Interview with:Theraisa K [theraisak]
PROFESSION
 | What is your profession? What is your title printed on your business card? Freelance Graphic and Creative Design Artist |
| What did you study and why did you choose to study that field? I studied 3 years of Graphic Design at Fanshawe College from 2001-2003. Before that I was a self-taught freelance pro bono website and graphic designer for mostly independent musicians. I figured it'd wouldn't hurt to have a degree in my back pocket in the field of Graphic Design, since it was an area that I was and still am highly involved in. Plus, I love the combination of visual arts and computer arts I get the best of both worlds every day! |
| What links do you have on the Internet: website, blog, social networks? http://www.theraisak.com is my main website where all my other activities are based from, but I'm sure if you Googled my name "Theraisa K" you'll find all the other sites, blogs, networks that I'm associated with and/or apart of! |
| Are you satisfied with the education that you received? I was at the time I was studying, but 10 years later I think it may have been best if the program was more streamlined after the first year. That is, the first year you get to sample all areas of design, but by the second year you start to focus on which area of design to specialize in and third/fourth years to hone those skills into valid "real world" experiences that can be used to land you a job in your specialized area. |
| In which areas have you thought of building upon your education? Digital Photography so that I can also offer professional grade stock photography to my services; without having to out source or rely on stock photography sites for materials to plug into my design work. |
| In which tasks are you good at, and in which could you better yourself? Research, Time management, and working Quickly are some of my better skills, though accounting and business type management skills are still ones that I'm working on. |
| Do you usually attended seminars or coursework to advance your professional work or would you consider yourself a more self-taught person? I've been self-taught since I was 15, so I'll probably always stay on that path, unless I feel it's beneficial in knowing/learning at the time the course or seminar is being offered. |
| When did you realise that your work was being considered important and that it could possibly take you places? Even after having been designing for nearly 15 years, I still don't feel like my work is taking me places (at least not the places I want to go!), but when I look back on all the work that I have done and all the people that have contacted me from all over the world (even from places I've never heard of), it makes me realize that some aspects of my work have been perceived as important, I may just not see it because it's my own work. I am however looking forward to continually expanding my mind and hopefully that will take me to the places I want to go! |
| With which types of persons do you feel you work well with as a team? I think I work well with clients that know what they want, are prompt to make decisions, value my professional opinion(s) and are willing to allow a bit of "wiggle room" in the creative aspect of the job. |
| Have you explored the social networks for professionals online? Are you member of any of them? By far! I try to get involved in as many networks as possible online. It's always beneficial to meet and get to know others in the Design/Creative industries. |
| How are you different from others in your professional sector? Though I offer a standard price rate for my services, I always take into consideration my Client's budget and their limitations first. Meaning, if a Client approaches me and says I only have $50 to do this, I will devise a way to meet their needs in their required budget - but of course, only if it's fair to both sides of the coin! I also offer price reductions to registered charities and non-profit organizations as well as to independent musicians/artists. Coming in 2010 I will also be offering with most design/creative services an initial non-exclusive limited usage license for free! So, I'd say that I'm different because I don't consider myself or my needs first, I consider the client's needs first. |
| How is the Interent changing the way you work? It has been a great source for not only gaining much needed exposure, but has also helped in obtaining more frequent contracts and a healthier client base. |
| Do you feel your hobbies serve to elevate your career? Unlike many others, my hobby is my career! |
| What are the things you least like about your job? Time consumption. It takes a lot of time being a sole proprietor; keeping the business aspect in check, networking, trying to promote my business to generate new clientele and things of that nature take up a lot of the time I could be spending on doing something I love like designing a logo! |
| Besides your current profession, what other things would you have liked to have been? Foremost a photographer. I do a lot of photography work on the side in my free time (mostly just for me, though a few pieces have trickled into some client projects in recent years!). |
| What is the most important thing you have learned from experience? Always sign a contract and make sure the contract is water tight! |
| When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up? Two things that are closely related to one another 1) Marine Archaeologist 2) An Egyptologist. After high school I did study North American Archaeology for one year, but even though it was my passion at the time, I just couldn't see myself sitting in a classroom for 10+ years being a lab rat. |
| List any credits, publications, competitions, etc. Educational Awards:
* Various Awards in Conduct and Working - Year end Public School awards
* Good Helper Award (1993) - Year end Public School awards
* Award of Distinction (1993) - Education Week radio advertisement contest winner
Writing Awards:
* Brandon Lee Internet Newsletter Award (1999) - Poetry contest winner
Recognition in Independent Music Promotion:
* The Autopsy Report: Metal Warrior Award (2005) - Personal award winner for music promotion
Web Design Awards:
* Atom Sounds Award: Best of the Web (2005) - Web Award for Space Junkies Magazine
* 1Page Design Award: Bronze Award (2006) - Web Award for Whippitup Designs
* Canadian Web Award: Good (2007) - Web Award for TheraisaK.com
* Canadian Web Awards: Very Good (November 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Art Space 2000 Award: Excellence (2007) - Web Award for TheraisaK.com
* ArtSpace 2000 Award: Excellence (2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Smoke Free Award: Gold (April 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Advanced Web Design Award: Silver (April 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Book Look "Hot Spot" Award: Excellence (June 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Kit Awards: Top Site (May 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Kuuloa Kai: Top Site Award (July 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Mearnswood Media: Excellence (May 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Game Puppet: Excellence (May 2008) - Web award for TheraisaK.com
* Advanced Web Design "Silver" Award (Feb. 17th, 2009)
* 2008 City of Brantford Photo Contest 3rd Place Winner (Apr. 22nd, 2009)
* TheWebuilders TSAwards "Gold" Award (July 12th, 2009)
* Fusion Design "Bronze" Award (Aug. 1st, 2009)
* ArtSpace2000 "World Web Award of Excellence" (Sept. 28th, 2009)
Galleries:
* Theraisa has had her fine/visual artwork on display in the Art Gallery section of the Chatham Cultural Centre (1996 & 1998).
* Theraisa's Graphic Design work, as part of her final year in Graphic Design at Fanshawe College, was put on public display in a downtown London, Ontario art gallery for a weekend of viewing (2003).
Literary:
* Theraisa's written work has been published in numerous print and web based magazines including IndustrialnatioN Magazine (1999-2000) and Unlock Detroit Magazine (2007) to name a few.
* Theraisa also has two self-published, designed, illustrated and authored children’s books: “Fishy In My Pond” (2007-2008) and “The Silly Book” (2008-2009) under her belt.
* Theraisa recently provided her Graphic Design services for the first in a children's book series titled: “Sammy’s Birthday Surprise” written by Douglas Esper and now available through Amazon.com (2008-2009).
Photography:
* A digital photo Theraisa took of her son playing at Forsyth Park in Blenheim, Ontario was published in the 2008-2009 Chatham-Kent Today Calendar (2008) for the month of November 2008.
* "Grand River At Night" a digital photo Theraisa took of a sunset over the Grand River by D'Aubney Creek in Brantford, Ontario was a third place recipient of Tourism Brantford's 2008 City of Brantford Photo Contest. Theraisa received a $25 gift certificate to Henry's for her submission. |
CREATIVITY
| How and why did you begin to be creative? I've been creative for as long as I can remember! Both my parents are creative, so I guess I just inherited it from them! |
| Your mind is your work tool. How do you take care of it? By constantly trying new styles and tampering with new tools and mediums |
| How do you avoid repeating yourself, or falling into formula? How do you stay fresh? I find I end up falling into the same formula when I've worked on the same project for way too long. So for me, I get out of the rut by trying to learn a new skill in a different area. Example if I've been working on one logo (illustrating) for 2 weeks straight, I'll try to learn a skill in something completely different such as photo editing or digital photography. |
| Do you have a ritual like retiring to a lonely place from time to time to cleanse your mind? I try to go back home to my parents place at least once every 2 months or so. It not only gives me a break from work, but also my young kids! When I come back, I'm all nice and refreshed! |
| When you accept a job, how much value do you place on each of the following? Money, creative liberty, visibility, and to work with the best. I prefer to accept jobs based more on how well suited I am to the work needing to be done; so creativity would come first followed closely by visibility. I like being credited for my work as it leads to future clients and more jobs, so visibility is definitely high up on my list when accepting a job. Money, comes near the bottom of the list as I generally work around my client's budgets and/or base my prices around their budget limitations. I'm very reasonable and negotiable when it comes to money matters as I design more for the enjoyment of it than the profit of it. Working with the best, I don't really pay much attention to unless it ties into the visibility factor. So long as I'm doing something creative and either getting noticed for it or paid for it, that's all that really matters! |
| Have you ever had a job that was so stimulating that you could not get your mind off of it? I've done a lot of jobs/projects where ideas are just trampling around in my mind fighting to get out. Sometimes it keeps me up at night and I have to get out of bed so I can put my thoughts down on paper (more so I don't forget them, but also to get them out of my head so I'll stop thinking about it long enough to get some sleep!) |
| Must someone be the leader or boss in order for a creative team to function well? Yes. I think boundaries must be present and put into force in order to keep the ball moving, but at the same time, no one likes to be hampered in their creative reasoning, so having a mediator there would definitely help! |
| Declaration: With what person or business would you like to work? Oddly, I'd love to work for my Aunt, even for a summer. She owns her own horse ranch down in the States. I spent a few weeks there in the summer when I was in high school and just loved it there. Maybe I'm a farm girl at heart! |
| Do you work well under pressure? I find I get more done if the heat is on, but it seems to limit my creativity and I don't always output my best pieces when under pressure. |
| What city in the world currently attracts you due to its creative environment? Home (Blenheim, Ontario) though it can't really be called a city and the creative environment is next to nil, but being there someone inspires me to think more creatively. |
| How is an idea sold? With a really good price tag! |
| What do you feel when, after two or three years, you see an idea of yours again? Elated that it still exists! |
| You are as good as your last idea. Wouldn't you like to have a more secure type of work? Considering there's really no such thing as security in the workplace these days, with millions of companies going under, people being laid off, etc. I much rather be a creative thinker and designer than being forced to look for a new job every other week. |
DESIGN
| What is your specialty? Pretty much all areas of Print/Graphic Design, but I especially love designing Logos and working on Branding Material (business cards, brochures, letterheads, etc.). You really have to put all your creative juices and energy into coming up with something that will outlast even you! |
| Where can we view your portfolio online? You can always view my up-to-date portfolio directly from my official website at http://www.theraisak.com, but my work is also posted to an assortment of art portfolio related sites such as deviantart.com, etc. |
| What made you interested in design? Originally I started as a promotional web designer for independent musicians when I was 15 years old (around 1995), from there it blossomed into a few companies and magazines that always incorporated design and the creative arts. |
| What has been your professional career path? I started out as a pro-bono freelancer working from home, went on to study Graphic Design in college and after I graduated I spent a few months on temporary hire working for a local newspaper in the ad design and layout department. From there, I resorted back to freelancing from home, which I continue to do to this day. |
| Have you received any awards for your work in the field of design? I have received various personal awards since 1984, web design awards since 1996 along with numerous design, literature and photography contests but have not received any prestigious awards (yet!) |
| What is your motivation? What makes you get up in the mornings? Since I work at home, my 2 year old tends to get me up in the mornings whether I like it or not! But, I do look forward to opening my email inbox and seeing a new project waiting to be unleashed. Fresh projects always motivate me to continue moving in a forward motion. |
| How would you define your design style? I try my best not to box myself into a specific style or area of design and am always experimenting with new styles. I would say for the most part my work falls into the more traditional category of illustrated design with modernism thrown in for effect. |
| How do you promote and move your work? For the most part through magazine adverts, classified ads, word of mouth and any free sources online that I can get my hands on. |
| In which new areas would you like to experiment? Recently I've been trying my hand at Manga/Anime, though I don't see myself including it as one of my services in the future. I would however like to experiment more with illustrating for children's books, apparel lines as well as stationary products. |
| Shapes, color, concept: where do you usually begin when conceiving a design? As each project I work on is different and requires different tasks and skills, I generally take the clients concepts and ideas first and build the design around them. But, for a fresh project with no boundaries or restrictions I usually start with shapes to get the right feeling then move on to text/fonts and lastly to the proper color combination for the project to look its absolute best. |
| What are your sources for documentation and to generate ideas? I use the World Wide Web almost exclusively to mark out competitor designs for clients to ensure that I don't replicate a pre-existing design or concept idea. Its also a great source of instant inspiration when starting on a new project. |
| Which festivals or awards in your field do you find most interesting? Naturally the ones I can't financially afford to partake in!! |
| What is your favourite type of customer? One I can trust to pay me for my hard work is always appreciated and favored! Though I wouldn't say that I have an absolute favorite type, I do enjoy working with those who know what they want and how they want it, as well as provide me with as much detail and information as possible. They don't necessarily have to know anything about design, so long as they have a basic understanding of what has to be done from my end to get their project looking it's best. |
| To a certain point, is copying justifiable? It depends on the project and what is being copied. To make workflow move faster sometimes it's inevitable to take a shortcut and "copy" a pre-existing piece of work and change it to suit your design. Though depending on how extensive the copying is, legally, it can be more of a bother than what it's worth in the end, so sometimes it's best to create your own original pieces in the first place! |
| List some things you dislike seeing in design. Using scantily clad women to sell a product or service through design |
| Do you believe the newer generations are better at designing? The design industry is constantly evolving, so I don't feel that you can really compare the newer generation to those of the past. If you look at a designer from 50 or more years ago, they had a lot of work to do typesetting and freehand illustrating with a pencil/pen and paper (something that seems almost obsolete today). A simple advert could have taken them all day to design, but with all the technology and programs on the market now, we could probably do the same ad design in 15 minutes (more or less). So, I guess, I wouldn't say we're better designers, just faster! |
| With which type of client would you decline in working for? Someone I don't trust foremost. Secondly I don't think it'd be so much the client as it would be the project they are offering. |
| How do you calculate budgets for a design project? I have a set starting price and a daily rate (used independently of each other), the budget for each individual project goes up or down depending on the following factors: 1) the client and their budget 2) time involved/spent on the project 3) involvement in the project 4) extra expenses (art supplies, printing, mailing, hosting, domains, etc.) 5) any special deals, exchanges/barters/trades, price matching or other arrangements that are made between myself and the client |
| Which professionals in your field -contemporary or past- do you most admire? Advertising designers for billboards and professional magazines, some of their work is highly inspirational and jaw-dropping (not all, but most!) |
| Which software applications do you most utilize in your work? Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, Word, Acrobat, Dreamweaver and the Internet |
| Up to what point do your designs reflect your personality? I think my original digital illustration work reflects my personality more so than any of my other types of design work. I tend to design clean cut and simplistic work as I live by the rule, simple is better. |
| How do you distinguish passing fads from mainstays in new trends? I don't think there's such a thing as a mainstay anymore, everything seems to be a passing fad because there's too much commercialism in today's world. Everything evolves too frequently, inconstantly and rapidly that it's near impossible to create or design anything that has a power to last longer than a week. |
| If you weren't a designer, what would you be doing? I would more than likely take up photography full time or journalism as I generally tend to combine the two into my design works anyway! |
| At this moment, what would be your dream job or project? I pretty much am living my dream job of working from home, its just the matter of getting more recognition for my work and a steady and stronger client base to make it more successful and rewarding! |
| Can you see yourself in this field twenty years from now? I've almost been in this field for 20 years, so I'm sure I'll still be here 20 years into the future as well. |
| Which design resources online do you frequently visit? |
ILLUSTRATION
| What is your specialty in illustration? I specialize in freehand digital illustration, vector art and coloring (mostly for children's books and logos). |
| Is there a web address where we can see some of your work? All of my digital illustration/art and a few traditional pieces can be found in the portfolio section of my website at http://www.theraisak.com |
| Have you completed formal art studies, or are you self-taught? Both. I'm a graduate of a 3 year Graphic Design program that had an emphasis on traditional illustration (mixed in with modern digital renderings, etc.) and have spent some time in specialized "training" classes as a youngster. Lately, as I stretch my boundaries, I find myself learning new styles and techniques on my own (like Manga/Anime for example) |
| How similar are your current drawings to those you did as a child? I still keep my work simple in design and to some extent, especially in my children's book illustrations, they're really not that different - just more sophisticated. |
| What was your favorite comic book as a child? Scooby-Doo and Spider-Man |
| Do you have a particular style, or does it vary a lot? I live by the rule "Keep it Simple" so much of my work can be denominated to very simplistic shapes and colors, but every project and job I do is different so my styles vary depending on the project itself. |
| What is hardest to draw? I still find faces and hands the hardest to draw, but since I don't draw them on a regular basis my skills probably haven't improved much since high school. |
| What type of music do you listen to while you work? I don't generally listen to music while I work. If I did, I would be so involved in my work that I wouldn't notice it was on, unless I was interrupted by someone. |
| What do you do when a client simply says "I don't like it"? I try, try again until I create something they love as much as I do! |
| What part of your work do you do on paper and what part digitally? Depending on what type of project I'm working on depends on whether I even use traditional methods or skip straight into the digital realm. For logos that need to be illustrated from scratch, I do the initial concepts, roughs and ideas on paper first then take the ones I like the best and pen them out in Illustrator. If I'm doing a simple children's book, with not a lot of background detail, I generally start working in the digital environment, but may skip to traditional methods if I need to work out a specific look, feel or background design. |
| What research do you do for your illustrations? I generally Google whatever it is I'm about to illustrate, it helps not only get the shapes and colors right, but sometimes will offer a new form of unexpected inspiration! |
| Do you have any specific goals as an illustrator? Definitely to obtain more contract work in apparel illustration and I'd love to do more children's books (outside of the ones I do for my own kids, that is!) |
| What are you working on now? Right now, I'm working on traditional freehand illustrations to give to my Mom as Christmas presents, but am tampering with painting them in acrylics (which I don't normally do as I love my colored pencils and markers) |
| What advice do you have for someone who likes to draw and would like to make a living from it? Specialize in the area you are the best at and market that skill to no end, maybe, just maybe you'll make a decent mint at it! (it especially helps if you're the only one in your area who offers that special skill! Find something no one else offers and you'll make a decent living from it!) |
ART
| What do you do? How do you define yourself as an artist? My work as an artist tends to go hand-in-hand with my Graphic Design work. Recently I've been doing a lot of artistic work for personal projects. |
| Do you upload your work to the web? If so, where could we see it? For the most part you can see my work at http://www.theraisak.com, facebook.com, myspace.com as well as deviantart.com |
| When do you get your best ideas? Oddly when I'm doing the dishes, the only problem with that is, I don't always jot them down and forget them before they have the chance to come to life on paper. |
| How do you evaluate whether an idea is good or not? If I love the final product or not. |
| How should a work of art be evaluated? It shouldn't. Everyone sees a piece of art differently and it should always be treated as such. There should be no standards in art, it should be whatever you want it to be with no boundaries, borders, labels, etc. |
| Does it pain you to let go of a piece you have sold? If it was commissioned, I don't think I'd have a problem letting go, but if it was a piece I had crafted for myself then I probably would. |
| What types of jobs do you usually do? I usually do personal work for family and friends, though I would love to do more commission pieces for people I've never met or don't know on a personal/business level. |
| Do you personally collect any items? I used to collect lunchboxes (modern and vintage), but now that I live in my own home, they're sitting around in big boxes and I'm having a bugger of a time trying to sell them off! |
WRITING
| What did you first read? How did you begin to write? Who were the first to read what you wrote? I can't remember what I first read, but do remember my parents reading me bedtime stories (which I carry on the torch with my own kids). I started writing in public school and it carried on from there. My parents I think were always the first to read what I wrote. |
| What is your favorite genre? Can you provide a link to a site where we can read some of your work or learn something about it? Currently my most recent work can be found on my WordPress Blog at http://theraisak.wordpress.com and of course can be requested by email at any time. |
| What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write? A thought crosses my mind, generally when I'm doing something completely unrelated like washing dishes or some form or chore, then I write the thought down on a piece of scrap paper (so I don't forget it!) and then come back to it later and expand upon it. |
| What do you think are the basic ingredients of a story? Beginning, Middle and End! |
| What well known writers do you admire most? I really don't read much outside of Douglas Preston / Lincoln Child and Clive Cussler, but if I do it's generally children's storybooks (Dr. Seuss & Munsch being my favorites). |
| Deep down inside, who do you write for? Story wise, I always write for my son. Poetry wise I write mainly for myself. Journalism wise, I write my thoughts for the public. |
| Is writing a form of personal therapy? Are internal conflicts a creative force? When I was a teenager, I wrote a lot of short stories and poetry as an outlet from personal frustration, anger and so forth, now I just write (creative writing wise (stories/poetry)) for myself. |
| Does reader feed-back help you? Always, especially when I was running my own magazine, it really helped me mold and craft my art more specifically to the reader's needs instead of my own. |
| Do you participate in competitions? Have you received any awards? If they're free and seem worthy of my time and effort then yes, I do put out a few competition based pieces. I received an award in the late 90's for a poetry piece based around the loss of Brandon Lee. |
| Do you share rough drafts of your writings with someone whose opinion you trust? My parents are pretty much the only ones who see the rough drafts to any of my work, sometimes my best friend, but mostly just my parents. |
| Do you believe you have already found "your voice" or is that something one is always searching for? My works have been all over the map, but my focus (except for a short burst in early 2007) was never focused on writing itself; it was almost more of a secondary talent. But I think for someone who is focused specifically on one form of writing for a specific industry (say newspaper journalism), then they would have to define their voice early on and continue to hone their skills through experience in order to gain recognition. For more creative writers, such as myself, I think we're left to the "constantly searching" phase. |
| Do you write on a computer? Do you print frequently? Do you correct on paper? What is your process? I used to enjoy writing freehand the traditional way, but lately due to time constraints find myself typing, correcting, editing everything on my computer. |
| What sites do you frequent on-line to share experiences or information? |
| What has been your experience with publishers? For the most part I've only ever self-published, though a few of the pieces that others have published I'm very pleased with the out come. So far I've had really good luck with publishers (and editor's alike). |
| What are you working on now? I am working on a collection of poetry and short stories (fully illustrated) for my son to enjoy at bedtime. I hope to get it done by his 3rd birthday next year. |
PHOTOGRAPHY
| Do you have an online gallery where one can view your photos? The best place to view my most recent work (now including past samples) can best be viewed direction from the portfolio section of my website at http://www.theraisak.com. My work can also be found on social sites such as DeviantArt.com, Facebook.com, MySpace.com and an assortment of other portfolio based sites. |
| For how long have you done photography? How did you begin? I started getting into photography in high school (not as a school subject though, it wasn't offered at my school!) when a few of my friend's were in bands. I'd go to their shows and take pictures for them to post on their sites or press kits, etc. But, I didn't really dig into it until I took a photography class in college (where we learned the art of SLR photography mixed with digital). I got my very own SLR camera as a grad present and have been taking photos like wild fire ever since (so I'd say roughly 10-15 years). |
| What has been your education as a photographer? I'm mostly a self-taught photographer (both SLR and Digital), though I did take a photography course as part of my Design education in college. |
| Please list any awards for your work. * A digital photo Theraisa took of her son playing at Forsyth Park in Blenheim, Ontario was published in the 2008-2009 Chatham-Kent Today Calendar (2008) for the month of November 2008.
* "Grand River At Night" a digital photo Theraisa took of a sunset over the Grand River by D'Aubney Creek in Brantford, Ontario was a third place recipient of Tourism Brantford's 2008 City of Brantford Photo Contest. Theraisa received a $25 gift certificate to Henry's for her submission. |
| What is your favourite type of photography? Nature photography seems to be my more recent love, though I try to cover as many different areas and styles as possible. |
| How do you choose your subjects? Whatever catches my eye in a creative form of light |
| Do you normally photograph with a purpose already in mind, or do you let yourself go with the flow? I let inspiration, light, colors and subject matter take the direction. I find if you plan it out, it'll never go according to plan, so to avoid disheartening frustration, I just go with the flow! |
| Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Sigma, Olympus, Sony, Pentax...which do you place your bets on and why? I've used pretty much all those brands, but I'd have to say that Canon and Nikon will always be top of the line when it comes to photography and photography products. They've been associated with photography for so long its hard to consider any other brand. |
| What software and plug-ins do you use to retouch and manage your photos? I use Photoshop for all my photo editing needs |
| What measures do you take to protect your work against Internet piracy? There's really not much you can do, but I generally watermark my work, add extra info into the EXIF / meta data tags and hope for the best! |
| Do you consider yourself more technical or more artistic? A bit of both, though I still find myself mumbling "big number, small aperture, small number, big aperture when fiddling with my SLR camera! I can definitely figure out all the features of a new digital camera/camcorder and can within the matter of minutes explain to someone else how to use it. But, I also like to take artistic looking photos, or at the very least TRY to take artistic photos! |
ADVERTISING
| What is your specialty: creativity, contact, or research? My specialty is in creativity, advertising design. |
JOURNALISM
| What is your specialty? What subjects do you deal with? I specialize in music journalism, and have been for the past 12 years. I generally deal with all genres of independent music, but have been known to skip into the mainstream light from time to time. I also occasionally cover arts and entertainment. |
| In which media do you presently work or have you worked? In the past I worked primarily for myself in the online world. I was the Editor-in-Chief of Space Junkies Magazine (a free monthly online magazine dedicated to independent music, art, fashion, film and entertainment). Today however I work mostly for the print industry (magazines) still in the music and entertainment sectors. |
| Please list a web address where where one can view an example of your work. You can view my work at my portfolio and personal website at http://www.theraisak.com or you can visit The Tide (magazine I design and contribute to) at http://www.celestialwreckage.com |
| What is "news"? Any content you feel noteworthy of the public knowing and/or taking an interest in that's current and fresh (or is the "in" thing). |
| Does freedom of expression end where the editorial line begins? I'm sure in the mainstream world it does, but luckily I've only ever worked for those that believe in the "what you say, is what you read" philosophy. |
| Do you feel that analytical and investigative journalism is being lost? Not particularly, though I do believe there's more emphasis on everything that is 'bad' and not enough highlights on the good things that this planet and it's humans have to offer. |
| What is your position regarding the right to privacy of famous people? On the one hand, journalists need to survive and make money and the fastest and easiest way to do it, unfortunately is to target the "rich and famous." However, I don't think it's absolutely necessary to literally and figuratively mob a famous person to get the latest and greatest scoop or photograph. They are however human beings too. I know I wouldn't enjoy opening my front door and seeing people camped out on my front lawn with telephoto lenses pointed at all my windows or shoving tape recorders and microphones in my face. That's just ridiculous and uncalled for. |
| Will the paper press disappear? Eventually I think it will, unless there comes a point where it costs more to read a subscription online than it does to read it in print. |
| What are your thoughts of the free papers distributed in cities? Personally, I've always loved free papers, and are pretty much the only ones I used to read. I think if the printing world wants to survive, they're going to have to start releasing more of them in the future! |
PROGRAMMING
| How did you begin programming and at what age? I started hand coding HTML when I was 15, I felt it was the easiest way to get to know how the code behind the design works. I still on occasion hand code, but it's much easier with programs that do all the generating for you! |
PERSONALITY
| Which actor would you like to be? One that has a firm head on his/her shoulders; knows his/her limits when it comes to excessive behavior including drinking/drugs/partying/etc. |
| If you were sent to a deserted island, which book, CD and film would you take with you? Book: probably Thunderhead by Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child; CD: Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP and film probably the LOTR trilogy as it's long enough to keep me entertained for a few days! |
| In moments of tension, what techniques work in calming the mind? Picking up my camera and going outside for a bout of what I'd like to call "backyard photography" or putting the work away for a few hours to play with my kids generally helps clear my mind |
| How do you respond to telemarketing calls? If my phone doesn't state a number I recognize, I simply don't answer it! |
| It is 5 pm on a typical Sunday: what are you doing? Working |
| Something in which you are completely incompetent. Anything mathematical! Me and formulated numbers just do not mix well! |
| Of what are you an addict? Facebook! Who isn't? |
| You have nine wins in a row in a game of roulette: do you continue because you are on a good run, or abandon the game because statistically, it is your turn to lose? More than likely I'd abandon the game; but I'd always be curious to know how far I could have gone if I had stayed in the game! |
| What toy gave you the best moments of your childhood? Hum... I would have to say my stuffed rabbit aptly named "Bunny" or possibly a stuffed beagle named for my favorite child's book "Barney Beagle" - apparently neither of which I could sleep without! |
| What was your favourite primary/secondary school teacher like? Primary was my Kindergarten teacher Mrs Crackle; as she always had a way to keep all us rascals under control without loosing her cool; also Mrs. Lesy as she was extraordinarily kind and caring towards everyone and anyone including the "bad kids" (which I wasn't one of). Secondary School, Mrs Ross she was my art teacher for countless years and helped me explore all sorts of different avenues of artsy creativity. |
| How did you meet your current boy/girlfriend? 9 years ago this coming Halloween! He was a friend of my then roommate and it just blossomed from there. |
| What was your first vehicle? A Ford '93 Taurus Wagon, baby blue and I LOVED that wagon; if it hadn't of blown a gasket I'd probably still be driving it. It might even be ironic that the 2nd car I had was a '94 Taurus Wagon but in tan and for some reason it just wasn't the same! |
| Your New Year resolutions. Lose 50lbs by years end, cut back on drinking pop/junk food, pay more attention to family/friends and get out of the house more! |
| Does knowing someone's zodiac sign help you to better understand that person? Generally, yes! |
IDEAS
| Did God create the world in seven days, or do you believe in the theory of evolution? Neither. I have no idea how we got here or why we are here, but we are, so I plan on enjoying it while I can! |
| To what percentage do you believe in statistics? 0% |
| Do you believe many illnesses can be caused by the mind? Yes |
| Do you believe it is true that humans only use 10% of their brain capacity? Sometimes it seems like a lot less! |
| Does brand name influence your buying habits? Yes; especially when it comes to things concerning my kids. Stuff for me, unless it's something like Tylenol, brand really doesn't have much effect (the price of the product does). But, when my kids are involved, they generally don't get anything but the best, unless the price is outrageous! |
| Are there too many holidays in the work calendar? No, I think for anyone that works a hard job more than 10hours a day should get a week off every month |
| 
1060 visits Whohub
Theraisa K
Brantford, Ontario, Canada
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95745 interviews created
![[theraisak] Theraisa K](http://www.whohub.com/_pics/3057.jpg?1337675806)
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