Author: randie.hov

Will That Photo Get You Fined?

umbc social media collaboration summit
| randie.hov

UMBCWhile I found all of the seminars at the #UMBCSocial social media summit to be highly valuable, the Will That Photo Get You Fined? class led by UMBC Communications Director Dinah Winnick really taught me a lot. This important topic is relevant to everyone that posts and shares media online.

For example, as a member of the marketing department at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG), the majority of promotional images that we use can be traced back to our team. Thus, it is important to make sure all of the images we use are correctly attributed. Here is what I learned from Dinah:

>> The Best Places to Get Your Photos:
1. Take your own or buy stock.
2. Use pictures provided by university photographers.
3. Search for photos from government websites.
4. Use photos with creative commons licensing.
5. Explore collections with unrestricted use.

>> How to Organize Photo Archives
This was an issue that I openly asked the class about. USG’s photo library is a lot for one person to manage, and we currently don’t have a tagging system in place. Here were the suggestions I received from representatives of various campuses throughout Maryland:

1. Maintain a private Flickr.com profile as well as a public one.
2. Photoshelter.com
3. Webdam.com

>> How to Protect Yourself and the Work of Others
1. Always include attribution, even if the photo is free. Here’s an example:

randie hovatter bread

Creative commons image courtesy of Randie Hovatter.

2. For campus photo contests, permission is required to share user-generated imagery. An easy way to obtain permission is to provide a link to terms and conditions in the contest guidelines. Include a phrase such as: By submitting creative work, you agree with our [Terms and Conditions].

3. At large campus events which may be photographed or recorded on video, post a notice on the event program or provide a special sticker that people can place on their name tag to avoid being filmed.

For coverage of other topics that I learned about at #UMBCSocial, follow these links:

>> Engaging Commuter Students with Social Media
>> College Facebook and Twitter #FTW

Upcycled GoPro Dog Mount

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Shelby is all set to record the adventure.

Today work was closed due to inclement weather (although others weren’t so lucky) and I made the most of our snow day by creating a GoPro mount and taking the dogs out in the snow. Thank you parents for the awesome Christmas gift!

Hipsters and HGTV like to talk a lot about upcycling as a way of repurposing materials to make something beautiful. I decided to make a GoPro dog mount; in my case, upcycled means “items fished out of the recycle bin and taped together on a dog.” This entire project gave me something fun to do on a snow day and cost nothing. Maybe you can learn something from my trial and error and create something even better!

For this project, I made use of the following found materials from the recycling and my mess of a desk:

  • GoPro or similar snow-proof camera
  • egg carton
  • yarn or string
  • yarn needle
  • tape and scissors
  • sticky old Starbucks cup that says “Heather” on it (or any sturdy plastic cup)
  • dog harness and leash
  • a participant (here I used my roommate’s dog, Shelby)
Random found materials from my desk and the recycling bin.
The rubber bands hold the GoPro on to the mount.
This is what I came up with. Pretty good for a freebie.
Shelby is all set to record the adventure.

I poked some holes in the bottom of the Starbucks cup, sewed the rubber bands to it, and then taped it to the egg carton. I reinforced the cup and egg carton with some more yarn. I then used two more rubber bands to attach the carton to Shelby’s harness. In the future I’ll have to find a better way to attach the carton to the harness since it kept leaning forward. You will see a lot of the back of Shelby’s head in the video but it’s not bad for a first run!

And, after a little bit of toying in iMovie, voila! The finished product. Try to ignore my big head in the first few seconds, I left it in because I wanted to include the other dog, Riley. 😀

 

USG Recruitment Folder

Universities-at-Shady-Grove
| randie.hov

USG-RecruitmentMy biggest design project of the Fall semester at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) was definitely our new recruitment folder. Our marketing team needed to cram as much information into this piece as possible, since USG is a unique campus and also fairly new. As a result, a lot of locals don’t realize that they can earn a bachelor’s degree without leaving Montgomery County. Hopefully they will now!

Here is my shameless plug of the day: USG offers programs from nine Maryland public universities on one campus. The list of schools includes:

• Bowie State University
• Salisbury University
• Towson University
• University of Baltimore
• University of Maryland, Baltimore
• UMBC
• University of Maryland, College Park
• University of Maryland, Eastern Shore
• UMUC

Want to become an Registered Nurse or Pharmacist without driving to Baltimore for class every day? Boom, we have it. Want to major in Hospitality and Tourism Management without relocating to the Eastern Shore? We have that too. There is no such thing as a degree from USG; when you finish your program, you receive your diploma from your home campus (SU, UMD, UMES, et cetera).

Another point that we took special care to emphasize in the folder is that much like you would find on a traditional campus, USG offers a library, gym, bookstore, café and an Office of Student Services. The only thing we are missing are the dormitories. A pretty big perk of working here is that they are paying for me to earn my M.S. in Marketing Management from UMUC. USG makes higher education accessible for a lot of people, myself included.

The bottom line is: If you want to earn a bachelor’s degree at a beautiful campus with free parking while still getting to live at home and eat your parents’ food, then you should visit USG’s Academics page and check out the USG Recruitment Twitter feed.

Click on any of the tiles below to view close-up images of the recruitment folder.

USG Recruitment Folder
Outside of Folder
Inside of Folder
Rounded Die-Cut Cover

Ode to Grumpy Cat

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Starting my master’s degree this year has turned me into a frequently fatigued juggler of tasks, but sometimes I still design things just for fun. I drew this in Adobe Illustrator last summer after I was simultaneously inspired by Grumpy Cat and a solar-powered, paw waving, Good Luck Cat that I picked up in Chinatown.

I spent five hours doing stats homework today; I needed to express myself somehow.

Good Luck Grumpy Cat

Happening Right Now

apple zombie apocalypse
Image | | randie.hov

Attention Montgomery Countyites: Drop your golf clubs and go to Dogfish Head Alehouse in Gaithersburg right now! One of my favorite student organizations at the Universities at Shady Grove, Campus Kitchens, is hosting an all-day fundraiser with food, fun, games and prizes. All money raised will be used to aid the club in their mission to eliminate food waste and prepare nutritious meals for those struggling with food insecurity in Montgomery County.

To enhance your enjoyment of the delicious culinary offerings of Dogfish Head Alehouse, you may enter a raffle to win tickets to ABC’s The Chew, purchase a seasonally appropriate dayglow shirt that I designed using a brand-new illustration from Dogfish Head artist Andy Butterman, or enter a zombie trivia drawing for the chance to win free raffle tickets for the aforementioned prizes.

Have a heart and take a bite out of hunger; celebrate the Apple Zombie Apocalypse with Campus Kitchens.

Ninjas Always Get the Last Slice

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Urban Evolution Vocelli Pizza Manassas Ad

If you live in Manassas, Virginia and order delivery from Vocelli Pizza, keep an eye out for this coupon to the best gym on the planet, Urban Evolution!

Salil and Malikah Maniktahla from UE are two of my favorite and most creative freelance clients, and their gym concept is truly unique. In addition to the Manassas location, they have brand new facilities in Alexandria and Baltimore. If you are looking for trainers that can give you cat-like reflexes and a Dragonball Z-esque physique, this is the gym for you.

Vocelli Pizza Urban Evolution Flyer

Manassas Vocelli Pizza Urban Evolution Ad

Manassas Vocelli Pizza Urban Evolution Ad

Flooding at Lake Needwood

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Yesterday Marc and I must have had some kind of fitness bug up our butts because we ended up on a 12 hour exercise bender. We did a 5k walk/jog at the PG County Arthritis Walk early in the morning, weeded my front yard, and didn’t even go back in the house before we decided to go for a bike ride with his dad. We did somewhere between 15 and 20 miles from Wheaton to Lake Needwood and back on the Rock Creek Bike Trail. I don’t know what lake Needwood usually looks like, but there was some serious flooding there yesterday as a result of the high precipitation we had earlier this week, so I took a few photos.

I really enjoyed the trail and the weather, although sometimes it was tough to get my heavy bicycle up some of the steeper inclines of the trail. At times I had to get off and push, which really worked the glutes. Hopefully the park will dry out soon so that we can go back and use the paddleboats!

Olympians of the Arthritis Walk
Seriously, how do I get to the paddleboats?!?
Even the geese are confused about what is happening here.
Maybe they just need to open the door and let it air out in there.
Relaxing at Lake Needwood
Smokey’s unemployed cousin
A blurry action photo I took while riding.

The Shrine of Kermit

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Those of us that live near the University of Maryland, College Park realize the cultural significance of Muppets more than most people. However, this is truly a piece of next-level fandom. In a secluded spot near the bike trail in a nearby neighborhood, someone took the time to create this chainsaw sculpture of Kermit the Frog, complete with a little chair where one can sit and admire him.

Interestingly the little chair is a trap, made of multiple small pieces of scrap wood that fall apart when sat on. I want to know who created this installation so I can commend them on their sculptural expertise, relevant choice of subject matter, AND sharp sense of physical comedy.