Darcy Castro’s ePortfolio

3 things that stood out to me while reading the code of ethics would be, as a person, having a strong sense of ethics helps you stay grounded. It’s like having your own internal compass for making fair and responsible decisions. It builds trust, not just with others but with yourself too. As a designer, ethics help guide you through tricky situations like dealing with difficult clients, copyright stuff, or project feedback. Following ethical guidelines means you’re being transparent, honest, and respectful in your work. That’s the kind of reputation that gets you noticed for the right reasons. For clients, working with an ethical designer means they know they’re in good hands. You’re not going to ghost them, overcharge, or ignore their input. It helps build long-term relationships based on trust and honestly, that makes your job easier too.

The ending

As I wrap up my week of internship, I can honestly say this experience has been such a valuable part of my journey as a graphic designer. Working with real clients and handling actual projects like presentations, flyers, and postcards gave me a true sense of what it’s like to work in the real world. It wasn’t always easy—there were tight deadlines, lots of feedback, and plenty of multitasking—but all of it helped me grow not just in my design skills, but also in how I manage time and communicate with clients. I’m really grateful for the time I spent at this company and for everything I’ve learned. This internship has made me even more excited about the future, and I hope to take all these skills and apply them in a full-time role one day.

Presentation, Presentation & More Presentation

This week was definitely one of the busiest yet during my internship. I had to create three separate presentations for three different clients, and each one had about 15 slides filled with tons of information. It took a lot of focus to make sure each presentation had its own unique layout while still keeping everything clear and visually appealing. At the same time, I was also working on more postcards for the actual internship I applied for, plus a few flyers that needed quick turnarounds. Juggling all of these tasks really tested my time management, but I made it work. One thing I’m really proud of is how much I’ve learned about layout design this week—figuring out how to organize content in a way that’s clean, readable, and engaging has really helped me grow as a designer. Even though it was a lot, it felt great to see everything come together in the end.

Presentation, Brochure, and Flyer Week

This week of my internship definitely pushed my design skills in a good way. One of my biggest projects was creating a 12-slide presentation for a vital medical company focused on men’s testosterone health. At first, I didn’t know much about the topic, but after working through the content, I honestly learned a lot about how testosterone affects energy, mood, and overall wellness in men. The challenge was keeping the slides visually consistent with the brand colors while still making each one feel unique. I had to get creative with layouts and icons, but it ended up looking clean and professional.

Alongside that, I got to design my first ever brochure for a church. It was a bit of a twist—I had to take a postcard design and reimagine it into a trifold brochure using the same colors and theme. That meant I had to retype all the content and figure out how to break it up across six panels. It was tricky trying to keep the flow of info clear, but I was proud of how it came out. My supervisor liked it too, which made the work feel worth it.

Lastly, I had to design another flyer—this one was packed with text. Trying to fit a whole bunch of information into an 8.5×11 flyer without making it look overwhelming was honestly not fun at first. But it forced me to really think about layout, hierarchy, spacing, and how to make dense text easier to read and still eye-catching. I definitely learned more about managing heavy content and making sure design doesn’t take away from the message.

It was a busy week, but I’m proud of how much I’ve been able to create and improve. Each project taught me something new—from typography and spacing to content layout and adapting designs across different formats.

Summer Camp Postcard Struggles

Today was one of those long design days where everything felt like a cycle of trial and error, but in a good, slightly stressful way. I worked on a postcard for a new summer camp event for kids, and I honestly didn’t expect it to be so tricky. The client wanted something fun, eye-catching, and informational, all within a specific mailing template. Sounds simple, but man, it took way more back-and-forth than I thought.

I used Illustrator to design it, which I’m super comfortable with, but the hard part wasn’t the technical stuff; it was figuring out how to organize the content and tweak things based on feedback. I had to keep adjusting info and visuals to get the layout just right for mailing requirements, which was a learning curve on its own. The client was really kind and gave me clear feedback, which helped a lot. I’m glad I got to speak with them directly because it pushed me to work on my communication skills. Talking to clients isn’t always easy, but I’m starting to learn how to listen better and explain design choices more clearly. Patience has been a lifesaver in the process.

I also had to create a flyer with the same information, so that was another layer of design work. Same content, different format, but it actually helped reinforce the layout principles I’m trying to get better at. After all the edits, color adjustments, and content shifts, the postcard is finally done and officially going out for the mail. Seeing it finished feels so rewarding. Even though it took a while, I’m proud of how it turned out and how much I’ve grown through the process.

Postcard / Web banners / Flyer

Today was a super busy but rewarding day during my internship. I worked on a mailing postcard design for a company that’s hosting a fun summer event for kids. It was cute and colorful, but honestly way more stressful than I expected. There was this specific USPS template I had to follow for it to be mailed correctly, and making sure everything fit perfectly while still looking good was definitely a challenge. I had to double check the safe zones, address placement, and all these tiny rules that I never really thought about before. But it taught me a lot about working within strict design guidelines, which I know will help me in the future.

I also designed my first flyer for the internship’s main small business, which was super exciting! The goal was to help them attract more clients, so I tried to keep the layout clean and professional while also making it eye-catching. It felt good to be trusted with something that could actually help grow the business.

On top of that, I made 8 different web banners for an Astoria locksmith company. Each one had to be a different size and slightly different layout, so I had to keep adjusting things like font size, spacing, and alignment. It felt repetitive at times, but I learned how to stay consistent with branding while still making each banner work for its size.

Overall, today was a lot but in a good way. I’m definitely starting to feel more confident balancing creativity with technical requirements.

Today was all about designing social media content for a local locksmith shop the company works with. I ended up creating 18 different designs in Illustrator which honestly felt like a full-on creative marathon. Each post had to follow the same brand style, but still feel unique. I played around with layout, color balance, icons, and typography to keep things interesting while sticking to the brand’s vibe.

My supervisor reviewed them later in the day and surprise! they loved them. That was such a relief after staring at my screen for what felt like forever. I did have to go back and make a few small edits (mostly spacing and wording), which took a bit of time, but nothing too crazy.

The real challenge was just how long it took to get everything just right. Illustrator is powerful, but also kind of a black hole, I looked up and somehow three hours had passed. Still, seeing the final set come together was super satisfying.

Even though I’m tired, I feel like I really accomplished something today. Can’t wait to see these go live on the shop’s socials soon!

Today was my first day of my Internship, I was nervous about leaving a good first impression for my supervisor, this was my first time dealing with real clients outside of school. I have been given a rundown of the brand style guide and showed me their current client projects. I spent most of the day getting set up—organizing files, getting access to design tools, and reviewing some past work to get a feel for their aesthetic. It was cool to see how consistent and clean everything is. Definitely inspired me to level up my own work.

My first task was a small one—creating a few draft ideas for a social media graphic. I was stressed (first impressions, y’know), Sent my drafts over and already got some helpful feedback.