08 – Initiatives & Hesitations

Have you ever found yourself having to make decisions on your own? Maybe your supervisor has gone away on vacation leaving you in between remaining projects and upcoming events. It’s what happened to me! Though I must say, it wasn’t such a bad thing. Even though my direct supervisor was away, she had left me with access to the tools & materials needed and a document with tasks to accomplish. I was very grateful for that! But what if she had not done that?

I have come across the word ‘initiative’ many times in the working environment, whether it’s during the interview process or during the job itself. What does initiative mean? Well, according to Google and the Oxford dictionary, initiative means having the ability to assess and initiate things independently. So, if my supervisor had decided to not leave anything behind and instead we had a brief meeting, I believe it would be a great initiative to create a document myself for the upcoming projects. This would help me keep organized, keep track of tasks that must be done before a deadline, and have reminders for scheduled posts.

One important task I was in charge of was to post updates every day on social media for upcoming events and campus activities. It was important to keep a calendar (we used Google Excel!) and reminder alerts to be able to post on time. On my way to campus (1.5hr commute), I would check the calendar for what is next. Posts are usually posted a week or so before the date, so the daily posts I would share were as stories on Instagram and Facebook.

Now, to keep myself organized, I also used a notebook that I carry around with me to notate to-do lists, reminders, random thoughts, and changes/updates to consider. It is a small notebook with a strap on it so I would leave my pen hanging there. It comes in handy especially during meetings when I would have to share drafts and can’t use the Notes app.

07 – Adobe Max Event 2022

Have you attended the Adobe Max Event? Adobe Max is a conference for creatives where over 500 guest speakers are invited to share their expertise with others in various kinds of panels. This year, they returned as a hybrid event. People were able to attend in person in Los Angeles or virtually straight from the comfort of their own place. I started joining some of the virtual events they held during the COVID pandemic, and now it feels like a treat. I remember last year when they introduced Illustrator being available on iPad/tablet devices!

In case you haven’t noticed, after the event was over, all Adobe software was ready for the new update, which reads as 2023. A cool feature that was introduced is the Intertwine tool in Adobe Illustrator. this new addition lets you overlap any two graphics and select where you want the intertwining to occur. No longer, do you have to mask over an object to get what you need! Besides checking out some of their lab session, I got a chance to jump into a keynote session where DJ and music producer, Steve Aoki was a guest in. I have to go back and watch the remainder of his keynote I missed, but definitely an interesting talk.

New Intertwine Tool released to Illustrator

Another application that was talked about is Adobe Express, and I was intrigued when it first came because it competes with Canva and is for users who don’t design or need that extra feel help. The app includes over 20,000 licensed Adobe fonts, templates, stock images, and free assets to choose from. A new update that was mentioned is a collaboration-sharing tool. This is something that could be done already on Adobe Illustrator for example. The difference here is, that collaborators can have real-time access. It also offers direct sharing access to be able to share right from Adobe Express. One thing that got me excited is that they partnered with Wix, a website builder, and Meta, formerly known as Facebook, to be able to edit within the site.

One important lab session I was able to join dealt with Adobe After Effects called After Effects 101: Expanding Your Skills with Motion Design – S603. A takeaway from this session is using the Pin Tool and stopwatch, which can create keyframes and paths for you without having to key them manually. It allows for smooth movement. This is a useful tool for me because it helped my workflow as I am using After Effects a lot at work and for my Senior Project. If you’re interested in learning more or checking out sessions, with CUNY’s student access to Adobe, you’re able to watch some free sessions. Some of the session offers downloaded files so you can follow along with the same assets as the instructor. Have fun!

Instructor Luisa Winters talks about the Pin Tool

06 – Harvesting, Fonts & Shortcuts

The Harvest Fest is coming up! Are you attending and eating candy apples just in time for the Halloween season? This was a fun project to work on. I love the Halloween season! It’s that time of year for pumpkin picking, carving, roasting pumpkin seeds, and maybe even baking a pumpkin pie. As you can probably tell, I added pumpkins to the Harvest Fest flyer. The color palette was a mixture of orange and yellow shades because we’re in Autumn, which included fall leaves. My favorite addition was the basket of apples on the bottom center. Below you can see the post from SLD’s Instagram. All posts of the flyers can be found on the wall posts within the campus.

When choosing fonts, it can get chaotic because there is so much to choose from. Not only does Adobe have its own font book, but other platforms such as Google or Microsoft offer some. Now, how do you choose a font? There are many factors that can contribute to which ones we can use. One, for example, is licensing, is it a free public font or do we have to budget a license fee to buy it? Other factors include: does it fit with the theme of the event, do we go with a serif or sans serif, does it have a font family we can work with, or is it a single font?

Aside from selecting fonts, I enjoy learning various shortcuts and forming practices in Illustrator and After Effects. It is one of the key ways to become more efficient in your workflow. It makes you faster, it reminds me of keybinding when playing video games online. Some helpful shortcuts I found useful are Free Transform, Grouping, Releasing or Clipping Masks, Scaling In and Out, Creating Guidelines, Using Rulers, the Scissor Tool, Easy Ease, and more. There are endless amounts of shortcuts to learn from. Here is a link to Adobe’s shortcuts sheet for Illustrator. A favorite one I just learned is adding a subscript/superscript after a number since we deal with dates a lot. To do this you press: [on a PC] Ctrl, Shift, + [on a Mac] Command, Shift, +

05 – DC Comic Artist Alitha Martinez

Have you attended a networking event before? This was the first network event I attended at City Tech called Meet the Pros. The Communication Design department at City Tech brings in industry professionals to share their work experience and stories. At this event, a DC comic artist, Alitha Martinez joined us. She is an Eisner award-winning artist for Black Panther and currently is an artist for the comic book Nubia. The setting for this event was in two parts: a panel followed by free time to speak to Alitha and other attendees. The host of this event was Professor Garrastegui.

This video is provided by DC on YouTube for Alitha Martinez’s work on Nubia.

During the panel, a lot of topics were covered such as how she paved her way into the industry at a time when women were not seen to be capable of being comic book artists, specifically. She spoke about the ability to be outspoken and self-confident in order to communicate with industry professionals or even artists you look up to. There were also stories shared about the type of work she does and how her process has changed in an industry where digital technology has increased.

One of the takeaways I had was the way she exuded confidence. At various times, she would bring up her heritage and her ancestors as a force that gave her courage. Listening to this method she used was a different perspective for me because it reminded me of the many times I would be nervous to approach others at filmmaking events. The way Alitha spoke created an awareness in me to see speaking to others as a way to express who I am and what I can bring to the table. Another takeaway was the passion she had for her work and the motivation needed to continue driving her to do the work that you do. She spoke on how work seems to be neverending, and the lines between work and personal time seem to become blurred. Nevertheless, she expressed the importance of keeping personal projects growing, not only to be able to have creative freedom but to continue learning in an industry that keeps changing and growing.

After the event, I had the opportunity to speak to Alitha Martinez and I asked her opinion on how a comic/manga/novel artist can expand their platform as a beginner. She mentioned having Kickstarters to gauge the audience’s interest in your story. She also spoke about how keeping up with what is trending can help determine where you take your story or art style. After our conversation, I walked away with some small goodies and a picture with her!

04 – Balancing multiple projects

Every week feels like it’s flying by! I was introduced to a different project called the Presence Campaign. Have you heard of Presence? It is a platform that was introduced about a semester or so ago. Its purpose is to provide students with up-to-date information on events done by SLD. It’s also a go-to place to find more information on active clubs and the ability to either contact or join them. I was excited because I got to be involved in the color palette and theme choices. It was a wonderful experience because not often do you get to be part of the origins of a project.

Color Palette for the Presence Campaign

For this project, I was involved in creating Instagram posts to promote the platform (have you seen them on SLD’s Instagram!), and a banner that would be used as a header on the website. Another exciting thing was that after the Instagram posts got approved, I was able to use my after-effects skills to have them animate! In the after-effects program, I used keyframes for position, opacity, and scaling to animate different elements within the graphics chosen. Below are some of the results.

At the same time, I was juggling a project for another event that was coming up. It can get overwhelming sometimes but being able to manage time and stay organized is very helpful. I keep a monthly planner on me to notate any class assignments that are due and I also use it to notate any upcoming internship/work deadlines. To keep organized, I create folders for each project I get assigned to. In my case, I use a portable hard drive and I also save backups to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Because my internship is hybrid, when I am in person, I work off my laptop, which I also use to take notes during meetings, but just in case, I also carry a small journal. There are also some useful apps available that can be used on devices. The notion app is one I am currently testing out.

03 – First Project!!

Have you ever worked on something, big or small, and then seen it appear on print, video, social media, etc? Do you feel proud or have a sense of achievement? That is what I would like to share with you today. As part of the Student Life & Development mission, events are created to promote student engagement on campus. My first project was to create a calendar telling the students the different upcoming events for the Fall 2022 semester. After many revisions, feedback, and changes, I saw the calendar hung throughout campus, and on SLD‘s social media. Hopefully, soon, you may see it on the TV displays.

Black and White 11x17 Poster

Black and White 11×17 Poster

Calendar Color 11x17 Poster

Calendar Color 11×17 Poster

Calendar Instagram Asset for September

Calendar Instagram Asset for September

Calendar Instagram Asset for October

Calendar Instagram Asset for October

How was the process? What tools did I use? What ideas came to mind? Let me tell you! When I was given the project, I was deliberating ideas for the calendar flyer. I thought it was a good idea to provide different designs to choose from. I chose to provide at least two different designs for feedback. Something that inspired me was journals and calendar books that I’d buy every semester. Although it wasn’t a traditional calendar, it was another helpful way to keep track of events. One of the key things I was told to include was a list of the upcoming event for the fall semester, and they were a lot! I decided to break this list down into rows. I also thought of breaking each month through a fall color palette. In September we had the start of Autumn, in October it is Halloween, in November we have Thanksgiving, and in December we have the start of Winter.

As I revised the design, I had to consider the details of the events, as well as, if any event was to be postponed/canceled or changed. Because a lot of updates were occurring, changes seemed to be inevitable. This is why you will be able to see a QR code on each project worked on for a flyer. QR codes are an easy way to get the viewer direct access to an event via a web link. All you would have to do is scan the QR code with your camera or even take a picture of the post for future scanning! Below are some samples of how the Calendar for Fall 2022 came out for both print and social media.

02 – Interview Experience & My Role

Hello! I recently started my role as a graphic design intern, but I would like to talk about my interview process/experience. To get started on looking for an internship, I prepared and put together a resume and portfolio for my work before applying to intern roles. I came across this internship via Instagram and later on from an alumn who posted information on it. I read the details about the role, the requirements needed to apply, and the application deadline. After applying, I looked out for a response. I was given an appointment for an interview held remotely through Zoom.

The interview was held through Zoom, which meant that I needed to troubleshoot both my microphone and camera, to confirm that they work. I also considered the background options such as using a blur effect, a background image, or having a cleared space behind me. Once the interview was happening, I was interviewed by Vanessa Villanueva, SLD Manager, and Giovanna Qu, the Social Media Coordinator, whom I am now under. During the interview, I was asked to show related graphic design work, and other best work I wanted to show. I showed a couple of pieces of design that best-showcased ads. I also showed them some motion graphic work which I thought would be a great contribution to social media posts. I was questioned about why I would be a great fit for the role, talking about myself, what I would bring to the team, hobbies that I enjoyed, etc.

Below are some works that I got to show in the interview.

One thing I feel that helped me fit this role is the experience I received from working at CUNY Explorers. It is a program by CUNY Central that offers college workshops to both middle school and high school students. This program has helped me grow as an individual, gain leadership skills, work in teams, and most importantly gain knowledge about our campus.

As per my role, I work under Giovanna who manages the Student Life and Development’s Instagram account. There are multiple events planned for the campus community and social media is a great way to communicate with the students. Every event requires different formats of advertisements and I get to participate in the process.

01 – Graphic Design Internship at SLD

This semester my internship is as a graphic designer for Student Life & Development at CUNY – New York City College of Technology. I will be working under the supervision of Giovanna, the Social Media Coordinator & Graphic Designer. The small office is located on the fifth floor of the General Building in room G-516. Student Life & Development focuses on the community of the college campus. They deal a lot with clubs, student events, community service, social awareness events, and professional workshops. The office provides announcements to students via flyers, social media, and other formats. Its mission statement is to support NYCCT’s mission through the development of activities, experiences, and services that provide a challenging and supportive environment. Below is the logo that the office of Student Life & Development uses for its media.

This is the logo for the office of Student Life and Development in room G-516

I was excited to start the internship because I wanted to gain more experience in graphic design and I believe this is a great opportunity to do so. Before joining Student Life & Development, I was only familiar with their club services. They would provide orientations about the procedure and requirements needed to create one. After receiving an introduction to the office, I became aware of the various events that are held for students to be able to participate in such as club fairs and holiday events.

Right off the bat, I was placed on one of the projects to work on. So far, I have been able to show my work and suggestions. I also learned shortcuts which help make the workflow more efficient. I am hoping to learn a lot during my time here!

Video Project

A Brief Introduction

For this video project, we had to give an introduction about ourselves as young artists. We were also allowed to show our works and/or make and auto biography. Another factor in this video project was to be able to acknowledge the file formats provided when exporting video and ways to compress it.

In my video, I give a brief introduction about my self and I show the works I have done so far at City Tech. This was a very enjoyable project because I am always challenging myself when it comes to editing. Even though it was a short forty second video, the process behind it was long. I understand how it is better to use videos that are horizontal, but I intentionally used a vertical moving image for my credits. I was also able to incorporate two vertical videos side by side so they didn’t appear out of place. Lastly, I added sound effects of a camera shutter whenever a work was shown. Some difficulties that usually occur when editing is mostly with audio. I love sound editing, and I tend to pick at the smallest different in decibels or displacements when there are various cuts.

As for the video aspect, I did not want to make something too static so I knew I had to incorporate motion of some kind. I recently got back into motion graphics so I used both Adobe After Effects and Premiere as platforms to edit. Most of the content in the video are still images but through After Effects I was able to have them move. My opening was recorded in slow motion and the credits is a live image set to loop.

I had a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy!

Design Research Paper

Unheard Colourist

If you were asked if you knew who Michiyo Yasuda was, you would have most likely answered no. If you were asked if you knew the animation films Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro, or even Ponyo then you would most likely have answered yes as well as may have made a connection with Studio Ghibli. Well, what is the relation between the two questions, you may ask? Michiyo Yasuda was the colourist/color designer behind these projects. Ever since Michiyo Yasuda met Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, both founders of Studio Ghibli, she’s been the colourist behind their animations. The three animated films I have mentioned are popular works known from her and they have left an impact.

Michiyo Yasuda was born in Tokyo in April of 1939. She initially started working in different companies before she landed in a company called Toei Animation (known as Toei Doga before). At Toei animation she learned about animation series, commercials and developed a skill set in color design. At one of the Toei Animation productions she met Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who were known as legends, and jumped on board with them for a collaboration. Since then, Yasuda has been delivering variation of color palettes between films and bringing the characters to life. Working for 40 years, she has also quickly adapted to new coloring technology which has led her to produce some great staple images of the animation films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro.

There are many animation productions not mentioned that Yasuda has been a part of working at Studio Ghibli. She has been with them since their beginning days. Figure 1 shows a still image from the animated film My Neighbour Totoro which was released in 1988.

Figure 1: Still from My Neighbour Totoro

This film is set in post-war rural Japan and follows the journey of two daughters encountering the wood spirits. This still image became an iconic representation of the film, from being on the poster to being on merchandise. In this image we can see Michiyo used dark tones for the environment and still kept the characters true to their original colors. The environment is the only thing affected by the rain. In an interview with the LA Times Yasuda states that “Color has a meaning, and it makes the film more easily understood. Colors and pictures can enhance what the situation is on screen.” From this still we can tell that this is an important scene that unifies both characters as they both hold an umbrella and even though the two little girls are well lit, the big Totoro character has a part of him coming into light. This would suggest that he is trying to be friendly while keeping one foot back in case things don’t work out. On the girl, Michiyo Yasuda chooses red and orange which are both tones to describe courage and strength. She gives Totoro dark tones of grey because he is a spirit from the woods but not an evil one.

Another project Yasuda worked on is the most recognized animated film Spirited Away which won an Oscar in 2002. Her colour choices brought to life the environment in the spirit world giving it an almost surreal look and each character resembled their chosen colors throughout the film as shown in Figure 2. For example in Figure 3, the character Chihiro, when she enters the spirit world she carries the color of a light pink. Whereas the character Haku, a dragon, carries the color blue in both a human and dragon body. In her interview from LA Times she mentions that understanding the director’s vision is the first step in determining the color for the animated film and how she tries to translate the color used in the storyboards to the actual film. Her color choices bring a natural relation to the subjects/objects as they are in real life, which helps relating to the fictional world. 

Michiyo Yasuda worked on Ponyo, shown in Figure 4, which was her last film before retirement. She was interviewed by the LA Times during this time and she broke down the color choice for the character Ponyo. This explanation gave us a glimpse into her creative process. She states “I just choose which color fits each character. The reason Ponyo is pink — or red — is because she’s based on a red goldfish.” So Yasuda keeps Ponyo to her true form through color. Even though Ponyo is in human form the color reddish pink is a reminder that she is in fact a goldfish. In Figure 4 you can also see the color blue being used interchangeably between other fish and the water. She states in her interview, “I chose a color that can be both the fish and the sea simultaneously.., I want to show the audience how you see or feel the color in the water.” So we can see that Yasuda believed in color being a form of expression.

Figure 4: Still from Ponyo

No matter which project Michiyo Yasuda worked on she always had the same mission in mind which was to have the color translate from real life in the animated world. Not only to reflect reality but to also give the audience a fantasy world that they can jump on. Her choices are seen through the animated films she has worked with Hayao Miyazaki and the colors are rich and vivid without being so strong, giving off a sense of pastels. Down below are some color palettes she used seen throughout the animated films she has worked on. She would be dearly missed on future Studio Ghibli productions but those who worked closely with her know how valuable she was in bringing Miyazaki’s visions to life.

Sources and citations are located on the next page.