E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 57 - Episode 57 Not So Demanding Client A vs. Rookie
Chapter 57: Episode 57 “Not So Demanding” Client A vs. Rookie Party B Part 4
Chapter 57: Episode 57 “Not So Demanding” Client A vs. Rookie Party B Part 4
Zhou Xueyin’s request indeed posed a dilemma for Ya Rui. The magazine couldn’t wait to be released, but she didn’t want to give up on this easily attained bonus…
“If it’s about making a small magazine-style booklet like the supplement, I’m afraid there’s not enough time. But if it’s just a supermarket promotional page, then there shouldn’t be any problem!” Ya Rui thought of a compromise.
“Huh? A supermarket promotional page… wouldn’t that be too degrading?” Zhou Xueyin wasn’t quite satisfied with Ya Rui’s idea.
“Printed on coated paper, it won’t look cheap. Otherwise, our magazine’s reputation would be on the line, wouldn’t it?” Ya Rui quickly explained.
“Sis Rui, how about this…” Since they were willing to use coated paper, Zhou Xueyin had a sudden inspiration, “Let’s give away Christmas cards! Open the card, and there’s a Christmas tree inside, with introductions to the main products for this issue. It could also echo the theme of our online event!”
“That’s not a bad idea, but I don’t know if the art assistant can pull it off,” Ya Rui said, sounding unsure.
“Let’s try it. I’ll have our Shanbao draft an overall design, and if it doesn’t work out, we’ll work on it together?” Zhou Xueyin was quite straightforward, already arranging tasks for the other party.
“Fine, then please hurry up with the draft on your side!” After Ya Rui hung up the phone, she assigned the task to the graphic design assistant.
However, the graphic design assistant didn’t grasp what a three-dimensional card was and just cluelessly accepted the task.
Luckily, there were still nearly 20 days until the magazine was due to be released, enough time to produce a first draft.
Despite Yao Shanshan’s usual procrastination with tasks, when money was involved, she worked incredibly fast. She finished the initial draft of the Christmas tree in just one afternoon and sent it to Zhou Xueyin.
The next day, Santa Claus riding his sleigh was also ready.
Upon receiving the images, Zhou Xueyin confirmed them online with Luo Jing.
The response was that these two images fit the Christmas spirit perfectly and asked them to please take care of the animation part as well!
With the positive feedback, Yao Shanshan continued refining the Christmas tree and the sleigh.
Kang Siyin browsed online flash tutorials while flipping through a book on web essentials she had bought, performing tests on the software, but the progress was not promising.
Three days later, Zhou Xueyin received a proposal from Ya Rui’s graphic design assistant.
Upon opening it, she almost spat her Coke onto the screen.
It was very likely that the art assistant hadn’t ever seen a Christmas tree before. It was simply a fir tree randomly found online with the client’s jewelry materials pasted on it, without even bothering to match the colors.
Zhou Xueyin called the other three over to witness the art assistant’s masterpiece, and they all agreed: If this level of design could earn 80,000 yuan, then the print media market deserved to be phased out!
When Zhou Xueyin called Ya Rui, before she could even ask a question, Ya Rui began to apologize, “Yinyin, I’m really sorry, our assistant’s skills are limited… This was the best version he showed me out of several…”
“Sis Rui, if he really goes through with this, we can’t use it at all. How about this? I’ll send over the Christmas tree Yao Shanshan has drawn, and he can add some brushstroke texture to the jewelry sent over by Luo Jing and paste it on. Do you think that would work?” Zhou Xueyin had given up on expecting the main part to be done well; at the very least, they should be able to handle the details, right?
“That shouldn’t be a problem!” Based on Ya Rui’s understanding of the graphic design assistant, this minor task should still be within his capacity.
“Xiaochen, I’ll send you the Christmas tree drawn by someone else shortly, then you paste the jewelry materials on it and add some brushstrokes,” Ya Rui instructed Xiaochen after hanging up the phone.
“Uh… Sis Rui, what does ‘brushstroke’ mean?” Xiaochen looked at Ya Rui, puzzled.
Ya Rui was taken aback, wondering if he really understood art—how could he not know what a brushstroke was? Or was this another case of an inflated resume?
“The impression of brush marks… it’s like the item looks painted, not a real object! Does that make sense?” Ya Rui tried to explain briefly.
“Oh! Just a couple of strokes, huh. I got this!” Xiaochen said with a naive smile and got down to work.
10 minutes later, Ya Rui received the edited image he had done…
Not sure if he misunderstood what he had just been told, but the screen was covered with huge black lines, and the main subject was no longer visible.
“Xiaochen, I asked you to add some brush strokes to the jewelry, not to the whole image!” Ya Rui explained the task with more detail.
Another 10 minutes passed, and Xiaochen sent Ya Rui a message: ‘Would you mind sending me the image and the jewelry again? I merged the layers.’
Ya Rui had no choice but to resend the images and the jewelry picture to Xiaochen.
Half an hour later, Xiaochen sent over the edited image: Somehow he had turned what was originally a green Christmas tree into a blackish-green color, nearly indistinguishable from black, with some brush strokes on the jewelry, but they looked terribly dirty.
The most annoying part was that he had found some Starlight Brush from who-knows-where and covered the entire image with a blingbling effect.
“Xiaochen!” Ya Rui called him over again, “Why is the Christmas tree so dark? What did you do? The brush strokes are there, yes, but with such a dirty effect, do you think anyone would buy it? And what’s with these sparkling crosses?”
“Oh! I might have changed the layer to ‘Multiply’… The sparkling crosses, aren’t they to make the jewelry shine bright…” Xiaochen argued defensively.
“Change it…” Ya Rui massaged his temples, pointing to the office door.
“So, Boss Ya… Could you send me the image one more time…” There was that simple-minded smile again.
It turns out he had been merging the layers every time he edited an image…
“Chen Musheng… Can you not merge the layers until I confirm that no more changes are needed?” Ya Rui said in resignation.
“Oh… Ok…” Whether it was because no one had taught him or he just couldn’t help himself, he went on to make ten or eight more changes, still thoughtlessly merging the layers every single time.
Two days later, Ya Rui received what seemed to be the final version of the image, which apparently needed no further edits, and sent it to Zhou Xueyin.
Without looking closely, Zhou Xueyin forwarded the image to Luo Jing.
Soon after, Luo Jing called: “Hey, little sister, what is this thing you sent me? This color, when printed, I’m telling you, it’s hideously ugly! Change it again, will you!”
Hearing this from Luo Jing, Zhou Xueyin quickly opened the image. The Christmas tree was not the color Shanshan had painted before, and even the jewelry had turned green? What was going on?
She hurriedly apologized: “I’m so sorry, we’ll change it again!”
“As soon as possible, okay? And hey, about that flash animation you mentioned, when will it be ready?” Luo Jing was more concerned about the online event.
“It’s coming soon! Probably…” Zhou Xueyin looked up at Kang Siyin and mouthed the question, how many days ok?
Seeing Zhou Xueyin’s plea for help, Kang Siyin held up three fingers.
“We’ll send it to you in three days, is that alright?”
“Sure thing, sure thing! I’m counting on you guys!”
After hanging up with Luo Jing, Zhou Xueyin then called Ya Rui, relayed Luo Jing’s feedback, and hoped she could quickly correct the colors.
Everyone was so busy that they completely forgot Yao Shanshan’s birthday…
