My name is Daniel Petrie, I am a graphic designer with three years of experience in graphic design; being a certified visual professional. For the earlier parts of my life, I lived in Butler County PA where I would live for seven years and then later moved to Latrobe PA from the age of 8 to now. To begin with what I am like as a person, I am competitive and have the desire to beat out my competitors; because of that, I always try my hardest to do my best and to get better at what I can already do. I was not always interested in Graphic design though. My dad is the reason I have an interest in graphic design, as he had extra copies of the program that he was able to put onto my computer at the time. My dad giving me the program is what sparked my interest in joining a design class.  

The world of print and design is not an easy job to have. One example that I can think of where I was having trouble with printing was when I had to make a Christmas gift for my dad. It was a sweatshirt with his business name and logo printed out on vinyl, when making the sweatshirt though, the black lettering never stuck completely to the sweatshirt and caused some problems. Without thinking I got straight to work on fixing the Vinyl and printed out the black letters again, getting it on the sweatshirt perfectly. During that day I faced several problems which included deadline stress, as at the time I only had about 10 minutes left until the day ended; and material management, as a waste of vinyl was made. Even though I was having trouble on that project, I was still trying to be professional in making it happen. I feel professionalism in this field means to be quick while keeping a high-quality output with no mistakes, just because you cannot fit that description, that does not mean you cannot try your hardest on your work. 

When I was going from 9th to 10th grade, I was given the option of going to the EWCTC to take an intro class to almost any career. Because I was already influenced by my dad and my own interest, I chose Graphic Communications. Much of my interest also deals with the working conditions I observed from my dad. I feel like the Ideal position as a Graphic designer is one that is a sole proprietor and freelance designer, for me at least. To get into the ideal position as a graphic designer, as well as being a graphic designer in general, you are going to need a computer. It may sound hard, but I was able to make my pc at the age of fourteen by selling nothing but golf balls. I do consider it my greatest achievement, as I built it at an early age with limited money. 

I believe that some of the most important skills I have in the field are being able to take well composed photos, being able to design professional logos, having a good sense for detailing, and being able to construct balance; however, even having these skills can challenge me as a designer. One project that comes to mind is our classes polygonal projects, as it is hard to keep detail and easy to disrupt balance within the design. That is why I believe that along with working on your weaknesses you also need to challenge your strengths too. 

As a person I describe myself as An Assertive person who is laid back and relaxed but will stand up for myself and others when the situation calls for it. I have fun working with adobe software and have never had problems with designing over long hours, I’m always willing to learn to introduce new skills to my current set of skills, I always stand by my work while taking pride in the work I have done, and I’m always able to accept criticism whether it is personal or professional. Overall, my career goal is to become an excellent designer that can help multiple businesses get started up at a reasonable price.