Category: Internship Fall 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.

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!

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, +

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!