Reflection, #10

Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash

I feel very lucky to find this new job before my Spring 2022 internship starts this semester. Overall, I think I did a good job in this internship experience. Even though they hired me as a part-time now, however; the owner had told me that she will hire me as a full time after this semester. The lecture meetings( zoom/onsite) helped me a lot too. We had a lot of discussions on real-world cases. it would help for my future career if I run into similar situations.

News Letter Project, #9

Photo by Alejandra Cifre GonzΓ‘lez on Unsplash

Last week, our graphic designer called out sick, but we have an urgent email newsletter need to design. The newsletter was focused on the coming New York City bike event. So my supervisor asked me if I can help to create the newsletter. I was pretty happy because I have the chance to prove that I can design the Ads as well. And the result came out very well, my supervisor was happy about the design. However one thing I still need to improve. The content was written by our copywriter which was ok, because that wasn’t my mission. However, I thought If I have better English writing that will be a huge plus for me.

Re-design the Web, #8

From many of my internship tasks, I like my re-design of the web project the most. there are two parts of this project, part one was to design the web on my own, and part two was to build the web with my mentor(the senior developer ). I enjoy the first part. I enjoy discussing all the design elements with the team and art director such as typefaces, selection of pictures/ photos, primary colors, etc.

Here is the wireframe that I created for our company.

Company Event, #7

Photo by Al Elmes on Unsplash

As I mentioned in the previous journal, we usually have company dinners last Friday each month. I have learned not to have alcohol during the company dinner.

The company pays for the dinner; however, the company only pays for the employee’s first alcoholic drink. (non-alcohol drink has no limitation)

The President of the company mentioned that she does not suggest too much alcohol appeal in the company event. First free alcoholic drink just for relaxing purposes.

In the lecture, Prof. Niclolaus mentioned a few points about things should be avoided in the company event:

  • Excessive drinking at company events – Company events are not the place for drinking. It might sound very serious, however, the events are part of work as well. We do not want to say something Inappropriate in front of your colleagues and manager. Because alcohol makes you relax. Humans may misbehave when too relax. Always keep it in mind, do not drink alcohol during company events.

  • Inappropriate table manners – The same thing there, we do not want to misbehave on the table. For example, if you drop your cutlery on the floor, do not just pick it up and use it. Don’t be shy to call the wait staff and ask them for new cutlery. Also do not make noise when eating.

In general, your best behavior at a company event should be no less professional than any other business activity. I am glad that I learned this topic before I attended my company event.

Audio – audio produced by Blackboard Ally

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SewzYPJIKpkmdQn3naxTAlfyJp76gGUe/view?usp=sharing

PDF – English

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NgqrlBo60x9BsriRvprj_qcdhGwH3sSW/view?usp=sharing

Google Translate – Mandarin Chinese https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xChGaXp2Jhgv5tjPryHFreANDKvAq6Q7/view?usp=sharing

Self-Evaluation, #6

Photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash

I would like to grade my performance as 65 points. I have done one project and one project still going on so far. I am satisfied with my first project. I have learned the whole website process from beginning to end. and I had a chance to present my website process in front of the company and the president. I was a little bit nervous, but I think I nailed it. What I still want to improve it’s my coding skills. I still have too many things to learn from senior developers.

Collaborative Project, #5

Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash

My first development project starts on March 3rd. The project is to turn my prototype website into a reality. That is to rebuild our company site by using the Javascript framework Angular. Our backend of the website was kind of outdated. The company website was built with PHP. PHP was popular around ten years ago. However, the senior developer would like to apply the latest technology, because this framework is easy to maintain. The senior developer assessed me to build the navbar component. I feel overwhelmed when I opened my file with VS code. She noticed my stress and send me the links to the online classes and suggested I study over the weekend. I believe the is good pressure. Because a little pressure will make me grow.

My first task & What I Have learned, #4

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

February 14 was my first day in the new company. I was told to redesign our company website. My supervisor told me that our website needs a new look for quarter two 2022, which is summertime. So I start my research and studied company history, logo, brand colors, and also typography, etc. I look for references websites. Then I had to sketch out the new layout of the website. I showed my supervisor my sketch then got approval from her. Next step, I created the wireframe by using Adobe XD. My supervisor also told me I could use another software called Figma to design my wireframe next time. She told me that Figma wireframe UI kit is popular recently in the industry. Then I build the prototype website after the wireframe. She helped me with my design process. I really treasured this opportunity.

Office Culture, #3

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Today, many companies work remotely, but our president believed that onsite working experience would be more productive. Our working hour is from 9:30 am to 5: 00 pm. My colleagues usually arrive company earlier, because they don’t want to rush to work. our design department usually prioritized the task. We have the meeting every Monday morning and, make sure which task needs to be finished for the week. Our president gives us the company dinner last Friday each month after work. To make sure our colleagues could be less stressed.

New job as an intern, #2

Photo by Heather Shevlin on Unsplash

I was really lucky that I got an interview opportunity before I start CityTech intern class in Spring 2022. I was working as a part-time web designer for my previous company in Queens. My job was to design and build landing pages for clients. But meanwhile, I am on the second round of interviews with a new company called Manhattan Portage in the SOHO area. After three rounds of interviews, I finally landed on this company as a part-time/intern web designer and developer.

My supervisor has 20 years of experience in the software development and web design industry. She is a nice lady. She showed me around the company and patiently explained the company policies and the development software we are using in the company. I believe this is a good starting point for me to work in Manhattan.

Back to school, #1

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

This is my senior year of my college. I graduated from CityTech in 2014 with my associate degree. Last year, I decided to come back to school to get my Bachelor of Arts degree in communication design. For the past few years, I worked as a graphic designer. My responsibilities included designing posters, flyers, business cards, email, and menus using adobe creative software such as Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. In 2020, I took an online boot camp class and learned about software development and web design. Today, I am working as a front-end developer/web designer. It feels good to be back to school. Because I like to see hard-working people around and show me the motivation they have. it will always inspire me to be a better designer and developer.