Morpho Blue Design—the true story.


In 1995, I was studying French, Fine Art, and Architecture at the Université Paris-Sorbonne as part of a study abroad program with the University of Delaware. I was 22 years old. While walking through a second hand book store, I saw a horribly designed book cover (green, yellow and red) that looked like it had been tossed aside in disgust. It was one of those days when my head was exploding from trying to keep up with all of the fast speaking natives and so the ENGLISH title, "Computer Graphics and Graphic Design Schools" suddenly made the french conversations around me dull to a low roar and made my hand reach out and pick up this odd treasure.

I was at a point in my studies where I was unsatisfied with the education I had obtained from the University of Delaware. I changed majors every week. The Fine Art major I had declared upon my arrival was not exactly what I wanted for myself in the long run. The vision of being a starving artist wasn't very romantic to me. The trip to Paris had only happened because straight A's in high school French gave me the idea to become a French major and go to Paris. Clear my head, go on a grand adventure, make new friends. Pourquoi-pas?

Upon my arrival, I knew immediately that I had finally made the right choice. Paris exceeded all of my expectations, it was the best thing that I could have done for myself and my education. But! (come on, you knew there was a "but" in here somewhere) Paris was only the outside package, opening the door to that Latin Quarter secondhand book store was the true gift. That ugly book was the answer to my quest. It had a single page description of what the term "Computer Graphics" meant. It then went into a detailed listing of schools that offered this program by state.

I purchased the book (after much haggling with the store owner, who didn't have a clue where it had come from or how much to charge me for it). I was two months away from finishing my program. I became obsessed with the idea of "Computer Graphics." I lost interest in my Political Science and Architecture classes. Who cares what a "schema" is anyway. I still have nightmares about that word. I managed to pull myself together the last two-weeks of class to write all of my papers and pass the final exams. On my last day in Paris, the holiday lights along the Champs-Elysee are the last thing I remember seeing before diving down into the metro station on my way to the airport. I touched down in Philadelphia the next day, totally exhausted and clueless about how to pull off my next adventure. The pathway ahead of me was now clearly marked and It pointed west, to Los Angeles and UCLA Extension.

To make a long story longer, I moved to LA. Found a job within walking distance of UCLA (dumb luck). Obtained a student loan and signed up for the "Computer Graphics and Graphic Design" program. I was hooked! My trek from east to west had paid off. My luck ran out six months later. Extension lost it's eligibility to provide student loan funding. I was working full-time, going to school part-time at night. My job paid the bills, it didn't pay for school. I did what any graphic design junkie would do, I panicked! for several weeks. That's when Morpho Blue Design happened. Life is full of happy accidents. My happy accident happened at work about two weeks before the end of my quarter. A friend of a friend's Uncle needed a website. I had just started building websites. One thing led to another and after about 5 triple cappuccinos from Starbucks, I had registered morphobluedesign.com and officially opened my freelance business. I picked up enough freelance work after that initial website to pay my way through school and graduated with a 3.9 GPA. When my "pay-the-bills" job had to make cut-backs and laid me off - Morpho Blue Design became my full-time job.

It has now been twelve years since I found that ugly book in that Parisian bookstore. I have worked in several different places, designed many types of projects, and have learned from everyone that I worked with. I have had a few major bumps in the road but Morpho Blue Design has always been there for me. Morpho Blue is ME after all, and at the end of the day it's very gratifying to realize that I have the tools I need to take care of myself and my family as we travel through life. I'm grateful for the experiences I have had and look forward to the next adventure.

 

 
 

Graphic Designers know a lot... about everything.

I met a seasoned Art Director at the beginning of my career who inspired this statement. He had been in the industry for over twenty years. When I met him, he was complaining (rather loudly) to a colleague that the newest crop of designers were completely clueless. I was part of that crop at the time and not wanting to remain clueless, I introduced myself to him and asked him to clue me in. He said, "Learn how to read." then walked off in disgust. I interpreted that several ways and finally came up with my own definition of what he meant. Lucky for me, my definition was correct.

Read everything you can about your client. Read all of the information they send you for that company brochure that you are designing. Read everything on their company website. Read every e-mail message, to the end. Read about your client's industry. Make it part of your job to educate yourself about every new or potential client. If this simple task is not done to the best of your ability, you are really only making something look pretty on a sheet of paper. Your not really designing for the client.

There is an added benefit to this particular task. Twenty years from now, you will be a seasoned Graphic Designer (or Art Director) who knows a lot, about everything... because you have a bevy of unique clients on your curriculum vitae that you have taken the time to learn everything you can about their line of business. This knowledge adds up. Graphic Designers are some of the smartest people I know.

The ones that know how to read, anyway.