Author: Mike Cipriani

Now that my internship is picking up, I’ve been getting more and more done while working on multiple projects at once. We’ve gone back to working on various logos, while tweaking previous versions and starting new things. So far, the logos have been the most challenging. We’re really trying to nail the feel and essence of each office, and trying to do better than the existing logo is hard enough already. I’ve gone back to sketching a few times, but ultimately end up doing a bunch of different renditions of a logo in Illustrator or InDesign.

We were also introduced to a new intern that will be helping us work on video production. We might have to visit the college eventually to gather footage for a TikTok, but nothing is set in stone yet. At this point, I’ve talked to my supervisor and fellow design intern enough to get to know them a bit better, and we look forward to speaking to each other in our regular Zoom meetings.

What my Illustrator artboards have been looking like lately:

Sometimes for my internship I’ll be given vague instructions on what to do for that day, but then later on in the week be given more instructions and details for a certain project. An example of this was something I worked on recently which was a notice that was going to be used for Brooklyn College’s social media. The post is to let students know that if they took a survey, they’d have a chance to be one of 25 students to win a $25 gift card. I did some minor research, looking at the college’s social media to see what I could base my designs off of, to keep a familiar look and feel of what they’ve already posted.

At first, I was given only the copy for the design and went from there. The next day, my supervisor provided me and another intern with images of BC students we could use to add more visual interest, which helped a lot when designing. At this point I started to look at what the college had already posted, and got much more direction on how to design.

For a while now during my internship with Brooklyn College, I’ve been mostly working on logos for different departments of the college. Logos are a big deal in graphic design, since they have to be definable at a glance, as well as recognizable and iconic- they just have to be good. However, making logos for a college I know little about, not to mention one I don’t attend and have never been to, is pretty challenging. Something else to take into account when making a logo is the context, such as what the logo is about, and who it is for. Not to mention, doing all of this while following the college’s brand guidelines. In regards to research, all I have to go off of is what my supervisor tells me, whatever is on the college’s website, and the previous logos.

My process going forward with creating these logos have been somewhat of a rollercoaster. Having good ideas, executing them, then scrapping them and starting over, working with other designers, deciding on what typefaces to use for consistency, trying to figure out the right imagery to make the logo stand out against the others, seeing what looks good at various sizes, and much more. So far, my fellow intern and I have proposed many different variations of different logos, but haven’t gotten any of them approved yet.

In my internship so far, I have gotten more experience talking to clients, which, for right now, is just my supervisor. I’ve also gotten more experience getting feedback on my work, and then going back to my designs and changing them accordingly. During the Zoom meetings between my supervisor and I, she gives me feedback on what I’ve designed for that week based on her previous instructions. I usually provide various options, and get advice as to what to scrap, work on, or go forward with.

Something unexpected that became a big part of the way I designed was looking at and following brand guidelines. Early on in my internship, I was given Brooklyn College’s brand guidelines to study and use as a reference, which became very important when designing. The guidelines are very strict in certain aspects, like limiting what typefaces and fonts can be used, as well as graphics and textures. Every time I work on something for my internship, I have the guidelines open and reference it frequently.

Since I don’t commute to Brooklyn College for my internship, everything I do is online, which includes meeting with my supervisor via Zoom. This means that my workplace is essentially my desk, where I get all of my work done. Since I start at 9am for the days I work, I’m usually still in my pajamas, unless I have to go to class in person right after. If that’s the case, I’m fully dressed and ready to leave as soon as I’m done with my internship for that day. There’s no proper attire, and I’m not required to have my camera on during the meetings, but I do when I’m fully dressed and look presentable. The Zoom meetings are usually very brief, with my supervisor giving me instructions for what I’m designing that day, and then letting me work for the remainder of my time. When I finish my work (12pm on Mondays, 12:30pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays), I put what I have done in a shared Google Drive folder so that my supervisor can review it.

Recently, I’ve started to work with other designers on the same designs. My supervisor introduced the three of us over Zoom, and now we communicate over Discord. From there, we’ve been talking about our designs and how to improve them and progress. I mainly use Adobe Illustrator and InDesign to create designs, so I have to make sure to organize my workspace and package my work when giving it to my teammates.

My workplace (my desk):

My role in my internship with Brooklyn College is a graphic design intern, meaning I get to work by myself, or with other design interns to design various graphics for the college, such as branding, banners, logos, and more. Whether I work by myself or collaborate with other people is up to my supervisor, Isana Leshchinskaya, who is the assessment and accreditation specialist in the Office of Educational Research and Assessment under Institutional Effectiveness.

I found this internship from the COMD Internship Coordination Site in late 2021 while I was looking for Spring 2022 internships. There was no official form to sign up for the internship, so I had to email my cover letter, resume, and portfolio to Isana. A couple of days after I emailed her, she asked for an interview via Zoom, and I accepted. The interview was only with her, and she asked me various questions about the way I work instead of the usual interview questions, like my greatest strength or weakness. She asked if I work well by myself or in a group, and if I can take a leadership role if necessary. She then asked about what I like doing in the graphic design field, as well as my hobbies and what I’m interested in. During all of this, we both referenced my portfolio and she asked me about some of the work I included in it. About a week after my interview, Isana let me know that Brooklyn College would like to offer me a position, to which I swiftly accepted.

How I found out about this internship: Brooklyn College Seeking Multiple Spring 2022 Interns

My internship for this Spring is with Brooklyn College. I officially started February 7th, and will be continuing until the end of the semester. It is completely online, so thankfully I do not have to physically go into the college. This worked out extremely well for me because I have quite a long commute to get to City Tech, so being able to work online helped maximize my time management.

For this internship, I get to utilize my skills to design various things for the college, such as banners, logos, advertisements, and other branding graphics.  As of right now, I work with one other intern, as well as a college assistant to collaborate and create various designs.

Brooklyn College is, well, a college, so it only has one location in Brooklyn, New York. It is a public institution that was founded in 1930, and is a part of the CUNY system. Brooklyn College aims to provide a transformative and affordable education to any and all students, and puts an emphasis on educating immigrants and first-gen college students. When it was founded in 1930, it was NYC’s first public coeducational liberal arts college. In 1961, it became a member of CUNY, and in 1970, had an open-admissions policy that granted any New York City resident to attend. This caused overcrowding of classrooms and budget and resources cuts, and began “retrenchment” in 1975 which cut back many services such as faculty and administration.

In recent news, Brooklyn College’s president ordered all security officers to surrender their guns, in response to gun safety. Soon after, there was a shooting near the school, and the college had to call other colleges and security officers that had guns to come to the college. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The college also received some backlash lately, regarding a situation with anti-Semitism, which they denounced on February 3rd.
Sources: Brooklyn College – Police Gun Carry Conundrum
Brooklyn College Facing Investigation for Treatment of Jewish Students in Mental Health Graduate Program