7:30 am: My third snooze alarm is going off. I love to sleep. “Great,” I’m thinking. I hate running late to work. While I’m washing up and brushing my teeth I am also figuring out what to wear and how to style my hair.
8:15am: I quickly check my work email from my iphone (that thing is a lifesaver). Luckily all that’s there is a meeting notice for later in the week. I grab a piece of fruit, a cup of yogurt and a breakfast bar – shove them in my purse, grab my keys and bag and I’m out!
8:20 am: I only live about10 minutes away from work, but today there is construction and half the lanes are closed. There is always some kind of road construction in Dearborn. I listen to national public radio for news on my way into work. You’ve got to stay current!
8:40 am: I’m only10 minutes late, not too bad. I swipe my access card, grab some coffee (which never really tastes good here), say a few “Good Mornings” and make my way to my cubicle.
9:00 am: I’m settled in and have gone through the additional emails I received from the time I left my house till now. A couple of revision requests and one new urgent project request from the client servicing director (for a big account we are handling). I usually just eat my breakfast bar with my coffee while I’m completing these small tasks.
10:00 am: The client is now calling me directly! (which is normally not the case at all: I DO understand they are in a hurry) and I have to stop the3 different things I’m working on to jump and call out an emergency brainstorming session with my2 available graphic designers. I don’t mind – brainstorming is always fun.
12:00 pm: Emergency session complete! Lunchtime? No! I still have3 more graphic requests to go over with my designers before a big client meeting at2pm. I also have the client servicing director come to my desk a couple times during this crunch period. And since this is when people usually break for lunch, the office is active and noisy. I drown everything out with my ipod. Thank goodness for earphones.
2:00 pm: Everything was delivered on time and to the client director’s liking. He will present at the client meeting. The graphic design department is not usually involved in client meetings in our company which, in my opinion, is not the smartest way to do business. However in my2 years of working here, I have learned how to communicate my ideas to the client servicing department well enough for them to get my team’s point of view across.
2:30 pm: Just finished a really late lunch, which I enjoyed at my desk while facebooking. (My way of mentally unwinding.)
3:00 pm: I get a call to my desk from Donna, our admin up front. My print vendor rep from EGT is here with my calendar proof! Since we are printing this piece digitally in4-color process, I don’t necessarily have to go in for a press check. Now I just have to proof the entire piece and make sure everything looks perfect. But of course I find a few mistakes. I mark them up and request a second proof. I also spend some time chitchatting with the print rep. In this business you have to build relationships. You never know where you may end up or whose help you’ll need
4:00 pm: Being away from your desk for a whole hour is kind of a big deal here. I had missed a couple calls and had several new emails to go through. The client servicing director is back from his meeting with client feedback. More changes. Our clients love to make changes2 days before the print deadline. I brief my team. They have to update the files and I need to check them before I leave the office.
6:15 pm: Packed up and rushing out the door. I have to attend my monthly board meeting of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts)
6:30 pm: It’s a quick drive from my office to the Agency where we hold our meetings every month. As a creative director working for a corporate marketing company, being so actively involved in a professional design organization like AIGA, helps me stay current in my design community and the industry as a whole. We spend the hour going over upcoming events, membership numbers, brainstorming for future events, etc. The meetings are scheduled for an hour but always go over.
8:00 pm: I’m finally home! I walk into the house to find that my husband has already made a light dinner for the both of us. I usually get home around6pm, so on long days like today, it’s great not to have to worry about dinner.
9:30 pm: I check my work e-mail and respond to a couple questions. I then close my computer for the night and go about unwinding to something funny on TV.
11:00 pm: After my shower I’m ready for bed. I go through a mental checklist before I doze off: I have a9am meeting tomorrow…I have a booklet to mock-up and paper samples to order… I am usually asleep by midnight.
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