Category: Uncategorized (Page 2 of 3)

This week I had to work with the adobe after effects program to create a digital menu board for Village Market, to showcase their customizable salad menu. Marla taught me a process that would be a little bit easier than designing everything on after effects. This process I believe also helps reduce the amount of layers you would normally see on after effects. The first step is to design the board on Indesign with 1920 by 1080 pixel specs, you can also convert the pixels into inches to make it easier. Once you have created the design and it has been approved by Marla you select everything on that page and create an outline from it. It helps to have a duplicate of the original so that at least one page is editable and the second is the outline. Once you have the outline, export that outlined page as a pdf and open that pdf in illustrator. In that illustrator file I would hold down control and right click on every element in that file to release. After everything has been released I would release the layers into a sequence and delete the original layer before saving the file as an illustrator file. Then I would go into after effects and import the illustrator file as a footage and then open it as a composition. This lets you manipulate the files layers without there being a layer for every element.

A workday usually starts at 9 am with greetings between my peers and my boss Marla and very good morning from Koko, the office mascot. We go over everyone’s work from the last day and give feedback based on what was communicated through Marla from the client. The adjustments are made and the work is reshown and that is honestly one of the things I liked about working in a small business, everything is communicated clearly and quickly and this enables me to get help on any issue I am facing as soon as possible so I can get my work done as soon as possible through my day.

Marla has taught me some things that I admit, I hadn’t learned while in school. I didn’t know that I can create an outline in Indesign, organize the layers through Illustrator, and then place it into After Effects with little to no difficulty. I never knew how to make a digital menu board until I had gotten this job, I didn’t know how to sequence layers in Illustrator, and I didn’t know how to tab over in Indesign. Anything that I am learning in this job, I am putting it towards my project in Senior Project and I’m using it to better improve past projects.

In the past year, Gordon Parks was discussed frequently within my classes and I had done many projects based off of his work. Photography by itself has always had the power top open ones eyes and Parks knew that which is why he referred to his camera as a weapon but I know he faced issues while during his path. Not only did I decide to look into Gordon Parks and the ethical issues he faced while working I also wanted to look at the issues within photography.

Ethics is a system of moral principles, a difference between right and wrong and this helps guide people, in and out of the workplace. Ethics in the workplace follows the lines of obeying your company’s rules, successful communication, taking responsibility, professionalism as well as trust and mutual respect for your colleagues at work. Gordon Parks used his camera to fight racism and poverty, both issues he was fairly familiar with, however he also faced discrimination in the workplace, an unethical but not uncommon practice in that time. Parks documented black america as a photojournalist for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), Life magazine and Vogue and challenged racial barriers within Life Magazine and other agencies. He recalled being turned away from photographing white americans because of the color of his skin but despite that, he was able to capture the civil rights movement for Life Magazine because of the color of his skin .

For photography, there is always the typical manipulation done by editors and photographers.  Those changes entail of exposure, contrast, shadows, highlights etc; anything to make sure there is proper lighting with the photo. Some editors take the “manipulation” process too far by editing an image beyond recognition, often these images are of woman and these images create a false beauty standard that can be harmful to young girls. This in my opinion is an unethical practice that we shouldn’t blame compnanies like Adobe for, but rather the companies and creatives that believe and continue this practice.

I chose to attend the Print and Interactive Marketing in 2021 and Beyond webinar hosted by Siobhan Daukes, the president of the Advertising Production Club of NY and Deborah Corn, Intergalactic Ambassador to the Printerverse, Print Media Center. She is joined on the conference by Lily Harder, a Sr. Director of marketing strategy at Comperemedia.

The topic covered in this webinar was using research on consumer trends to create a more impactful campaign and this topic was brought up in the discussion of omni channel marketing campaigns and trend with their use of QR codes. Lily Harder was here to bring some insight because of her background in marketing research and consumer trends.

The event itself was informational for me, to say the least. I myself like to incorporate research into my projects as I feel it provides me with the direction to take for not just a print campaign but for various medias of the campaign, stemming from the print. Watching this webinar made me realize that there are many different advertising strategies and research strategies. Omni Channel is a marketing strategy I decided to research from this webinar that approaches various methods to reaching out towards consumers, meeting them where they are. Learning more about this tactic has made me curious towards incorporating this into my Senior Project for my class and seeing how far I can take it.

My follow up email would be to Lily Harder asking her how she came to be in the position that she is currently in as well as how she came into her knowledge of marketing strategies. I would also like to see if she could possibly mentor me.

In this week there were assigned. The first project was for Anna’s Catering and I along with my coworkers did a bit of rebranding for the client’s catering service. I have worked on some branding projects in classes before but this was for an actual client and I was excited. She wanted something simple and classic that also showed that she a was a catering service. I had experimented with fonts and decided to combine san serif and serif fonts and to experiment I incorporated some script and handwritten. My coworkers also took the time to design logos as well so in total up to 30 logos were submitted to the client.

The second project was for a big account, Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine, I had to redesign their menu boards for a new location. Despite the pressure I felt from working for on something for an important client the design process felt rather calm for me. I knew what I wanted to do and I had already had references from their past menu’s lined up. I learned how to tab over on indesign, something I picked up from Marla that at first is tricky but then i got the hang of it. I appreciate learning more indesign tricks from her, they make the process so much easier.

This week was a short week because my boss Marla had to attend her sons wedding so all the interns working that day had to focus on finishing up Al’s Deli and any menu price adjustments for other menu boards and then I was placed onto a different account. This one was for the Bagel Shop that was having a promotion for their specialty tossed salads. I had to create the flyer from the specs given to me and to reference another flyer that they had. I struggled initially with the designing. There was an uneven amount of menu items so trying to lay them out so it didn’t look awkward was a challenge. I didn’t want any elements of the flyer just hanging out in the open, it need to look like it belonged there. I included some clip art and imagery to help tie the flyer together before i sent it out to Marla and the client for final adjustments.

I am proud to announce that I am an intern at Calling All Graphics led by Marla Gotay. I did mention earlier that I felt like I was closing in and I was right. The excitement I feel is overwhelming but there is the nervousness that is starting to creep up. I had sent an email out to Marla with my resume and portfolio link as well as a publication design project I had done the semester before. I had looked at her work before sending out the email and was interested further into applying to be her intern and I asked to schedule an interview with her. She responded in 2 hours later asking what day would be good.

The interview process was pretty quick, really quick actually. Not soon after we had gone through the typical questions, I was put on board and assigned my first project. In total, this week I have done two projects. One was a promotional flyer and the other was adding a menu item to a menu board. It has been an interesting ordeal and I am excited for future projects. In my spare time I plan to review adobe program tutorials and master classes so I can better offer my services to the work.

For my webinar I chose “Design With Data, Present With Power”, hosted by AIGA. The webinar partnered with 3M and their VAS (Visual Attention Software), an AI that helps show you what is noticed at first glance within a design whether it’s a package design or print design. They also created plug ins for Adobe Photoshop and XD and will later be releasing a plug in for Illustrator. I decided to follow Sean Springer, who works as the VAS Product Application Engineer for 3M and Terry Kosnick, a creative that works as 3M’s Brand Design Principal. I was hoping to find Lisa Orts, a member of the 3M VAS team that knows more about the software so I could ask her if they planned on creating plug ins for other adobe programs like InDesign. The search is currently still happening but that is a question I would very much like answered.

This is an example displaying a package design for Scotch. There are different variations of the package and the numbers indicate in order where someone’s eye direct to first with creative designs.

It feels amazing to have finally landed an Internship and I am not going to deny that I have was panicking fo the past couple weeks before I obtained this job. The Internship is unpaid for the most part but it is the experience and the college credit that counts. The first day was a confusing day for me because I was under the impression that it was just an interview. During the interview the questions just stopped as another one one of my peers came into the zoom meeting and projects started being discussed. Marla started asking me about my skills and what programs I knew. After I listed my skills and past projects I have worked on that could be relevant to this internship I was placed onto my first project. I had to work on menu adjustments for Al’s Deli in New York City since there were price changes and menu additions. It was a simple project and I got it done throughout my shift.

Screen Shot 2021-12-11 at 4.32.10 PM

The nervousness is settling in and the weeks are counting down before it is too late to continue the course without an internship. I wouldn’t want to withdraw from the course but I feel that I’m close to getting an internship, similar to a gut feeling. Those are never really accurate but I hope that it’s true for this specific circumstance.  I’ve applied to a couple more internships and I’m looking at applying to two more. One of them is being recommended to me by my lecturer and a few others and another is one I came across on LinkedIn. For one of the internships I would have to submit my resume and portfolio in the form of an email. I believe that what I am going to do is write down a draft of the email I want to send, adjust it, have it read by someone and then readjust it. I want to sound professional and motivated.

While I’m waiting for replies from internships I decided to look into projects I could adjust and place into my portfolio. For this I referred to past alumni from City Tech that work in the design field I am striving towards. I connected with alumna Sohee Cho and Sabrina Khan from the MAIP fellowship info session. They were a pleasure to talk to and it was nice to keep up with any events they were going to speak, in the future and I wanted to look at Sohee’s work for inspiration towards any UX/UI projects I am considering. I also connected with Dauly Cuello, a graphic designer with an advertising focus that works apart of DeSales Media Group and I found that her project for CCBQ for Kids Fun Day was well designed and playful.

I am a member of the Art and Design Club and for my first event I participated / attended an event where past MAIP fellowship attendees volunteered to give their insights on the MAIP program. Former fellowship attendees (or veterans as I liked to call them) Sabrina, Dayna, Sohee and my closest friend Maria explained how they came across the fellowships and the process of them joining as well as, what their fellowships entailed of and the opportunities it granted them.

Students that appeared in the event, myself included got to ask questions that focused on the MAIP Fellowship process. Understanding the interview process and the timeline of that interview process was crucial to me because I am currently working an internship and would like to join the fellowship but did not want to risk the chance of overlapping the two jobs. I also got to learn about the type of work to incorporate on my portfolio and to pass on the knowledge in case you didn’t know, the answer was meaningful work, something I myself didn’t know. Probably the most important thing mentioned was to obtain a mentorship this lead to Professor Goetz, who was also present to discuss a mentorship opportunity.

I decided to connect with Dayna Iphill on linkedin and decided to look at her portfolio. Honestly she had really good projects and her designs were done so simply but executed very well. Some of the channels she used for the multimedia aspect I wouldn’t have even thought of immediately and one that I feel portrays it really well is The Conundrum Project, a project that focuses on Autism Awareness. I myself have a member in my family that was diagnosed with autism and this helped to give me a little bit of perspective.