Coming to an End

Coming to an End
https://dribbble.com/shots/15225963-Happy-Birthday

As we approach the end of both the semester and the internship we can take this moment to reflect and look back at all the work weā€™ve accomplished during this time. We remember the stressful times, the easy-going times, and the exciting times when you got to try something new. I know that for me this semester has been particularly hard and equally as stressful. I mentioned in my previous post that I am to graduate this year and taking the internship class and senior project at the same time has kept my thoughts entirely busy and filled with pressure. I always want my work to be the best it can be and I hope I reflect that in my posts as well as the work I do for my internship.

Even though this semester has been equal parts stressful and tough I was able to gain so much knowledge that I could take with me into the future. Such as our discussions about all the different types of contracts a designer could have to protect themselves and their work. With this new found information Iā€™ll definitely be taking it and applying it to the real world after I graduate (hopefully). 

I plan to hopefully be sticking with my internship organization if theyā€™ll allow me since I think it would be a great opportunity to build my graphic design portfolio. I also plan on making new art for my illustration portfolio since that is something I truly am passionate about.

Looking at the Future Ahead #9

Looking at the Future Ahead
https://dribbble.com/shots/3829654-Interns

As the semester comes to an end that also means the internship is also coming to a close. Iā€™ve learned and gained so much knowledge from working at an internship and will definitely be taking all the knowledge I’ve gained with me into the future. As this is my last semester of CityTech I will be heading into the real world soon and I will be looking into more design internship opportunities. With that I continue to build my portfolio of design work such as magazine layouts, logos, merchandise mockups, and more. 

Iā€™ve been thinking about staying with my internship organization mainly because it’s a good experience for my portfolio and the people are also very kind and understanding. If the organization is willing to keep working with me Iā€™d be glad to work at a place like that. If I do end up working there this will be a great opportunity to build my graphic design portfolio since I’ve been mainly focusing on building my illustration portfolio. I think that it’s good to be well rounded to show other organizations that youā€™re not just a one trick pony. But who knows what the future lies ahead for me. I’m sure I’ll figure it out!

Attending Events as an Intern #7

Attending Events as an Intern
https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/meeting

As this is an asynchronous internship I haven’t gotten the opportunity to meet anyone from my department and the rest of the organization. I was lucky enough to meet the founder of the organization since I had a scheduled interview with him. Other than meeting the founder I haven’t spoken to anyone directly since. It is all through email and Microsoft teams. I also havenā€™t attended any events that the organization has had since Iā€™m just an intern in the Communications and Marketing Department.

Maybe it would be a good experience to enter the office and get to know the people I work with; however, I am unsure if I am allowed to do so. Since my only job as an intern is to just design what they give to me. Meeting my department supervisor would be interesting though because they seem like really nice and sweet people.

Self Evaluation #6

Self Evalution
https://www.leapsome.com/blog/how-to-write-a-self-assessment

So far I am performing to standards. The department supervisor seems to enjoy my designs that I hand in and haven’t gotten any real complaints on any of my designs so far. I would say I’m doing well and Iā€™m enjoying my time with this organization. The tasks given allow me as the designer to be super creative and design how I want it to look. There seems to be a level of trust there otherwise if they didn’t like my design they would probably notify me to make changes.Ā 

A merchandise mock-up task was assigned to us to create hats for the organization and I feel I did really well on that assignment. Not only on the technical side of things like photoshopping and editing the picture but also on the merchandise design side. Creating patterns and simple designs to put on the hats. It was fun and I felt like my supervisor enjoyed the designs.

My Projects as an Intern #5

My Projects as an Intern
https://www.motocms.com/blog/en/project-management-software-for-graphic-designers/

During my internship I had the opportunity of designing a magazine layout dedicated to the festival of Holi. It was my second task that I was assigned during the internship and I was eager to give it a try. Since it was only me working on this project the judgment was up to only me and my department’s supervisor. Whatever creative liberties I took were all my decisions and if the supervisor liked the design then that’s what mattered.Ā 

The assignment was a 2 paged spread and consisted of no black and white since during the festival of Holi those colors were not represented. The design was colorful but still easily legible. I handed the assignment in and mistakenly forgot to source my pictures and had to send in multiple versions of that layout. Luckily my supervisor was patient and also told me not to forget the organization’s logo when designing the layout. The overall assignment went well with a few tweaks here and there. But from now on I know to source the pictures and add the logo so we know who wrote and claims this article.

What I’ve Learned as an Intern #4

What I've Learned as an Intern
https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/6584582-illustration-vector-graphic-cartoon-character-of-home-study

My typical day as an intern is usually waiting for my supervisor to assign the task for this week. I spend multiple days and hours working on the assigned task not only in the design phase but also checking things for spelling and grammar mistakes. I am learning that when creating official designs for the real world rather than just college itā€™s especially important to credit where you used any pictures from to avoid copyright infringement. If I hadn’t known to put the sources down I could possibly get the organization in some legal trouble. I am not performing any clerical duties but instead I am designing things such as logos, magazine layouts, and merchandise mockups.Ā 

When working on my second task I accidentally forgot to source where I got the pictures I used in a magazine layout. I went to bed that night feeling like I had forgotten something important and woke up in a panic hoping the supervisor didn’t submit my design. Luckily I had time to fix the design and my supervisor was very understanding. For the future though I’m going to save myself the stress and credit the sources first before anything else.

My Workplace Environment #3

My Workplace Environment
https://dribbble.com/shots/14003373-Generations-In-The-Workplace

My particular position within the Communications and Marketing Department allows me to stay at home and work comfortably in my pajamas. But from pictures on the website employees are usually dressed casual or casual formal. My workstation is usually at my dining room table or my couch but as for other employees it could possibly be an office space. My typical work hours are early mornings to the evenings and afternoons.

Working from home has its advantages and disadvantages. But for my current situation working from home is ideal since I am also a caretaker to my grandma. Working from home allows you to have the freedom and comfort. I also find that it helps me stay more focused even though I’m not in a proper work environment

My Role as an Intern #2

My Role as an Intern
https://www.dreamstime.com/internship-job-web-template-free-vector-illustration-female-students-interns-staff-hand-mobile-display-diagram-image216566000#_

My role within the organization is within the Communications and Marketing Department. I design things for the organization such as article layouts, logos, and merchandise mock-ups. My professor was the one who recommended this organization to me since it was asynchronous which fit into my schedule. An interview was set up by the founder of the organization and was well aware of city tech students because they regularly intern at their organization. Luckily there werenā€™t multiple interviews and gave me the position over the phone and locked my place in. 

During the interview I was asked why I wanted to work with the organization, what interested me about the organization, and what kind of things I do in my spare time. It was interview questions but I was still nervous overall. The founder also told me in the same call to have a cover letter ready as well as a proper headshot to put on the website.

The Start of the Internship #1

The Start of the Internship
https://news.usc.edu/175845/virtual-internships-usc-students-career-services-covid-19/

The organization that I am currently interning at is a small non-profit. They are located in Queens, New York and are dedicated to ā€œEmpower and integrate underserved communities and other immigrants into civic and economic life.ā€ They ā€œadvocate for social justice, boosting civic engagement, educational opportunities, healthcare access for all, senior support services.ā€ The organization was founded in 2016 and is still helping communities in need to this day. I work within the Communications and Marketing Department.

On the organizations website they state that ā€œI came up with the idea of the organization based off of seeing the issues that existed in the communities when I would travel. Whether these issues were from Agriculture, Health, Housing, Education, Energy, Financial Inclusion, Workforce Development to Water & Sanitation. Individuals in communities were tired of the false promises from their government and other organizations where they then started living in silence.ā€ The organization’s founder was determined to help provide certain communities the tools they needed to have a successful and steady way of living. They said that ā€œI was tired of seeing people suffer in silence and go through hardships losing faith completelyā€¦People would approach me to help them and then I realized that I needed to put something together in order to help more people to make an impact around the worldā€ They believe in taking action rather than making promises that can’t be fulfilled. Changing the world and the lives of others is ultimately up to us. 

Sources:

https://unityforequality.org/about/