(there is a lot of yelling... sorry, idiots make me angry)

I moved from the south to DC because I fell in love with a boy. I left my job at a high class metropolitan agency. Since I didn't know anyone in DC, it is/was very hard to get into another agency (have a lead now that will hopefully work out). So, I started temping at different agencies and various businesses. Some I like, some I don't, but this one beats them all:

I go in and meet the people. I find out I'm the only mac in the place (they pulled it out of the box the day before I got there). The guy that I will get most of my jobs from comes into work and I start talking with him about what needs to be done. I notice very quickly that he apparently doesn't own a toothbrush. I have to cover my nose when I'm near him or I'll pass out.

But, that's not the point.

The first project I work on, I'm supposed to convert from PAGEMAKER! which I find out he uses EXCLUSIVELY. Who uses pagemaker and can attest that they are a serious designer deserving of respect? So anyway, I have to completely redo the design in InDesign because he apparently doesn't know how to line things up, etc... It looked like a 5 year-old trying to color in the lines. Ok, fine, not everyone is organized.. Then, after opening more projects (and converting them from pagemaker) I find out he uses Arial on everything. EVERYTHING!

Here's the meat:

I was commissioned to do a version of Voice Awards (awards for people who portray mentally challenged people in a good way/dignified in tv/movies) collateral to show the client. There were 3 versions in all (one of them mine). I won't go into detail, but let's just say my design was picked with no design changes (or so they said). Of course, the idiots I am currently working for changed some things because they didn't like them. Not because it was bad design, but because they didn't like them (like some slanted text - which is useful in giving action to an otherwise static piece of paper - and it was very tastefully done :::: or moving the text box which went close to the edges ON PURPOSE to give it more of a stature and presence since there wasn't much text this created a design element as well as information).

By the way, I did it in Illustrator (I know - not the usual place, but most of the elements were EPS so Illustrator was just easier to use) and it worked out well. I used transparencies and blends and cut out people (masks, etc.) It was a very complex design technically speaking.

So, because the plaque dragon doesn't know how to use these elements in Illustrator (or just doesn't know how to use Illustrator), he deleted some of the elements (because he can't get PAGEMAKER to export as PDF without screwing up the transparencies (normal in Illustrator - you have to know what you're doing!) So he "SIMPLIFIES" the design and uses elements incorrectly in a layout he did for another piece. And, most likely because he doesn't know what he's doing (if he did, he wouldn't have broken the design) he puts a white border around the pages. which is NOT IN THE ORIGINAL DESIGN!!!

The best part, because he used pagemaker for the text (he could have put it in Illustrator - it's a VECTOR program so the text will not blur....arrrgggghhhhhh) he CHANGED THE FONT! He said it's because Futura (a decent but overused font - I only had like 10 on my system so I went for the best one I could find) doesn't embed in the PDF when he makes them from his computer. If he had done it in Illustrator, he could have converted to outlines and...duh....went completely around the problem! (does anyone have a bat? or a voodoo doll?)

Another lady asked me to make a change to his document since he was in him meeting and I let her know that I protested the use of this piece as is. I was horrible looking and looked like a freshman had done it (and we all know how bad we were when we were freshmen). It was a complete disfigurement of my original design. And, on top of it, it was poorly done. Images were rotated instead of angled (perspective) and the image boxes were not even lined up with what framed them (a film strip). In the PDF he had done, you could see part of the image in places it shouldn't have been and wouldn't have been if it had been done correctly. (they were supposed to be covered by the film, but showed through the holes)

Her response to me was: Well, he IS the art director (she's his boss).

How did he ever get to be in charge of anything other than replacing the paper towel in the bathroom?

Thank you for listening to me vent...