooftops. Because the beauty of summer, and life, still exists despite the work week.

I’ve been frequenting Charleston quite a bit lately. I wanted to share some of what that looks like and it’s hard to say how I feel in static 2x2 photos. But perhaps this is now the medium of this generation. 

I’ve been neglecting writing this blog about my first, full-time, adult job (oh God, is that another commitment issue?) But once I get over this, I’ll be able to post about all the neat stuff I’ve been doing since. Here goes:

I accepted the position of UI/UX Designer at EnduringFX about five hours before I walked across a stage to shake President Harris Pastides’ hand and bring my undergraduate career to a close. After spending most of my spring interviewing for jobs in New York and applying for internships in Europe having this opportunity suddenly materialize was a bit of a shock. But even moreso when I heard myself saying “I do” to a minimum of three more months in Columbia. (Opportunity, interview, offer and acceptance spanning 72 hours.)

When I accepted the position (lured by the idea of designing holograms and Pearl Izumi cycling jerseys) I didn’t know I was about to step into a high speed startup software company on the verge of potentially receiving 100K to change the way urban dwellers see and use public parks. Only a few days after settling into the office, myself and the two other full-timers (yes, it’s just the CEO, director and me) hopped on a plane to New York to present at the Data Design Diabetes Demo Day Challenge. I won’t even begin to explain how steep the learning curve the business side of EFX has been for me (perspective: I sat a few seats back from Aneesh Chopra at the DDD Challenge.) 

What we do seems to change daily but our focus is to make an impact on diabetes (starting here and going global) and fitness through the use of interactive technology and incentive programs in public parks and fitness facilities. Medgadget did a neat little write up about us that might help explain how we’re going to change the world. 
I know that doesn’t properly describe what I do but I think that’s key here. Because what we do is changing, what I do is just as dynamic: I put a dog on a billboard yesterday for heaven’s sake..just before Cameron Runyan can be seen pumping iron over the Blossom Street Bridge. 
Where fitness and design meet - sounds like a reason for me to stick around the south a little longer and see how long it takes us to get offers for remote offices here, here or here (did I mention the technology we use comes from the Netherlands?) 

Above is a photo of Susan (our director of marketing) and I in our Columbia office and a slew of snips from our time in NYC. Including a trip to Nike Town and Apple 5th Ave.  

Loads of changes in my life in the last week - more to come on the job I accepted for the short term future and plans for the summer. But a post on the account of my graduation from college is obligatory. Not to mention my brother’s graduation from his masters degree. He and I have made our parents proud…and a few others too!
Thanks for all of the support from everyone and especially those that have been with me my last few months this semester. I am shockingly blessed.  

Yesterday was a web design marathon. A bit tedious with being up to my eyeballs in code but it also served as a good reason for a rest day before my triathlon this morning. As a bonus, and to rescue me in a fit of mouseover commands,  my friend Alex drew up in his opinion what should be my website redesigned (above.) Can’t be sure whether I should stop coding what I’m working on (pictured below Alex’s sketch) or not - the navigation bars are Jolly Ranchers and all.. 

I’ve had a lot of people ask me about book binding methods specifically related to my final portfolio book that I’ve been putting together for a couple of weeks now. 
My final book is roughly 5x7 perfect bound. I wanted it to resemble collegiate catalogues (no wonder where my influences came from being knee deep in graduate school options) and be a size easy to hold and leave on the corner of a desk. I designed all of the pages in InDesign and cut them individually, and registration was always an issue. Patience isn’t exactly a strong suit of mine, so when it comes to waiting for the text block to dry my craftsmanship struggles. The cover might always be in limbo. I’ve gone back and forth with type based and image based headlines but haven’t settled. Hoping for a revelation in the next few days. 
Here are a couple of photos of Monday’s process - which didn’t exactly yield the cleanest results so I’ll save final photos until this weekend.  

In the midst of a book binding meltdown I received a phone call from a man that had been forwarded my resume. The resulting conversation left me with the challenge of mocking up a quick notes application icon to give him (and a start up company seeking a designer) a bit more of an idea of what I could design in the mobile app world.
After hanging up the phone I wasn’t exactly sure whether to continue my book binding meltdown (the finals due in less than two hours,) check the on the other two exams boiling on my mind’s back burner or bail completely into ap divs and hash tags for the website I had to code by 5pm.

Too bad (or good thing?) I’m so challenge driven. I work best under stress and so dodging my final books, some quick web design and memorizing neurotransmitters that can cause psychological disorders - I was able to mock up some initial designs. Above is a quick look.

Three feet of football printed last week for the first poster in the series. This body of work is self-initiated and obviously fueled by personal interested in European football. Not forgetting the German League, my initial plans are for all of the following pieces to be based around the Premier League teams. 

This first poster is focused around a famous scene of four England’s 1966 World Cup players Bobby Moore, Martin Peters, Geoff Hurst and Ray Wilson. The players from 1966 were known as the Wingless Wonders from their unorthodox, narrow attacking formation of 4-3-3. This match was England’s first and only World Cup win and the most event watched ever on British television.
It created a multi-faceted cultural impact for the country including West Ham’s contribution to the victory as Moore, Peters and Hurst all WHU players at the time of the games, Hurst’s hat-trick second goal - a goal now known as the Wembley-Tor, and the final goal giving rise to one of the most famous sayings in English football: “And here comes Hurst. He’s got… some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over. It is now! It’s four!”

Working on some promotional material for the office so most of my work days are a cross between eyeball deep in pens, stickers, canvas bags and notebooks possibilities and Illustrator. Probably the biggest perk about designing and marketing for study abroad + international programs is that my coffee breaks are sitting in our resource library convincing students to study in the Netherlands. Which we all know I can talk about for days. 

Above are two pre-comp comps (yes?) for stickers. Get ready to see these all over campus. 

An unfair tease of the first of several posters related to English football clubs. Off to get the first printed this afternoon, so I’ll follow up with a photo of the true piece. 

Hoping to collaborate with another local designer, Becca Dunn, on a screen printed edition of the second posters in the series. Keep your eyes peeled. 

I created these pamphlet leave-behinds for my interviews in New York - and by “created for” I mean created mostly IN New York.. Before I left South Carolina I pulled together 5 spreads digitally that showed snips of my work by category and a brief 2 sentence narrative for each. When I arrived in New York, I cut, folded and fit the content, screen printed (with the help of John Stortz and the SVA print lab) the covers and stitched the books together. 

It was a neat little challenge that I feel really gives me an edge when showing my work. As part of my final vis com thesis I’ll be putting together a more extensive version of this portfolio book that should be complete in the next month. Heads up for that one!  

*I apologize for the iPhone leaving the quality in these a little to be wanting - but I’m blogging remotely. :)

New York. 

Pretty much every time I take a step out onto the stoop of the Brooklyn apartment I’m staying in I think, “Yeah, I could live here.” And like Chris Williams’ response to my question (Why New York?) last night: Because it’s New York. 
I think before now I’ve tried so hard not to look at New York like a Disney movie, but to really see it as a city at face value. Of course the problem with that is assuming that I could see New York as having one face. Brooklyn’s face is vastly different from Chelsea’s face…and Queens’…and Harlem’s. (Hopefully I don’t even have to address the distinction between Prospect Heights/Park Slope and Williamsburg.)

I give in, New York.
With your innovative use of space (rooftop playgrounds,) embrace of differing circadian rhythms (24-hour taco trucks and frozen yogurt,) abundant opportunity to people watch (Williamsburg among..everywhere,) and the extreme cultural differences that can be experienced by crossing an intersection: I have a crush.  


Above is a few snaps of my experiences in the last couple days including crossing the Williamsburg Bridge, reflections in Brooklyn, traipsing around SoHo and Chinatown at dusk and a day trip to Cold Spring. 

I’m working on an info graphic in an attempt to (creatively) express my stress with my weekly schedule this semester. Having 21 hours of a class, working two jobs and being in and out of physical therapy for training it mostly goes without saying that I can get a little..touchy during the weekdays. 

And let us not forget the applications that go with planning my week in New York coming up. Last week I made a video about it. Incase you missed that you can view it here. 

Though regardless of how day-to-day I’m living at the moment, I cannot wait to see what’s on the other side of my last semester. 

Hire Me, New York
Anna Hodgson 

A short, hopefully comical, video concepted, shot and edited in under 3 hours - all before my morning coffee. In want of a focus, the video is an attempt to launch a push to find a position in the city. Heads up for more to come on New York and my’s time together.

And so the job search push begins.
Here’s a couple of grabs from the short, hopefully comical, video I shot and edited in a few hours yesterday. The link for viewing should be up before the end of the day. 

Thanks to everyone who has helped me sharpen my focus in the last couple months.