Monday, November 21, 2011

A Designer's (EXPENSIVE) Toolkit

I had a very expensive day today... The kind of day where you're literally just s t u n n e d.
The kind of day where I saw basically a year of scrimping and saving (and freelancing my pants off) flash before my eyes with just one swift swipe of the debit card. And I left not wanting to scare the nice gentleman helping me carry my new treasures to my car by quietly weeping...

You will know this feeling well if you've ever been a graphic designer who desperately needed to stock up on new hardware AND software all in the same hour-long trip to the technology store. I am feeling better about it now, especially since while I was going swipe happy,  I added a pair of Warby Parker glasses to my expenditure tally. You gotta be able to see straight (and look cool) to be a designer, I've learned! And I didn't end up really loving any of these ones... Once I crack open this new Macbook Pro, upload all of my new software, and try on my new glasses, I will just be a brand new lady! What do you think? Have you guys ever taken a soul-crushing trip to the Apple store? Here are a tally of today's purchases:

1  15-inch: 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro
My 3-year-old MacBook Pro has survived an exploded battery, a blown left speaker (which has left it whistling like a tea-kettle), 2 years of design school, a senior thesis project, and a job designing a magazine... It's officially time to retire him. Also, you should note, I NEVER go without AppleCare protection. It has saved me twice in the past, and I'd definitely rather be safe than sorry...

2 Adobe CS5.5 Design Premium
Who could pass up an Ohio State Employee discount on Adobe CS5.5 Design Premium when instead of costing the usual $1,899.99 smackers, I got it here for a miniscule $350 dollars??

Microsoft Office:Mac 2011
I once again chose to utilize my Ohio State employee discount to get this software down from $149.99 to a mere $85.00. Thanks, Wired Out!

A FREE HP Deskjet 3050A e-All-in-One Printer/Scanner/Copier 
I use a printer next to never, but why turn down a freebie? And who knows? Maybe I will use it more than I think I will?

Crosby Burgundy Fade glasses from Warby Parker
This was the biggest surprise of the day, actually. Libby, my lovely coworker, had utilized Warby Parker's amazing 5-pair "Try Before You Buy" offer, and we were so excited to get the package today! I love trying on glasses, so I snatched a few pairs to try on for myself, and kinda-sorta fell in love with this pair. They are exactly what I was looking for in a pair of big, plastic statement glasses. And I love the coloring, because it looks almost black on top when they're on, but with the red fade pattern, they go well with my hair. It was a great surprise, because I really never would have tried these on if they weren't sitting out on a table in our office. I ended up loving these way more than the ones I debated in this post...and thus, I was sold.

So I am truthfully stocked up on every piece of equipment a good designer could possibly need to do her job. I don't even know what to do next. But the answer is probably design something, so I can make back some of my squandered money!!

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