This week we [all interns] were assigned a new project. This project is the African American Heritage 2016 poster, for internal purposes at HRA. The theme for next year is Hallowed Grounds. The ladies who asked for this project want there to be some sort of map of all the hallowed grounds around the nation and the tagline is RESPECT. REVERENECE. REMEMBERANCE. Another direction is the underwater sculptures that exist off the coast of Greneda. They were designed by an artist and portray children holding hands in a circle, among other sculptures. I feel this idea is powerful because the sculptures have actually begun growing coral and helping the environment and ecosystem around those shores. I think I’ll head in this direction because its uplifting, poetic, and portrays the importance of love for eachother, love for the environment, and persevering through all odds. It does all of this without dampening the mood and I think that’s important. You don’t want to offend or anger people by doing something that makes them feel angry or disrespected. At the end of the day we all want to be recognized for our best qualities, and acknowledged as human beings, no matter where we are from.

This week at work we printed one of my pieces, a 2’x3’ poster that will be at a convention in Manhattan for a training event. Just as I was about to leave on Tuesday my supervisor calls me over to see the laminating process in action so I can learn to do it. Lately I was shown how to use big machines at work that will provide us interns with a lot of to-do’s going forward.   One machine was the brochure machine, which spits out air and uses two rulers to adjust how the paper is folded. I believe I spoke of this machine in an earlier blog. The next machine we learned how to use was a huge printer that needs to be loaded up with a roll of paper that’s about ¾ the size of me. After that you feed the end of the roll to the printer and it cuts a straight line along the edge you just fed it, in order for your work to be straight. After that, if everything is aligned you will be able to choose your settings and proceed as normal. If the paper is not aligned correctly you wont be given the option to continue and in fact the printer will alert you and force you to realign the roll and paper until its perfect. It’s a nice feature to ensure your work is always pristine but at the same time can be quite annoying. The next machine I learned about was a cutting machine that uses a a sharp piece of metal and the aid of a laser to cut through anything pretty much. We load up the print job and use knobs on the edge of the “table” of the machine to adjust the positioning of the cut we want. After that is taken care of we close a plastic lid over the edge so no scraps fly out and hit us, and we finally push two buttons simultaneously to summon the blade and make a nice cut through around 50 sheets of paper or slightly more at once.

Now back to the lamination machine. This poster had to be printed on the huge printer I mentioned. Afterwards that sheet was trimmed down to around 3 inches from the crop mark and placed in an “envelope” of sorts. It’s a piece of foam core that has a plastic sheet over it. The printed piece goes between those two elements and you then feed that into the lamination machine, which melds everything together using heat. I was taught about the air bubbles and how to combat against those which is something I’ve dealt with as a student with mounting things. Finally, we were ready to cut it down to size but unfortunately only had access to an x acto knife, so the process was extremely tedious and we had to do this for 2 posters. After gaining all this production knowledge, I’m pretty well equipped now to move forward as my internship continues. It was definitely an enjoyable experience and one I’ll always value.

The last week was very productive at the internship. We learned how to use a somewhat ancient looking machine that uses air to make brochure folds.   It uses two presise measurement rulers that are designed to be adjusted based on the dimensions of the paper you’re using. For 8.5 by 11 we need to have both measuring on E. Its quite interesting and we [myself and the other interns] will have to use it going forward as our superiors want nothing to do with that machine.

We also learned how to use an extremely long printer that you must load a huge roll onto, sort of like toilet paper! You then feed the sheet to the printer and if its aligned properly, the printer will cut the edge of the sheet in a straight line just as assurance and then your project will print after clicking through the various menu options that you need.

Also over the course of the week, I worked on a new project, which was a 24 by 36 poster that will be for a specific workplace training in the city. I wasn’t given much creative direction for this one, except that I did not have to use a photo, and to stick to the branding of the colors. They were purple and gold. Ultimately I used the pen tool to create some swirls that allowed the text to sit snug within a visual frame, and it allowed me to fill up most of the empty space around the entire canvas.   I also started my African American Heritage project over again…just the map part. I’m realizing now that creating a map is way more difficult than I anticipated. But we’ll see how that goes in the future. The deadline for that project is the end of December or early January the latest.

Last week was surprising.   HRA’s only day off was Thanksgiving itself. Many people didn’t show up on Friday but the design team was there working. That was a very interesting experience since I’m used to being off on Friday from CUNY’s thanksgiving break weekend and public schools before that. This week I spent working on my new African American Heritage month idea. I was planning to spice up the map by adding symbols to the edges of the paper. These symbols are on the actual national burial ground monument and are varied; some are religious, other are more spiritual, and that is the best part of it. There is no exclusivity to these symbols, that they can represent anyone who was buried here; these symbols can represent anyone today as well. I re-created 10 of the symbols in Illustrator and began dotting them around the sheet. Finally I scrapped out my old map. It was just a childish, color-based illustration that didn’t really align with the concept at large, which is to create an old map of different hallowed grounds.

Another project I worked on was a children’s calendar flyer [for the children’s calendar I worked on earlier in the semester]. This flyer just needed revisions so my supervisor handed it down to me. The revisions required simple date modifications, a few text replacements and omissions and a bit of picture replacements. There was a print and a web version and both had similar revisions. Throughout the week I also had to prepare some files for printing at our exterior print shop. In order to do so I had to find the files by specific name on the server, and load them into a folder that is named after the assignment number of that project. The folder name is usually a ridiculous number. After that is said and done I had to make sure that the color properties were correct and that they were hires files. On to the next week I suppose.

This week was a bit crowded. I finally finished working on my African American heritage month concept. I also created a old time map which is the concept that they originally wanted. I haven’t worked on that much, its just some color and a proof of concept really…but this other concept is wonderful and I hope they choose it. I spent the last 3 weeks doing research on the underwater sculptures, and putting my illustration skills to the test. This week we were assigned a few projects. One was redesigning the logo of an internal award at HRA the Commissioners Excellence Program. That is awarded to workers who excel and go beyond the call of duty. The original logo was messy and very busy. I sketched and wrote a lot for a day or two until I came up with the idea to create hands all reaching for the light of NYC, Lady Liberty’s torch. This is what all employees at HRA do. They help residents of NYC keep going, by directing them or helping them gain access to SNAP food stamps and other programs for families in need. Together we all help the city strive for that light, that drive to improve one’s self, or just the ability to survive a few months while times are harsh.

Today I was assigned some brochures to design. One of my supervisors forwarded the Microsoft word files with the body copy necessary. I had complete free reign over the design as long as I stick to the branding colors. The brochures are devised by the domestic violence department and they talk about that, and about tenant guidelines in apartments, especially landlord responsibilities; all information for people who were abused and need temporary housing away from home. I’ll see where I go with this design but in the meantime, I finished another assignment.

My co-intern Sean was tasked with redesigning a flyer about signing up for medical care. The “essential” flyer as we called it, was a 2 page document with information and icons. Our supervisor tasked Sean with redesigning the document, and he went one direction while I went in another direction. Our supervisor did not like either direction and told me to simply modify the original icons so they made more sense. She told us maybe the original design [with the final tweaks] was the best, and she should just stop obsessing over it. She said she only wanted to give the project leader different versions but in the end we settled on the default. That was a bit disappointing but we were pressed for time.

This week at work I was showed around the office. I got to meet another intern and learn how the printer works. The printer is amazing, and it can print, copy, and even produce binded books. You have the option of using a saddle stich binding or a slight variation with a thin flat spine. The process is amazing but you have to make sure everything in your document is aligned and that your settings on the printer are making sense too. My supervisor and I messed up a few prints of a book this week because we were clumsily mixing up a few printer settings on the actual printer monitor.

Speaking of that booklet, I had to redesign a large portion of it because it was simply hideous. Some one had the audacity to design something in Microsoft word and it looked like clipart and a mess of non-aligned elements. Whats worse is that I couldn’t really edit it, even as a pdf in illustrator, so it was an arduous process. I think I spent two days on that project alone, making sure I didn’t mistakenly remove essential body text. Basically I had to remove the splash pages of each chapter in addition to reorganize the table of contents. After an exhausting process I finally finished it and never felt greater relief!!!

This week was my first week at the internship. As HRA is a city agency with a small graphics department within it, they provide their own workstations. Every one has a mac and a pc in addition to logins for each. A server holds all of our work and the interns had to make a folder that holds all of our work.   So far I have helped on 3 projects in some form or another.

My first project was a poster for a Jobs Fair at HRA. I used a typographic treatment while my co-worker/intern went with a more graphical approach and recycled existing material from the server. After that, I was in charge of creating a new logo for a new department. It had to follow guidelines that were given to me in a binder. HRA has a strict method for its logo branding that shows consistency throughout all the logos of all the departments. Another project I worked on was correctly translating materials for an instructional poster. The languages included Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Hatian Creole. Arabic provided the most trouble and we needed to use both MS Word and Illustrator to make it copy in the proper format. The last memorable project I worked on was signage that will be used in a building. This sign was delivered to me with centered text that had no boundaries, jumping all over the place, a handicap wheelchair figure with non rounded wheels, and they needed an arrow placed in there. I completely recreated the figure and enlarged the text to fit the documents boundaries, in addition to providing hierarchy through different fonts. My supervisor loved it and forwarded it to the requester.

Lastly I’ve gotten to bond a bit with my co-intern Sean who is here in NYC studying at SVA and is originally from Seoul Korea, and Seattle, WA.   He is currently reading a book on graphic design and helped me with some research on the handicap sign to inform me that there is a new more “active” version being tested. It gave me the insight that I too should be reading more often and taking in more of the world around me in order to better myself as a designer.

The final piece of the puzzle has been completed. This week I’ve been extremely sick and I couldn’t even attend some classes. I had to go to the 32^ND floor of 4 WTC to speak to Miss Alegra Maple. She held my final orientation on HRA and educated me on the practices and behavioral procedures that should be taking place in the working environment. I also had to fill out more paperwork in addition to all the paperwork I’ve filled out already. These copies were for HRA’s records. I also got an ID photo snapped of me, and I received my non-employee identification card. Joanna says I’ll receive my building card sometime next week. That card will allow me to enter the building and open doors on HRA floors. That’s what I really can’t wait for because I usually have to knock and have someone open the door. Speaking of which, once you enter the work environment it truly is state of the art and almost futuristic. It reminds me of the all white hallways/labs in Terminator 2, where the huge explosion happens during the SWAT team battle in SKYNET HQ. Everything in the work environment is white, the view is spectacular and central air provides regulated temperatures. The cubicles aren’t complete cubicles and you can still communicate with co workers which really encourages team work in a team based industry.

This week was amazing. I got the internship! I went to the interview with Linda at PSC. She highlighted 3 graphic design positions available and asked me to rank them in order of preference from 1 to 3. 1 would be my first choice, etc. My first choice seemed to be the best choice and the only choice to be honest. The others were more of office work and another option was really nothing relating to design. Linda got back to me within 30 minutes telling me that HRA loved my resume and that they wanted an interview ASAP with me. Linda directed me to 150 Greenwhich St. which happens to be 4 WTC. I was instantly taken back by the sheer grandness of the location. Inside the lobby, men with suits work the reception desks and security and give out visitor passes only if you are on the guest list. I got on elevators that have no buttons inside and operate through smart panels on the lobby walls. On the 30^th floor, Joanna, my future supervisor was awaiting alongside her co worker Laila. They interviewed me and what stood out on my resume was Pizza Enthusiast. For once in my life, being myself and listing things I love on a resume helped me and further solidified my perception of how I want to navigate the world: to break molds and make my own path. After reviewing my resume, discussing my portfolio and having lots of laughs they decided to take me. Laila was once an intern for HRA, and worked under Joanna. Laila also graduated from City Tech and thus has a strong desire to help me out. She said “I have love for my people that come where I cam from and I want to help City Tech kids today by giving them opportunities.” After that was all said and done I left gleefully and snapped a picture of the 4 WTC entrance for social media. The next step was to return to Linda in order to confirm my tax papers validity and in order to receive some time cards for submission. We’ll have to wait and see how these final few steps play out before I get to start.