People

The Paul & Louise Miller Distinguished Professor and the School of Print Media presented Virgil Smith on October 27^th, discussing “Finding News Media Jobs When the Future of Media is Unknown.” Smith is the VP of Talent Management at Gannett Co., Inc—responsible for employee acquisition, leadership development, and leadership and diversity initiatives.

With today’s economy, any college student is worried about job placement after graduation. Smith discussed the concern about the future within the media industry and shared ideas on how to prepare for entering the workforce. He recommends creating a website to talk about yourself and show who you are as an individual. Also, it is one location where you can showcase your work (photographs, print media, design pieces) and supply your resume and references. Today, many employers want to have all information readily available and easy to find.

Smith stressed being able to learn new skills throughout your career to stay on top of the trends. This allows you to “develop new muscles.” In addition, Smith highlighted the fact that knowledge is a plus, but people skills, problem solving, and analytical thinking are top skills employers are seeking in candidates.

Some tips Smith introduced for managing your career include:

1. Take responsibility for building your career. It is your responsibility; develop a vision for yourself.
2. Define career satisfaction for yourself. Know yourself and identify what gives you personal and professional satisfaction.
3. Determine what you are good at and where you need development. Then develop a plan to improve your knowledge and skill level to ensure you are competitive for the career opportunity you want. Keep your resume updated.
4. Build your own brand. Determine what you want to be known for, professionally and personally.
5. Track your accomplishments.
6. Build relationships.
7. Know your value in the organization.

It is important for you to continuously work on your skill set. As Smith stated, “You have to embrace change and be willing to do things differently.” To be successful in today’s industry you must know yourself, but be willing to expand into different mediums.

To look for jobs within the Gannett Corporation visit http://www.gannett.com/career/.

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Left to right: Steve Matteson (Ascender Corporation), Tom Rickner (Ascender Corporation), Michelle Perham (Microsoft), Chuck Bigelow (RIT)

On October 28th, 2009 a panel of typographic experts gathered to impart the wisdom they have gathered over years in the typography industry.

Led by Charles Bigelow, typography professor in the School of Print Media and a co-creator of the Lucida fonts, the panel discussed the paths their careers followed leading them to the high-ranking typography positions in which they currently reside.

All three of the panel members attended RIT and graduated from the School of Print Media. Steve Matteson and Tom Rickner currently operate Ascender Corporation as Type Design Diriector and Type Designer and Font Producer respectively. Ascender Corporation has been contracted by major corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple and designed the typefaces used in the Microsoft Zune player as well as the Android G2 Google phone.

Michelle Perham currently works for Microsoft Typography Group as a project manager and oversees international type design for all Microsoft products including the recent Windows 7. Her group currently has over 250 different fonts with more foreign fonts than latin fonts. According to Perham, less than 10% of world computers running Microsoft are using latin fonts.

The panel discussion covered a wide range of typographic topics including the increase in display fonts and the decrease in newspapers. According to Charles Bigelow, as the display technology and “hinting” of fonts become more refined, people are more comfortable reading off of a display. There is a linear relationship between this refinement and the demise of the newspaper industry.

A major focus of this panel discussion was job opportunities in the world of typography and design. The panel all seemed to agree that you have to follow the aspect of your education that held your attention the most no matter if it was your core focus of study. Chuck Bigelow has a degree in Anthropology and Michelle Perham has a degree in Photography, both took a type class and have based their careers around this particular facet of their education.

In addition to following your passion, the panelists from Ascender discussed the importance of hand drawing and the ability to have a strong grasp on the tools needed for type design before considering entering the field. A strong understanding of type was stressed as well as the need to practice with font revivals before attempting to put a person’s own work onto the screen.

If one thing was clear in this discussion it is that type is in high demand.

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Signatures Literary and Art Magazine celebrated its 25^th reunion at Lovin’ Cup during Brick City weekend. The event was open to everyone, be it a contributor to the magazine or a lover of poetry and music. It attracted a wide range of audience–alumni staff of the magazine made an appearance as well as professors and students alike.  Everyone came to appreciate art, performed and in the open.

The party kicked off with Henry Kearse playing on the piano while everyone settled down. Signatures advisors Professor John Roche, Professor Vincent Golphin and managing editor Sarai Oviedo then welcomed everyone to the event.

Rob Livolsi was the first performer. A singer/songwriter, Livolsi played a few songs on the piano housed in Lovin’ Cup.He was followed with an acoustic set by Pia Mater, a local favorite. Playing for a half hour, Pia Mater had a good set, especially considering it was there first acoustic performance ever in public.

Poetry had its chance to shine as well, with performances from Garrete McMahon, Danielle Gatti, Zachary Smith, Andy Knight, Whitney Gratton, Sarai Oviedo and John Roche.  The content ranged from original poetry, to a performance skit, to readings from past Signatures issues. There was also time for an open mike, which some people took advantage of.

Pia Matter then came out for another short acoustic set, finishing the activities for the event. With closing remarks from John Roche, the party came to a close. Alumni, contributors, and editors all mingled and took copies of the magazine, ending the celebration of Signatures 25 year run. By the look of it, there is no slowing down for Signatures anytime soon.

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This summer I worked as a Research Analyst at Infotrends, a market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry. They provide research, analysis, forecasts, and advice to help clients understand market trends, identify opportunities, and develop strategies to grow businesses.

My main focus was with Production Workflow and Customized 
Communications Consulting Services, where I helped developed InfoTrends’ Ultimate Guide to Web-to-Print Solutions. This guide analyzes Web-to-print solutions of almost 30 companies across the nation. My job was to research and talk with vendors to write company and product reviews. At the end of my co-op I compiled the whole guide. The guide gave me an insight on the software behind many of the small and large print companies. Companies highlighted in the guide included Xerox, Canon, Rochester Software Associates, XMPie, and others.

My other main project was creating InfoTrends’ Ultimate Guides Online database. InfoTrends has four different Ultimate Guides, relating to Web-to-print, multi-channel communications, variable data publishing, and transpromo solutions. I worked with other co-workers to create an interactive online version of the printed guides. Other tasks included helping with e-learning, consulting projects, white papers, and forecasts.

InfoTrends provided me with experience in research and analysis of markets within the print industry. It allowed me to become familiarized with companies and their products/services, more then I could ever learn in the classroom. My most valuable knowledge gained from my co-op was the look into the outside world. Without this experience, I would have never realized all the companies in the print industry, all of which have unique niches in the market.

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