Aaron Villalobos's ePortfolio

Overall, this semester has been a challenge but one that I will never forget. It was a semester that had virtually no breaks. I worked 5 days a week, (Mondays were the worst having school 8am-2pm then straight to work from 4-10). Not to mention the internship outside of all this, which was all remote so that worked out. The only times that I ever had to relax with no school or work were Thursdays (but that was the day my girlfriend and I would spend time so I still never really had time to do anything.)  The classes I had were, Internship, Publication for Designers, Interactive Animation and Information Graphics. Each of these classes had there own unique feel to them. Honestly, my favorite was Publication for Designers. Professor Eli had to have been my all-time favorite professor I ever had behind Prof. Davis. He’s such a cool, laid back, easy going dude who really appreciates good work and creative minds. He is also very good at giving feedback and is there when you need any help.

As far as this class goes (Internship), it was probably my least favorite. I’m not saying I didn’t like Prof. Goetz because she is a very likable and enthusiastic person, but compared to my other classes, it just wasn’t as exciting. Mostly due to the fact that my internship was bittersweet. It wasn’t very fun in my opinion, but it wasn’t that bad at the same time. I’m not saying I expected the class to be a breeze and super fun, of course it’s still work at the end of the day, but it just wasn’t the internship I was expecting going in. It was just okay. Working mostly online did benefit me a lot because of my schedule though, so I am very thankful for that.

Overall, I learned alot about my self and what I want to accomplish in life this semester. It was fun, and I made some new friends. Being one of the few people graduating in most of my classes felt pretty awesome and ahead of the game. I will never forget my wonderful time at City Tech. For someone who came into the school only because it was free, I can honestly say that being a Graphic Designer is what I want to be in life. Now it’s time to open a new chapter and see what destiny has in store for me. In which I will create for myself.

When I got the internship at SJE (Social Justice Exchange), I didn’t know what to expect. It was my first internship ever, so I didn’t know how it was going to be especially since I have two jobs, on top of 3 other classes. The fact that it was all online, was mostly beneficial to me.

Before the semester started and I saw needed to take internship, I was worried whether or not I would be able to find time to fit in the internship on top of all my other activities. Working remotely really took away a lot of stress because I could do the work from the convenience of my room. I would wake up, go to work or school, then when I got home, I would do my home work. What I usually like to do, is set specific days to do specific homework for certain classes. For example, I would set Wednesday after class, to do my homework for my monday classes (Interactive Animation and Internship). I work all weekend and after school monday, so I would work on Wednesday’s homework Tuesday morning. Then go to work that day from 4-10. The only day that I had any free time with no school or work, was Thursday’s (but I would use that day to spend time with my girlfriend so was it REALLY a day off? Haha, hope she doesn’t see this.)

One of the things that I didn’t really like about working all online was the fact that I would have to constantly communicate via online and not in person. I’m the person that prefers to speak in person. As well as seeing people’s reactions when they see my work. I rather see their initial facial expression then a reply of “Oh I really like it!”. I like to see if they’re being truthful or not. Another thing that I dislike about working remotely, is that I feel like I don’t have any guidance. Having too much freedom can feel like you don’t know exactly what to do in a sense. Also, I can get distracted more if I’m in my room with all that noise in the background and all the video games around me. Sometimes I wish that I would’ve been in a little office room strictly working on my stuff.

December 9th this past Saturday, was a snowy day for the entire day. Weeks ago, the Founder of Social Justice Exchange told the group chat (on Group Me) to meet up that day. We all had agreed that we were going to meet in St Johns (inside the library). Some of the people who were hired to work in the internship go to St Johns so some of them met each other before. I was one of the few people who never met anyone, so this would’ve been the first time meeting everyone. Unfortunately, it was cancelled and the meeting never happened. It was going to be a one and final meeting where we discuss certain topics about how the website will be going forward, and how the semester went. I was really looking forward to actually meeting everyone but, it never happened.

Sketchbook Pro is a very interesting app that I’ve been using on my new Nook 7. I don’t actually recommend using a Nook for drawing, or any app that is really draining on the device because the performance really becomes sluggish and slowed down. The Nook can do every thing except speak on the phone, but its biggest strength is in books so I don’t advise using it on that. With that being said, my friend has an iPad. I downloaded it on his iPad and used Sketchbook Pro a bunch of times. And this is not my first time hearing about Sketchbook Pro, so It is not entirely new to me. After using it a bit, I have to say it really does make drawing digitally much more friendly. I’m not the biggest fan of drawing digitally. I can’t really draw, but when I do, I definitely prefer using a sketchbook. It took a while to get used to. Digital art after a while starts to all look similar and less authentic to me because the imperfections of real on paper art stands out more. The vectors, art brush and stuff like that start to look very digital, and yeah it looks nice but I’m not a huge fan.

I can see this being very useful whenever I do get an iPad. I also like how Sketchbook Pro’s strokes look very smooth and all. Usually I would sketch something out, use the scan app on my phone then import it into illustrator. With Sketchbook though, a lot of time is reduced by just going straight digital instead of sketching on paper.The interface is very nice looking, colorful, and user friendly. For those who have an iPad and love to draw, its perfect and it kills two birds with one stone. Go get this app!

Here is some more work that I forgot to post that I did a few weeks back.

This one is a flyer I made to be posted around the area of queens where St. Johns is located.

Kapernickspread

Click the link above to see a Cover and spread I made. The point of this project was to see if I was able to create a good magzine cover andinside spread. I created a “fake” SJE magazine.

About 2 weeks ago my friends and I went to visit Bloomberg Building located at 120 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Right across from Grand Central Station on the South Side between 41st and 42nd Street. When I entered, they took a picture of me, put my face on a piece of paper with my name on it and put it in a lanyard. I then made my way up to the 11th floor where you are greeted by many creative people. It was a very optimistic and calm environment right away. They had a bunch of stations where you can network and chat, as well as a bunch of snacks. Another cool addition was the amount of fish tanks they had in there. So many fish, so little space! It was like a mini aquarium and was a very good conversation starter.

I ended up speaking with a few different people who work for Bloomberg. One person that really stood out to me was Ethan McCarty. He gave a bunch of great information about what to do and what not to do when you work for a well-established company. He told us to don’t get overwhelmed, and always say yes to your boss or a client (Even if you know you won’t have enough time to do it). Another person (I forgot his name) showed us how they use after effects for a lot of their work. He showed us a little bit of the tedious process that’s involved behind the scenes when creating ADs for Bloomberg.

l gave each of them my buisiness card as well.

Here is an email exchange between me and 2 of the people who spoke.

Prior to going to this musuem, I had no idea what to expect. I had a friend that told me it wasn’t just paintings and such. There’s sculptures, interactive things, and a cool music exhibit. So going into it, I was excited for this.

Drawing on the table was really cool and something I’ve never experienced before. It was weird creating a lamp or a hat.The piano was the favorite part of the whole museum, to be honest. Every key you pressed showed a circle on the screen go up in a certain color. I love the piano so I really enjoyed that.

This Mario thing was cool because I’m a big gamer. It showed the evolution of the plumber himself. Going from the 1981 classic “Donkey Kong” all the way to the Mario we know today. 8 Bit to 4k.

Joris Laarman Incoming Loan

This chair really caught my attention. Just by the way it’s designed, (does not look comfortable haha) its very appealing. It’s definitely a conversation piece for sure.

Joris Laarman Incoming Loan

This digital hundred dollar bill was created by a bunch of people, where each person drew something small in their section to finally create the 100 dollar bill.

The swinging chairs in the basement floor were fun as well! As well as the room where if you drew something on the table, the walls turn into a wallpaper of what you designed. I forgot to take pictures of these things, but overall it was a very cool experience.

Grammarly is an app that I never knew existed before this semester, and boy am I glad I own it now. Whenever I would write an essay or just typing something in general, whether it’s on the phone or a computer, that red line is usually under that typo. Although that was helpful, it’s nothing compared to what Grammarly can do.

Grammarly is capable of identifying:

• Confused words
• Overuse of the passive voice
• Wordy sentences
• Repetitive words
• Common writing mistakes like misplaced apostrophes
• Spelling errors

A couple good things I found using Grammarly is that it’s free, once it’s downloaded, it stays on and you don’t ever have to open it again. Plus it can quickly show you any grammar errors made within anything you are writing.

A couple things that are on the bad side, is that Grammarly won’t do certain things. Only if you decide to pay the monthly premium price, Grammarly will not do the following. Vocabulary enhancement suggestions. “Advanced” checks for punctuation, grammar, context, and sentence format. Writing style checks for a specific genre. As well as detecting plagiarism.

Overall, I really enjoy using Grammarly. I honestly don’t see how anyone, no matter what their profession is, can NOT have this installed in their phone or computer. It really helps you alot, and it is very useful.

As I walked into this exhibit on the 11th floor, I was met with many variations

of cool looking posters. I actually know very little Spanish, so I couldn’t understand what the posters were saying. Despite that, many of them caught my eye visually. Especially the 3 below.

I really enjoy this one because of the eye-grabbing title and the colors on the side. Very nice element with the image inside the shape below the title.

The one that is on the left below is very interesting to me. The illustration of the man is very detailed and makes me wonder what he’s doing. As well as the clouds in the background, which gives it a very nice touch.

The poster on the right is my favorite because of the colors. They are very vibrant and shows a very hot day to me. Someone who is working hard and doing what he has to do to survive. I think the border around the image works as well because it gives it a polaroid feel to me. The title pops and it works well under the image.

“The New Creative Hub”

That was the name of the event that I went to yesterday. It was quite the experience. A few days before the event, I was still trying to find an event that 1. I could make it too within my free time and 2. That I think will be beneficial to me. Well, I finally found one a few days ago, and it was $15 for the event. I was trying to find one that was free but I felt like I would be getting my money’s worth with this one.

Heading into the event, I was very nervous. Luckily for me though, it was only about a 10-15 minute walk from my house. It was located in Williamsburg Brooklyn on 97 North 10th st. The event was a 7-9pm rainy day. I eventually go up to the 2nd floor, and I immediately become a bit overwhelmed by the amount of grown people that were there. I was probably the only person in there that was in their 20s. Many of the people looked like grown professionals that are always established in the design business. I used that as motivation and an advantage because I felt as if I had a head start.

Admitingly, I sort of just walked around trying to get more comfortable with the setting until someone approached me. I can’t seem to remember his name but we spoke about what I wanted to do in the Graphic Design world, and what I believe my strengths and weaknesses were. He told me he was an Editorial Designer and if I had a business card. I gave him mine and I asked for his, but he said he didn’t have any on him. I then started walking around again, and saw a woman who looked like she was by herself just like me so I approached her. She ended up being a Designer & Art Director who had a passion for photography, print design and editorial design. Her name is Billi Richards Alexander. I gave her my business card, but she actually didn’t have one on her as well. Although i did ask for a website of some sort, and I got that.

Overall, it was a very fun and nervous experience. I’m glad I went, and went alone.