Blog

Hi everyone! With threats of snow and consistent cold weather here in Oklahoma, (something I’m still getting used to) it’s clear that the holiday (or the generic term: winter) season is upon us. 

One of our marketing activities during these holidays has been the Old Hat 15 Days of Christmas (ironic that I came up with the name and I’m Jewish). The hashtag #OH15Days has taken off, a lot more than I expected it to, so I hope you all benefited from it. I’m not sure if anything like this has been done in the past, so it’s a little surreal to think about how influential it has been and could be. Outside of the tips from all of our staff, I’d like everyone to take away three things:

1. While we love to share our knowledge in our subjects, another goal of this project was to introduce ourselves to everyone. After these 15 days, you will have essentially met all of our staff. You know the people who make up Old Hat Creative, and that’s a good thing. We didn’t just put up a bio of each person on our website. We virtually introduced you to everyone. Now, if we ever have the privilege of working with you on a project or meeting you in person,  it will feel like we already know each other. So please, follow @oldhatcreative and all of our staff members!

2. Zac and Tracie say that Old Hat is open when our clients are open. Being in the sports industry, that pretty much means we are open all day every day. So, even though our 15 Days of Christmas ends today, we are still going to be tweeting! And if you still have questions, we will answer them! The knowledge doesn’t stop. We would love to keep hearing from you.

3. Very rarely is an idea of ours attributed to only one person at Old Hat. We all have our areas of knowledge, but most of the time we brainstorm with others in the office. My desk is right near the lounge, where we often have these brainstorming meetings, so even if I’m not involved, I can still hear what they are talking about and occasionally throw my input or ideas in. The staff is one big team, and without each other we wouldn’t be nearly as successful.

On an unrelated note, since I started here at Old Hat, I’ve been exposed to some fantastic graphic design. Part of what attracted me to this job was the possibility of learning to use Photoshop and Illustrator and becoming a capable designer myself. I put together flyers and video board stills at University of Arizona, so I’m familiar with the process, but I want to take it a step further. Brian, the senior art director, suggested I read “The Non-Designers Design Book” by Robin Williams (haha! But not THAT Robin Williams). The book has really opened my eyes, showing me how things are laid out and why, what colors go with other colors, etc. I strongly recommend the book for any “rookie” designers out there. It won’t teach you how to do everything, but it will give you the basics that you need to get started. 

Part of becoming a graphic designer is simply fooling around in the software, and doing work. The more you do, the more you will figure out what you think looks good, and eventually define your design style. This week, I’ve been working with Geoff, the Senior Posterizer, and Aaron, one of our graphic designers, to create one poster that seemingly hasn’t been done by Old Hat yet: A poster of the Old Hat Staff (besides our holiday card).

While it’s far from a work of art, this is the first design that I’ve really done myself, and I’m extremely proud of it. Every time I look at it, I see things I would like to change, which is good. If my art doesn’t suck the first time, then how am I supposed to learn? And part of learning is seeing these things that you would change. Thank you for all your help Geoff and Aaron, and hopefully this pushes me even further.

Happy Holidays everyone!