Cartoonist: Working with Chaise Payan

We have been working with cartoonist Chaise Payan for a while now, he has created many colorful, creative and fun cartoons for us, many of which are featured on Blueprint Bluepers. Working with a cartoonist is interesting, especially considering he has to take our ideas and real construction document errors and turn them into art. This is one of the first so-called "professional" contracts this young artist has had, it has been a unique experience for him to migrate from creating art that he wants to do, to creating art that a client wants. But he has met the challenge and is doing a great job, we really like working with him.

Here are some thoughts from the President, Natalie Nigro, about working with Chaise.

1 – His attention to detail is amazing. Not only that, there is almost always fun stuff hiding in his cartoons, for example look more closely at “I Heart F...” in the cartoon "Dead End Exit," the text wraps around the mug out of view, we keep wondering what word the F starts?

2 – He always comes up with stuff that we would never expect or be able to think up ourselves… but his cartoon ideas are always fabulous! All we have to do is give him the gist of an idea, brainstorm with it a bit, and he runs with it. He knows us and what we like and then comes up with highly creative, wonderful pieces.

To turn the tables, when we asked Chaise what it was like to work with the Nigro Firm he said, "One thing I find interesting in creating images is how people react to them, so it's nice to work directly with a team of people that are responsive to what I'm making."

We have four new cartoons coming up, here is a sneak preview of one that we are getting ready to publish.

We haven't come up with the text yet, but we can't help but compare this cartoon beagle to real canine behavior.



Someone even created a porcelain replica of a beagle enjoying a doggie "water fountain."

Well, come back soon and visit Blueprint Bluepers to see our great cartoons created by Chaise.

About the Nigro Firm: Working with Natalie Nigro

It may sound cliche, but we all know that a company is only as good as its' people.

So in order for you to get to know us a little better, from the inside out, I am going to tell you about the inner core of the Nigro Firm. I am going to tell you a little about Natalie Nigro our President. And not the kind of stuff you typically see in a resume or a company portfolio, I am going to tell you a little about her, what she likes and dislikes and what it is like to meet her.

First Meeting
When I first met Natalie Nigro, I was coming in to talk to her because I heard from a friend that they were looking for someone to help out in the office. I think I actually met Natalie and Shirley, her mother and partner, on a Saturday afternoon, to accommodate my work schedule at the time. My first impression was that she was cheery, personable and curious about me, how I worked and how I thought. It turned out that I did not fit the position she was looking for, but she thought she could fit me into the company in a different capacity. She asked me when I could start and I said, "Right now." And she took me up on it. Our first project, believe it or not, was to install an office corner desk. A few seconds into the project I already figured out how Natalie and Shirley work together, how their different talents and strengths could be focused into a single project. Shirley was working the tools and lying under the desk taking care of the "infrastructure" so to speak and Natalie had the level out ensuring "quality control." As soon as I saw Natalie pull the level out and REALLY use it, I knew what kind of lady I was going to be working with.

Personality Traits
Natalie is a dynamic and intelligent woman, but here are a few of the highlights:

• She is a list maker and actually completes her tasks.


• She is a researcher... she never starts a new endeavor without knowing what she is getting into.


• She has a big brain... she can understand complex topics, mathematics, physics and tedious procedures.


• She rarely gets angry, but if she does, she has a really good reason.


• She is a good communicator and knows how to handle delicate or stressful topics without stressing out who she is talking to.


• She is extremely flexible, except when it comes to deadlines.


• She is always willing to lend a helping hand, which is why she has to get out of the office from time to time, otherwise she would never stop helping reviewers.
  

Things she likes (not work related):

• World of Warcraft (WOW)... she would play all night if she could.
  
• Beagles and cute kitties or any stray that needs a home.


• Raw, vegan, vegetarian and organic food, though if she has to cook, pizza delivered is good enough.


• Collectible swords, shields and medieval weapons... she even has a spear in her office.


• American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.


• Dog training and organic pet diets... she makes the beagles' dog food every day, no store bought bags of dog food for them.
  

Things she does not like (not work related):

• Yard work, mowing lawns or snow removal... if on her own she would have a condo.


• Heavy metal or hard rock and roll... Barbra Streisand and Abba suit her fine.


• Spicy food... mild is her version of "hot and spicy."


• Uncomfortable clothes... no high heels or business dress for her, unless she absolutely must.


• Mornings... though she does often work in the early hours of the morning, she would rather work at the crack of noon.

Well, now you know a little about Natalie Nigro. So next time you call her up to plan a coordination review you can ask her how the beagles are and how late she stayed up the night before playing WOW.

And if you want to read a little about her in a professional sense see, The Nigro Firm's President Natalie Nigro.

Or check out, Who answers the phones at the Nigro Firm.

You are also always welcome to just give her a call, she will tell you all about construction document coordination reviews.

Authored by:
Pamela S. Stevens, Content Development and Writer

Top 10 Ways to Save Money in Construction Costs in 2009 (Not Really)

We like to have fun every now and then and inject humor into our sites, as the new year approaches we have created our top ten ways to save money in your constructions costs and the cost of running your company in 2009...not really, meaning really DON'T follow these tips, they are just for fun.

Top Ten Ways to Save Money for Construction Companies in 2009...Not Really

10. Require all offices to run the coffee maker TWICE per each load of coffee grounds and reuse the filter.

9. Replace all toilet rolls with single ply paper and only allow each employee to use one square per visit.

8. Save costs on gas by only working on projects downhill from the construction supply center.

7. Reduce the number of porta-potties on site and supply a bucket for overflow.

6. Instead of providing a weekly box of donuts just buy a single bag of M&Ms and give out one to each person.

5. Cover worn tread on work truck tires with duct tape, duct tape fixes everything right?

4. Use error ridden construction drawings to line the inside of worn out work boots to keep your crews feet warm and dry.

3. Replace all company cell phones with two cans and a string or pagers recovered from 1989.

2. Go back to dial-up, it will slow down your Internet service to the point that your employees will get frustrated with trying to shop on Amazon or check their MySpace and will actually get bored enough to ...work.

1. Call us...seriously, no kidding, joking aside we can save you tons of money. Give us a call.

New Construction Cartoon: Seasons Greetings from the Nigro Firm

We here at the Nigro Firm wish you a
happy holiday and a PROSPEROUS and busy New Year!

The above holiday cartoon is the newest cartoon on our construction humor site, Blueprint Bluepers. It was not inspired from an actual construction drawing error, though we have seen toilets placed in showers and in the middle of a waiting room...so we didn't think this was pushing it.

Coming up with the "one-liners" used in our cartoon is always fun, here are the runner ups:

• Santa may be in a hurry… but this is pushing multi-tasking a little too far.
• A simple porta-potty on the roof would have sufficed.
• Just because the economy seems to be tanking, no reason to flush Santa down with it.
• Unfortunately, Santa’s amazing fireplace skills cannot compete with the Tidy Bowl man.
• Whoever left the lid up is getting coal in their stocking.
• Santa suddenly realizes why the chimney stack looked surprisingly similar to a roof vent.

If you would like to avoid these kind of silly construction errors, please give us a call, we would love to review your drawings so you don't run into any of these "humorous" and expensive errors onsite.

Construction Cartoons: Blueprint Bluepers Newest Cartoon

This year we had our artist, Chaise Payan create a Thanksgiving construction cartoon just for us. You can see this cartoon and others on our construction humor site, Blueprint Bluepers.


A thanksgiving note from our president, Natalie Nigro:
It's Thanksgiving time and we are thankful to have had the opportunity to help cities, universities, hospitals, developers, etc. to save time and money on their construction projects! We are looking forward to continuing our rewarding service into the future. We thoroughly enjoy performing construction document coordination reviews for commercial and governmental projects. Best wishes to all.

New Construction Humor
We also posted some new construction humor on Blueprint Bluepers, including some interesting definitions for a few architectural terms, including sexfoil, ever wondered exactly what that is?

Construction Cartoons: Our Featured Artist Chaise Payan

Our site Blueprint Bluepers features the art of Chaise Payan. He creates original construction cartoons especially for our company based on errors actually found in construction drawings that we have reviewed. We have had a great time helping him develop humorous drawings for us.

However, he does more than just what you have seen on our sites. Here is a peak into his sketchbook.

Necromancy



Um, excuse me, do you-


Mad Hatter

Mademoiselle

Chaise Payan is currently finishing up his senior year at Weber State University, he is expected to graduate with a BFA with a 2D emphasis. Check him out at Linkedin.

To read more about how we look for artists and how we found Chaise, click here.

See more of our original cartoons created by Chaise.

Check out some of the sketches created while thinking about our cartoons.

Nigro Firm News: More Reasons to Love Seattle

There are many reasons to love Seattle - Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, views of the Puget Sound, a stellar night skyline and now, the City of Seattle has partnered with the Nigro Firm. After an extensive RFQ consultant selection process, the Nigro Firm was selected as the City of Seattle's Fleet and Facilities Department's sole source for construction coordination reviews.

The Nigro Firm has begun helping the City of Seattle save money on it's new and/or renovated fire stations. So far, we have reviewed the drawings for the new Fire Station #38 and #39. The old stations are pictured below:




While researching the City of Seattle and its' fire stations we discovered the the city has many historic and architecturally interesting fire stations, such as:

Fire Station #6
Fire Station #13
To see all of Seattle's Fire Stations click here.

In November of 2003, 69% of voters in Seattle approved the Fire Facilities and Emergency Response Levy. This nine-year program that began in 2004, will use levy proceeds and other funding to upgrade, renovate, or replace 32 neighborhood fire stations and to construct a new training facility, a new Fire Alarm Center, and more. We are very excited to be a part of the city's Fire Facilities and Emergency response improvements.

To read more about how the Nigro Firm can help your city save money and time with a construction document coordination review, see the Nigro Firm. Or just give us a call, we would love to talk to you.