A few forum changes

Glad you guys like the revised banner. :D And thank you for your continued support of the depot! You're welcome (of corpse) :)! With pleasure :D :D!!

Can't see the banner at my office, will have to wait until I get home.

oh yeah always been wanting to ask, who's that guy on the banner? That's Mircea Gabriel Eftemie of Mnemic. He's also a hell of a graphic designer. He used to head up his own design spot, called CadaverMan Media, but I think that's gone under, sadly. Now, he works for iDesign, I want to say? Last I talked to him, he was busting his ass studying some really technical shit at school, and Mnemic was writing all this year & part of the next and their new album will be out in summer '09. We've been in talks about working on some new Mnemic stuff (I too, am a graphic designer), and he's just as humble and down to earth as ever. If there's ever been a cool, laid-back dude who just REEKS of metal onstage, it's Mircea. sledge, i too am a graphic designer. my problem of course, is that college looms right around the corner--and i still dunno which school is right for me. can you give me any advice? please, it'd mean so much to me. i'm desperate!

Long, off-topic post ahead. Not trying to hijack this thread, just wanted to share this real quick. Any further discussion can be handled through PM or email or whatever. This isn't to be self-indulgent, I'm just showing Forest (and anyone else who's in that situation) that with enough initiative, ANYONE can get this done. Especially if I did. ;) Anyway, here's some support: I would just look for the best school around with a decent art program. It sounds like common sense, but really, that's all you need. A reputable college with up-to-date professors/up-to-date schooling is a must, or else you're wasting your money. I'm not sure of your location, but for me, there was a college considered "the doctor school", and then "the art school". Just go with whichever you feel you'll learn most from. Hopefully, you'll get lucky like I did, and "the art school" will be the cheapest one around. :) Here's something to show you that you can do this. I have a funny story. I took every art class available in high school: Poster art, Ceramics, Ceramics 2, Art 1, Art 2, Art 3, and then AP Art. My high school offered the AP class as a college course, and if you did well, your credits counted towards a college course (when/if you went). So I maxed out all the art classes... then I also took Autocad, 3d Studio Viz, and Photoshop courses. By the time I hit college, I was nervous that I would end up HATING art if it was my job. So I decided I might go for music, as I was in Orchestra for 6 years (I had played cello for 6 years at the time, and then guitar for 4). Unfortunately, I had Intro To Music in college my first semester and was completely turned off due to one old bastard professor. As I went through college, I decided to take up Communications/Media Studies, which is essentially a fancy Speech Comm program. I took radio, film, television, and production classes NON-STOP. Then, I wanted to learn about the technical aspect of things, so I learned all about PR, marketing, advertising, etc. 2 years in, and I started missing art. Then I realized that I kinda fucked myself. I went to the campus paper and applied for the job of graphic designer. They hired me on the spot, and that semester, I did a complete layout overhaul, giving the paper an identity with a logo, look, etc. Each week, I was also designing ads for companies that were too terrible to come up with their own. I rode that job out until I graduated, but here's the catch. When it came time for an internship, I went to the biggest printing company in the area, asked for a graphic design internship, and got it. Not an internship in the office, or doing PR, but an internship in Graphic Design. They kicked my ass EVERY DAY for 3 months. I learned the ins and outs from people with 20+ years of experience. When my adviser saw what I had been doing, he just laughed. I told him I was using PR to talk with clients and advertising techniques within my design work. I explained to him all my reasoning for re-branding companies, coming up with slogans, where the ads would sell best, etc. He told me that if I could sell him on that & impress him that much, I earned my degree. Ever since, that company calls me in (if I'm free) to design shit. I even won a gold award at the Advertising Federation Of Northwest Pennsylvania (formerly the Erie Ad Club) for design work that I did last year. As far as my freelance work, I've been very lucky to be able to network with musicians. At concerts, through email, etc. If you mention that you could do work for them, especially BETTER work for them, and you deliver, the sky's the limit. Just stay on the grind and have good work ethic. When you are your own boss, you have to be harder on yourself than anyone else would be. So, after all that, what I'm trying to tell you is STAY ON THE GRIND. Find a place that suits you, where you can grow, and ride it out. Build the shit out of your portfolio, and honestly, just get your name out there. ALWAYS look for work, especially if you're freelancing. Cause when it's good, it's good... but when it's bad... it's REAL bad. If someone like me can go to college, change my mind at the start, pick a different path, drop that after a semester, go with something else, and make it 110% harder by doing/learning design my own way, on the side... YOU CAN. I really regret not taking the college courses, not only for the recognition/resume builder, but for the knowledge. But like I said, if I can pick it up on the side while balancing 2 jobs and a full-time college schedule, you can bang this shit out and get it right the first time, no doubt. Plus, you'll be a step ahead of me cause my degree is still for "Communication/Media Studies"... If there's anything I can help you with, let me know. The only other advice I have for you is that if you design anything for a power metal band called Cellador, GET PAID UPFRONT. :wink:

Long, off-topic post ahead. Not trying to hijack this thread, just wanted to share this real quick. Any further discussion can be handled through PM or email or whatever. This isn't to be self-indulgent, I'm just showing Forest (and anyone else who's in that situation) that with enough initiative, ANYONE can get this done. Especially if I did. ;) Anyway, here's some support: I would just look for the best school around with a decent art program. It sounds like common sense, but really, that's all you need. A reputable college with up-to-date professors/up-to-date schooling is a must, or else you're wasting your money. I'm not sure of your location, but for me, there was a college considered "the doctor school", and then "the art school". Just go with whichever you feel you'll learn most from. Hopefully, you'll get lucky like I did, and "the art school" will be the cheapest one around. :) Here's something to show you that you can do this. I have a funny story. I took every art class available in high school: Poster art, Ceramics, Ceramics 2, Art 1, Art 2, Art 3, and then AP Art. My high school offered the AP class as a college course, and if you did well, your credits counted towards a college course (when/if you went). So I maxed out all the art classes... then I also took Autocad, 3d Studio Viz, and Photoshop courses. By the time I hit college, I was nervous that I would end up HATING art if it was my job. So I decided I might go for music, as I was in Orchestra for 6 years (I had played cello for 6 years at the time, and then guitar for 4). Unfortunately, I had Intro To Music in college my first semester and was completely turned off due to one old bastard professor. As I went through college, I decided to take up Communications/Media Studies, which is essentially a fancy Speech Comm program. I took radio, film, television, and production classes NON-STOP. Then, I wanted to learn about the technical aspect of things, so I learned all about PR, marketing, advertising, etc. 2 years in, and I started missing art. Then I realized that I kinda fucked myself. I went to the campus paper and applied for the job of graphic designer. They hired me on the spot, and that semester, I did a complete layout overhaul, giving the paper an identity with a logo, look, etc. Each week, I was also designing ads for companies that were too terrible to come up with their own. I rode that job out until I graduated, but here's the catch. When it came time for an internship, I went to the biggest printing company in the area, asked for a graphic design internship, and got it. Not an internship in the office, or doing PR, but an internship in Graphic Design. They kicked my ass EVERY DAY for 3 months. I learned the ins and outs from people with 20+ years of experience. When my adviser saw what I had been doing, he just laughed. I told him I was using PR to talk with clients and advertising techniques within my design work. I explained to him all my reasoning for re-branding companies, coming up with slogans, where the ads would sell best, etc. He told me that if I could sell him on that & impress him that much, I earned my degree. Ever since, that company calls me in (if I'm free) to design shit. I even won a gold award at the Advertising Federation Of Northwest Pennsylvania (formerly the Erie Ad Club) for design work that I did last year. As far as my freelance work, I've been very lucky to be able to network with musicians. At concerts, through email, etc. If you mention that you could do work for them, especially BETTER work for them, and you deliver, the sky's the limit. Just stay on the grind and have good work ethic. When you are your own boss, you have to be harder on yourself than anyone else would be. So, after all that, what I'm trying to tell you is STAY ON THE GRIND. Find a place that suits you, where you can grow, and ride it out. Build the shit out of your portfolio, and honestly, just get your name out there. ALWAYS look for work, especially if you're freelancing. Cause when it's good, it's good... but when it's bad... it's REAL bad. If someone like me can go to college, change my mind at the start, pick a different path, drop that after a semester, go with something else, and make it 110% harder by doing/learning design my own way, on the side... YOU CAN. I really regret not taking the college courses, not only for the recognition/resume builder, but for the knowledge. But like I said, if I can pick it up on the side while balancing 2 jobs and a full-time college schedule, you can bang this shit out and get it right the first time, no doubt. Plus, you'll be a step ahead of me cause my degree is still for "Communication/Media Studies"... If there's anything I can help you with, let me know. The only other advice I have for you is that if you design anything for a power metal band called Cellador, GET PAID UPFRONT. :wink: i will gladly continue this via PM. :) thank you SO much. EDIT: check your inbox, sledge.

Great job with the banner buddy, as always I'm lost for words! Its ****ing sweet!!! As for the rules, it doesn't get much clearer....this the the premier extreme metal forum on the, no BS, just great members and killer music, lets keep it that way ;)

hahah i was just about to ask that earlier today then i forogt and now i rememebred again but i got the answer haha

New banner = I cum blood! ;)

Buena revisión del foro, Grim. ¡El nevo banner mola de cojones! Hails from Spain!

Banner's update is pretty wicked :D And good job on getting rid of the non-metal section ;P

New banner looks good.

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