In addition to teaching each other new program skills in a design team, one can learn that giving and taking feedback is essential to success. There are some individuals who get easily offended with negative/harsh critiques. It’s important to know that you can turn negative feedbacks into a positive ones by suggesting alternatives rather than just saying “this looks bad” or “you have to change this.” But, you must be very honest as well.

I took advantage of the opportunity to have valuable feedback from a team of designers and non-designers (in person) while I am working in the Faculty Commons office. Not only can they help you with visual feedback and show you different ways to create something, but they can also help you check the content. Oftentimes I am working on poster and I’ve been staring at it on the screen for hours. Even if there was a typo, my brain will fill it in as if it was correct. It’s different when you have a pair of fresh eyes to go over the grammar and spelling of the poster’s text.

If I were to work on my own on freelance projects, I would probably have to reach out to my friends, and they are probably busy with their lives. So, if you work with a team, do take advantage of it!

During my internship at Faculty Commons, I was able to learn something that I couldn’t inside the classroom. Because graphic design students do not have access to color printers in the classroom or labs, they are only able to do work for web platforms on campus.

Fortunately, I am able to design for print and web, and bring both to life on the job. Reproduction Center, located in Namm Hall Cellar (NC26), prints almost all the posters, brochures, booklets, bookmarks, etc at City Tech. As designers, we communicate and work with the printer to get our designs printed properly with the correct color mode, crop marks and other specifications.

I learned the importance of making a few test prints early on for any project. And, to always have a back up plan in case the printer breaks down. For instance, I could ask the client about alternative printing locations that are off campus, or designing a black and white version to be printed easily.

Below is a comparison of print and web on a project I did:

  Print

The attire for Faculty Commons varies sometimes from casual to business casual. If it’s the first time meeting a new client, business casual is required. Although casual attire is OK on a daily basis, it must be appropriate. For instance, shorts and tube tops are not allowed. I usually wear plain colors and try to make it simple and clean. The poster below is a great example of the variety of styles of the design team.

My internship is at an open office. My space is shared with other offices such as the Grants and AIR office. The design team has two Mac desktops and two Mac laptops  available in an area dedicated to just us.

I am in office twice a week, for a few hours to make the 10-hour per week requirement. But, I do work over 10 hours if it’s needed or a project is time-sensitive. In special cases, I will come in just to meet with a client who has a busy schedule.

The office has a fridge, microwave, and eating utensils in a small room. When it comes to lunch time, I sometimes bring my own lunch and heat it up. Other times, my colleagues and I would order food together from Seamless. We also have an end of the year holiday party! 🙂

In addition to working together, we also go out to art/design related events and gallery exhibitions to get to know each other better and connect new and old designers from Faculty Commons.

InsideOUT House exhibition at the BRIC Biennial (by Prof. Jenna Spevack)

I have two roles at Faculty Commons: being a graphic designer and an intern trainer. On a daily basis, I would communicate with my clients through email, phone, or in-person about our on-going projects. I would be put on to 3-5 projects during the spring and fall semesters. Winter and summer semesters are different; here’s when I take the role of a trainer (with another current designer) to prepare our new candidate for an intern position.

My supervisor, Professor Julia Jordan is the acting director of Faculty Commons. She is copied on all incoming and outgoing emails that I write to my clients. And, we will close the loop together at the end of every project. During training, the trainers would communicate with Prof. Jordan after the end of each day on the progress of the new candidate.

In 2013, my friend Patricia Persaud introduced me to Faculty Commons and its mission, and encouraged me to apply for an internship there. After applying, Prof. Jordan emailed me for an interview. The interview was conducted in the office with two current designers. They asked the usual questions you would hear from any design job and they weren’t too difficult to answer. I waited for about a week for an acceptance letter through email, where they invited me to join their summer training program before I would start working officially in the fall semester.

City Tech was founded in April 1946 as New York State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences and then became part of CUNY in 1964. In 1971, the college merged with Voorhees Technical Institute (established 1882 as New York Trade School). The college is located at 300 Jay Street (MetroTech Center of Downtown Brooklyn) and consists of 51 degree programs within the Schools of Technology & Design, Professional Studies and Arts & Sciences.

According to the College Fact Sheet, 17, 374 students enrolled in Fall 2014. The faculty body is made up of 432 full-timers and 1,295 part-timers.

The student body stats are below:
Gender
56% Male
44% Female
Race/Ethnicity
31.0% Black (non-Hispanic)
35.6% Hispanic
20.6% Asian/Pacific Islander
11.1% White (non-Hispanic)
0.5% Native American
1.2% Other

Faculty Commons is a center for teaching, learning, scholarship and service that coordinates all professional development, grants and assessment activities of faculty at City Tech. This center was founded in 2005 and is currently located in an open office in room Namm 227.

The Faculty Commons Design Team is a group of students from the college’s Communication Design department. The designers work with faculty to create collateral print and web material to promote events, workshops, etc. This may include, but not limited to posters, postcards, brochures, fliers, and web banners.

I began working as a graphic designer and an intern trainer in the design department of Faculty Commons at City Tech since Fall 2013. There are currently 8 designers and 2 web masters in the design team.

A newsletter is published quarterly in print and web through Issuu. Nucleus: A Faculty Commons Quarterly showcases creative and scholarly faculty initiatives at City Tech undertaken through the Faculty Commons.

Recent Events:
1. Urban Beauty, a faculty exhibition
Photos by me:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124368109@N03/sets/72157644498589056/

2. Scholars Exchange (A Tuesday Morning Coffee Series): Professor Mark Noonan presents City of Print: New York and the Periodical Press from Antebellum Era to the Digital Age
Photos by me:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130726691@N03/sets/72157651013690521/