 |
| STEPHEN COOMBER |
Stephen Coomber - Sheridan Grad & Interactive Designer - from Taxi came into talk to us this friday. It was great to listen to him speak about all the fun projects he gets to work on and also very inspiring. Here are some things I learned.
TAXI
http://www.taxi.ca/ - "Enjoy the Ride"
- "Doubt the Conventional"
- They want their employees to really think outside of the box, don't do what works for other companies, rather sell through innovation.
- Taxi is known for winning awards, people often come to work at Taxi, not only to do great work, but get some recognition for their hard work.
- Taxi employees seem to thrive in it's social environment, a lot of great work comes from the many regroups and trips to the pub to work ideas out.
- It's not uncommon to see people working late at night, often trying to think up new and better ideas for their projects.
LITTLE BIT ABOUT STEPHEN
FINE ARTS TO IDEA MAN
- Stephen graduated from Guelph with a BFA and then from the Sheridan Web Design post-grad course in 2005.
- He went on to work for Organic - a web shop that deals with Flash animations, mainly automobile animation.
- He moved onto work for Young & Rubicam for a couple of years as a Senior Designer. Worked with companies like Ford, Dell, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut.
- Next he did freelance for his company Coomberville where he created websites and banner campaigns.
- He now works for Taxi as an Interactive Designer where he creates ideas for websites, ad campaigns and social initiatives and loves it.
FAVORITE PROJECT SO FAR
CANADIAN TIRE HOUSE OF INNOVATION
- So far, this was Stephen's favorite project he worked on.
- Pitched to buy a house! And they went for it! Won some awards too!
- He worked really hard with his team and got some great results.
- Check out the page here: http://houseofinnovation.ca/
WORDS OF WISDOM
SPEAK UP
- Make your passions known.
- Let people know what you want to pursue so you get what you want out of your job.
MIND A MENTOR
- This will push you to be better at your job.
- Your mentor always know your job better than you do.
- You'll want to return the favor someday.
NEVER TAKE SHOTGUN
- Always sit in the drivers seat of your career, be in control, don't just settle.
- Fight for the projects you want to work for (within reason of course).
SOCIAL MEDIA
- Keep up to date!
- Tweet - even if you don't like it
- @mashable - quick and easy way to keep up with tech tidbits
- @theNextWeb - digital media posts
- @TaxiCanada - daily neat tweets
- Facebook is great too
DRINK BEER *or juice or pop
- Always go out with co-workers if they are going... even if you really want to go home.
- It's a great way to get to know your co-workers and allows you to be part of brainstorming and ideas that happen after-hours.
DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY!
- Have fun & be passionate about what you love.
- Employers, especially creative directors can always tell if your passionate about your work.
Stephen's LinkedIn Profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/coomberville
http://www.linkedin.com/in/coomberville
Personal Portfolio site:
No comments:
Post a Comment