Himmelstein Web Project

A request came to me from S Himmelstein & Co for a new “above the fold” webpage design—art for the opening frame, but not the navigation.

I created an animated GIF and an MP4 as a rough first draft for them. I’m feeling out if this is something they are interested in, or if they prefer to have a static image.

I fully expect this to change, but as rough drafts go, I’m pretty happy.

This is certainly artwork that would have to be placed within a website because it is missing branding and basic contact information.

Animated GIF showing S Himmelstein's products in a slideshow. Text reads "World's Best Torque Sensors Since 1960" and photos are captioned with "Torque ranges from 10 oof-in to 4,000,000 dbf-in".
The animated GIF (702 Kb) has all the elements but lacks the smooth transitions of the…
MP4 (7.7 Mb)

S Himmelstein & Co

Inset product photos provided by, and property of, S Himmelstein & Co.

Update to story: Word came back that a still image was preferred, so I sent 3 versions…waiting to hear about modifications.

To see other MP4s created from Photoshop please visit my Commissioned Art page.

Recent Work for Off The Pews

Off The Pews: Faith In Action (OTP) Virtual Winter Program started in February. As OTP’s website administrator, I sat in on the first five classes in order to take screen captures initially to be used in blog posts on OTP website. Eventually, they were used for a video compilation showing the kids’ work. More about that later. Chloe Anne Kelly from the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) presented the art sessions.

This program was a collaborative effort involving the staff of OTP, HPAC, and the Sunshine Gospel Ministries in Chicago, IL. Donnell Williams from Sunshine Gospel Ministries organized three ShopTalk sessions that followed the art classes, and this Saturday will be the final meeting and celebration of completion.

Sitting in on the collage classes and using fun techniques to address a new theme each week was not a hardship because artwork is one of my favorite things. Julie Andrews twirling in a field just popped into my head—fun.

Frame showing Michael's and Mikiah's collages.

I was putting together the spring newsletter and inserted a featured photo. At that moment I discovered I could insert a video.

A new project was born! I created this video compilation in Photoshop and output it for YouTube so I could share it as the featured art in the Off The Pews Newsletter, Spring Edition. It contains the screen captures showing the participants’ work as well as a few photos they emailed to share their work.

NMP Services included in this project:

  • Website administration for OTP
    • published supporting blog posts
  • Newsletter production
    • scheduling
    • content creation
    • soliciting stakeholders for additional content
    • distribution
    • contact list maintenance
  • Photo editing
    • color and brightness correction
    • cropping
  • Video assembly and output using Photoshop

Contact NMP to discuss services that may be of interest to you for upcoming projects.

Perfect Time for a Custom Career Guide

We are approaching one year of dealing with the new work situation in a time of pandemic. If you are a career services professional, you have likely been working remotely with the students you advise. How is it going for you?

Photo: Clock superimposed over sample custom Career Guide publishing agreement. This is the perfect time to get started on CG planning!

I’ve been in enough Zoom meetings to know they are a life saver for safe face-to-face conversations in our current circumstances. I also know it can be hard to nail down a convenient time to meet, and once engaged, the meeting is a limited time to work together before both parties become fatigued.

A custom Career Guide would be something you could write once and distribute universally. You’ve already written a lot of the material—check your “sent” email box.

How About a Custom PDF?

A PDF is static content with a fixed message that you create. NMP can design your content into something more than a long document of text, and provide an Accessible PDF.

NACE research (see “Insight Into Student Use of Mobile, Other Tech in the Recruiting Process,” by Kevin Gray, January 25, 2021) shows students are engaging in their job application process via laptops instead of cell phones. The Adobe analytics NMP provides clients show heavier interaction on laptops than via mobile devices.

There are many ways to interact with an online edition, and certainly a mobile solution allows more frequent interaction. For example, you can reread that article on networking when you have five minutes on a train ride.

However, most job applicants require an hour or two of concentration at a computer when it comes to identifying the key words in a job description, and updating a resume to reflect their specific experience in those terms; writing a cover letter after researching a specific HR person’s information; emailing the application or filling out the online form; filing all pertinent information; and finally, recording the contact in a spreadsheet in order to keep 200+ applications organized.

Completing this concentrated work with a reference by your side or in a browser window can make life a little easier.

Varieties of Custom Career Guides

  • The perfect textbook for a course on career planning. It is written by you addressing your students’ challenges. NMP has an article library for you to use as a starting point for your content.
  • A workbook to accompany advising sessions. Have a student answer some basic questions and email you the results before you meet so your Zoom session is devoted to the specifics. NMP can output a separate PDF and convert it to a fillable form.
  • A specialty guide can address the intricate application requirements, and educational and experiential details required by a particular field—law, medicine, or engineering. NMP looks forward to hearing what you’d like to accomplish.

Contact NMP to explore creating your own custom Career Guide.

NMP in NACE Journal

If you are a NACE member, please check out the Nan Mellem Publishing ad on page 25 of the November 2020 NACE Journal.

Are you developing a full publication? Do you just need an extra pair of eyes to review a project before you publish? Either way, NMP offers a solution to suit your needs.

This is a great time of year to explore projects and collaborations. Contact NMP to put a plan in place for 2021.

The 2020 Publishing Season in Review

As we look at the publishing year in review, we are pleased to note NMP embraced adaptation in this year’s publishing cycle. New recruiting practices led to new articles. Final products were adapted to suit the virtual learning environment. We accomplished all of this as we also adapted to a new way of life. As a result, we hereby dub “adaptability” as the NMP Keyword of 2020.

A combination of print and online production were the focus of January and February’s conversations. With the March arrival of COVID-19, our conversations shifted to online-only production. The change to online-only opened up flexibility in book lengths, color options, and other considerations.

NMP added a publishing partner in BlueToad. This change made new online editions available for NMP clients.

We had production adventures along the way. Adventures that started with the words, “Can we…” always took us in interesting directions. New articles were written on the fly to address the rapidly changing recruitment practices demanded by COVID-19 and an increasingly virtual world.

As this post goes live, there are a few follow-up projects underway. Still, it is safe to say the season was a success! Visit the Recent Works page to view the online editions of the Guides published this year.

It was a real pleasure working with all of these schools. Have a great and safe school year!

Please reach out if you’ve considered creating a custom publication for your office and you’d like to explore the idea in more detail. You can follow Nan Mellem Publishing on LinkedIn. You’ll find Nan’s profile there too!

A Career Guide for 2020

NMP has released A Career Guide for 2020 with articles from the NMP library edited for the special circumstances job seekers face during the pandemic crisis. We hope you will find this Guide useful and share it.

Article titles include “Virtual Career Fairs,” “Career Planning Checklist,” and “How to Prepare for Video Interviews” to name a few.

Cover of A Career Guide for 2020 by Nan Mellem Publishing.
Click to view the Guide.

We’ve joined in a great new partnership with BlueToad for a digital edition of A Career Guide for 2020 offering multiple reading options. Page view allows you to read the book in a flip book, representational layout as the Guide was designed. Select content view to transform the Guide into to a fully responsive publication easily accessible across multiple devices.

Please contact NMP for help with your own print or digital publication.

Career Guide Planning Time

The new year is well under way, and it is the right time of year for campus career centers to be planning their guides for the fall semester.

It is time to set up your publishing calendar!

Did You Know?

Your career guide publisher will plan your production schedule working backward from your preferred delivery date.

Contact Nan today to discuss updating an existing guide, creating a new guide, or any other publishing needs you may have.

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