Looking for a Senior Level Graphic Designer

UPDATE: No longer looking, and grateful to God for His timing.

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack was a post I wrote in 2008 as the company I work for was looking to bring on a new staffer. I post this today because we're once more looking to add a position. If you know someone who might be a solid candidate, send them here to read what I said then.

The teammate we're looking to add is a communication design thinker, who adds at a senior level. In the world of design, a title can mean different things depending on where you work. This position is called Senior Designer, but as I just suggested, in many independent agencies, this might also be called Art Director, or something else. Regardless of title, this candidate would possess strategic planning and execution skills and would be passionate about both the creative and business side of design. More specifically, the position requires swift and thoughtful design solutions for internal clients (mostly), under the leadership of a senior art director (that would be me). The position and the opportunity is broad—and includes brainstorming projects with an impressive pool of fellow creatives, and at times clients; strategic and creative development; design execution of all your projects; and design presentations. In other words, this position has a ton of autonomy for the person with the right mix of thinking, communication ability and tact.

A couple other important things I like to point out is that we're looking for someone with what I call a "voice"—that is, someone who has an interesting perspective on how best to develop work that gets results. Someone who adds uniquely to a discussion. Also, someone who understands what it means to be a servant leader. That is, someone who cares about growing everyone around them. A servant leader grows trust and value within our company.

We work on Macs, and are getting all new ones this Friday (can you tell I'm excited).

All that to say, filling a position at Tyndale has always been challenging, so if you would pass this on to people you know who are truly at a senior level (not just people you like a whole lot, and would love to see get a job), I would very much appreciate it.

Mid-Century Jubilee Furniture - Coming Soon

I just completed a new set of images to help my friends at Jubilee Furniture in Carol Stream IL document a bunch of new furniture donations they called me about. You may have heard of them before. These cool new vintage furniture pieces may be available via Apartment Therapy Chicago's classified ads, or via Craigslist, or at the Carol Stream store...I'm not quite sure yet. Suffice it to say there is some SWEET mid-century modern furniture goodness to be had, when they are ready to go. They are still pricing these items. Stay tuned.

The Hunt: Eco-Friendly and Vintage Furniture

Apartment Therapy recently featured a great post on eco-friendly furniture. Now Sarah follows up, listing all the environmentally conscious wood furniture that's been featured on AT in the past. What a great resource. She lists sustainably harvested, recycled, and second-hand wood in her line up, and in so doing, highlights Jubilee Furniture as a place to find "second hand solid wood."

For me, "vintage used" Mid-Century Modern (and older) has always been a favorite choice for hunting, researching, collecting and usually just admiring. There's something about "the hunt" for this stuff that makes it rewarding and worth repeating. The late thought leader Rob Roy Kelly does a nice job of shedding light on collecting, as he describes in detail what it means to him. For non-hunters and non-collectors, this article might explain where your collector friends are coming from.

I appreciate Sarah's article. It reminds me of how cool it is to reuse stuff. Especially when doing so achieves refreshing, unintended and inspired results. And for me, like Rob Roy Kelly, finding and researching these articles is often more enjoyable than buying. Many times I just take a picture so I can research it later without having to buy. That's fun too.

As background for those of you who have not heard of Jubilee Furniture in Carol Stream, the word got out several weeks ago through the generous help of a few bloggers I contacted for help, and by the images I took of the items there. I hoped my blog friends and contacts would share the news about Jubilee, and boy did they. Apartment Therapy, Nicole at Making it Lovely, Jess at Howaboutorange, ToKissTheCook, and others– they all got the ball rolling big time. Since then many have ventured out to Carol Stream for themselves, and some continue to blog about their experiences. I even saw some recent chatter on Domino Magazine's website. Some found deal of a lifetime, while others came up empty. And some really gave Jubilee high praise calling it "This trip may have been our best thrift store experience ever." I'm continually surprised every week by what's been donated from the week before. I have begun to see some of the same new faces there every weekend, which is cool.

Now that Jubilee is on the map so to speak, they have a need for more furniture donations. There's something satisfying about reusing and helping the environment, and an even better feeling knowing donation of furniture to Jubilee will help people who are shy on cash for whatever reason, and by knowing their profits go to the greater good. So if you or anyone you know is looking to donate something, call Jubilee and see if they can help. Dave and Susan can be contacted at 630.337.1467.

Jubilee Furniture: Help Spread The Word

Quiet, sleepy, Carol Stream Illinois (a suburb of Chicago) is home to an amazing vintage, mid-century modern, retro and gently used furniture market so secret, that, well, I finally decided to put my greed aside to help them get the word out. For months now on Saturday's only, Jubilee Furniture Company has opened it's doors at 9 am – the exact time I show up. For months I've had practically unfettered access to all this incredible and ever changing furniture and collectibles. A smorgasbord of vintage and retro items that sell for at or below garage sale prices. I kid you not, I've found Vitra, Steelcase, Herman Miller, Weiland, Knoll, Kimball, d_SCAN, Haworth, AllSteel and a ton of older American and Danish lines there. I blogged about my Steelcase Warren Snodgrass 474419W Encore Series guest chairs that are in the Museum of Modern art a few weeks ago. Each Saturday a new selection awaits at Jubilee.

You see, during the week, Jubilee accepts furniture donations, as the whole concept is to assist individuals and families in need throughout the suburbs through this ministry called Community Outreach. All proceeds from the Jubilee Furniture mart go to this worthwhile cause.

So why do I ask you to help me get the word out when I could continue my cherry picking under the radar, so-to-speak?

Well, each week I've noticed they've not had adequate resources and people to get the word out as they would like. Consequently, the place does an "okay" business, while the vintage gems go largely unnoticed (except for by me of course). Since the market is a ministry, I feel a call to help them. Especially as you consider they are a bunch of spirited, friendly, energetic and hardworking folk, and I know that they would oh-so-appreciate your help in spreading the word.

I spent 45 minutes there recently and took all the photos you see at the beginning of this post with my Canon Rebel 300D.

The yellow, low flourescent lighting at Jubilee is practically non-existent, but this dark, dusty, huge warehouse is what I find so charming. It's not polished; it's not pretty—a distinctive that may in fact be it's charm. While it provides really affordable furniture to a community in need, it's also a diamond in the rough for collectors and dealers.

Let me know what you think about my photos, and if you have any questions just ask. I've volunteered there a couple Saturdays in the past and am tight with the two full time staff members, Dave and Susan. They're located on the corner of North Avenue (64) and Schmale in Carol Stream. Jubilee can be reached at 1-(630)-337-1467. Susan just told me that they are now opening on Fridays, too, from 3pm - 8pm. And always Saturday 9am – 4pm.

I appreciate your help spreading the word. Tell them BarryBlog sent ya'.