This week was a very busy week at work; I was putting my last touches on the “ABC’s of Housing” which is like the book of rules in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), that they deliver to owners and tenants, in order to inform them about their rights. I faced a couple of problems designing it; the first was the lack of creativity, where the responsible of the magazine informed my advisor that they want it as simple as possible. The second was that there was too much text and lack of images, nearly no images at all just some small icons. The third problem was that there are 5 different lawyers reviewing the content of the magazine at different times, so if someone had a problem with one paragraph, and after I fix this problem, the second lawyer finds a problem in it so I had to constantly keep changing stuff and content in it because of the separated review of each lawyer. It was a very boring project overall but I managed to overcome all the obstacles and tried as much as I can to have fun designing it. It was a stressful day today because I had to change the whole design 2 times because of the different reviews, but I learned to be patient and complete my task whatever the cost. It is my second week of the internship and I am looking forward to see how the booklet will come out printed next week.

I started the internship with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) last semester, and since I am taking my internship class this semester, I requested to expand my internship and it was accepted. There is no graphic design department here, actually there was one but they decided to get rid of it right before I come here. So it is me and another girl called Caroline that comes on different day, we are the only designers in the department, where each take different tasks. The supervisors are so nice around here and you don’t find that strict work environment over here. You see everybody is chatting, laughing working together. This really made me comfortable and broke the fear/uncomfortable wall that I had in the beginning. I got to know everybody right away and everybody was so nice to me. For this week I had to do couple of things, continue working on the ABC’s of Housing booklet, designed a couple of flyers of events that were happening this week, but I finished working so fast so they told me that they have no more task for me for the week, so I had to do extra work different than graphic design, such as excel or word projects, I even went to the print shop that they have in the building and helped them over there. I am happy that I am gaining different experiences working here, I will definitely be delighted to add them to my resume.

I’m off to a fresh start and I feel good about it. I like doing new things and challenging myself.

The first week was good I began by putting together the Kisi office security device in order to see what improvement I could make to the instruction manual. I am in the sketch process of developing a step by step guide including pictures, descriptions, and hints. My supervisor Bernhard was very helpful with helping me develop simple images for the consumer to understand easily. I was intrigued to be learning some IT stuff as well.

In addition to having a great start at my internship, I’m really trying to warm up to other people in the office. I think the time spent at the coffee machine can be utilized for networking with the other startups and design companies. How you network is just as important as your performance  during your internship.

– O’Nysha Thomas

I chose to focus on researching Kisi inc., the company in which I will be interning with this semester. I know the value of knowing some information before hand. This prevents that deer in headlights expression when asked questions.

After finishing some stuff up for BTTIP, I felt very excited to this fresh start, and opportunity. I know that the program is very competitive and I am glad to be one of the select few chosen to participate.

Kisi Inc is a start up company there for I hope to make a great impression and capitalize on a possible job opportunity upon completion.

– O’Nysha Thomas

This week was all about planning. I’m at a point in like where I barely have spare time. It sometimes weighs on me, but I always manage to push through it. After a tough time registering for classes, I managed to come up with a decent schedule for my internship.  My supervisor was very pleased that I took the initiative to make one prior to starting. I just hope I am able to show all of my skills as well as improve upon them and learn new things.

My main focus prior to beginning this internship is for it not to end up like my internships in the past.
My first internship was an unfortunate situation which I was being used more than helped. There was no balance between roles due to the fact that it was a small company and it was very unorganized. My second internship resulted I’m me being let go due to my scheduling. I just could not see myself dedicating more than 12 hours to an internship that was unpaid and barely had any task for me to do. While short lived, I did enjoy it and wish the results were better.

Maybe the third time is a charm. I hope to gain a lot of skills, network, and gain a valid recommendation.

– O’Nysha Thomas

This week at my internship was very slow. Not much work to do but edit some photos for the website which was done in an hour. I spent most my time researching techniques for outdoor product shots and different positions in which the models can best showcase the garment. I think this research really helped to get rid of some bad habits and also add some new ones into my arsenal when organizing a shoot. I feel some of these type of things/tips should be shown in our classes at school just to have in the back of our minds if we ever had a job that requires it.

After our meeting last week, the guys at Tribe asked me how I felt about packaging design and my eyes lit up. I absolutely love packaging, and these guys are giving me the opportunity to design their accessory line. Needless to say it was a huge honor. I mean, I sell these products on a daily basis, so the thought of selling someone a box of bar tape that I designed is pretty awesome.

The first project they asked me to design the packaging for their bar tape. Mitch and Wyatt explained what they needed from me, which was essentially a mechanical. I was very fortunate to have learned how to create mechanicals through Professor Brodeur in his packaging design class. Also, they gave me a few examples of what they wanted, which were from their competitors. I had absolutely free reign to design whatever I wanted, which was extremely refreshing. I submitted the files along with some logo concepts for the wheel set box, which they also requested.

When I came in this week, Wyatt wanted to tweak a few things in the files. Once I was done we printed miniature versions of the boxes. I must say the bar tape boxes looked adorable! After both the wheel set and bar tape designs were approved, Mitch and Wyatt gave me my next assignment: design the handlebar packaging. Overall I love what these guys are throwing my way, and the environment that they have created is really awesome.

Monday was my first day of work at New York App Designers. The company has different locations and the I reported to the Brooklyn location on Nostrand Ave in the Restoration building in the  College of New Rochelle. The first day was introduction to my fellow interns who also happened to be in BTTIP. This is also the day I meet my supervisor Mr. Khalidi Lawson for the first time in person,  he showed us a power point presentation of what the company does and what our roles are going to be as the designers.

Tuesday was my first day of research on finding a non-profit organization, and look through their website and see if there was any way to create a mobile app to help get their information out. I choose to create an app for Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce,  which is a site that gives information about Brooklyn. Where to go, what to see, what to eat, and  events and news about the borough of Brooklyn.

After I choose the non-profit organization I carefully clicked through the site to see if I will be able to incorporate the information in to an app. As I was clicking each link I was thinking “If I wanted to more about Brooklyn what information would I like to read in an app?”. The truth is I’m still working on deciding which is more efficient on a mobile app.  Should I choose quality over quantity? .

I decided to leave that content for later and work on the appearance of the app. I used their pictures that was on their website, so now all I have to do is drip it in Adobe PhotoShop and resize and maybe add a filter.  I have to try to fix the pixelation and try not to make it looks so stretched out. I ran out of time yesterday at my internship, I left off with images needed to be fixed, buttons (taps) are set, and that’s it. I’m so excited I feel like I’m a super hero and my powers are designing and excitement.

I found out about this internship opportunity through my classmate Dorian last semester. He told me he was interning at the Faculty Commons at City Tech and how they were looking to hire new people for Spring ’15. Dorian told me I should apply, and I did.

First, I emailed the Faculty Commons team showing my interest in the position. They emailed me back saying I should send them my resume and digital portfolio within a month or so. Then, the application process officially started. They invited in for an interview, and I had to create a physical portfolio for it. That was an interesting experience, since I got to look at previous projects I worked on many years ago.

The interview went well, and a few days later I received an email saying I had been selected to be part of the Faculty Commons team. I’m so glad I got the job! I started the program on January 13th and it has been a great experience so far.