Reading the AIGA Design and Business Ethics Handbook has made me aware of how to conduct myself as a professional graphic designer. Some of the topics discussed in this handbook were writing briefs for clients to fill out so that there is an understanding of their purpose for the project they are creating, conducting designer to client agreements and contracts, usage of copyrighted photos, illustrations, vectors any artwork to be purchased and credited by the owner and budgeting. This sets the tone for me to know how to handle clients and business in the future. This entails for me to be more specific of what I want and to make sure to have everything in writing where the client and I can agree and be on the same page of design projects. I have always had some good relationships with clients where I was in charge of taking over their projects. The usage of using copyrighted photos has made me question about how to get permission to use them. I usually reach out to photographers or models to use their photos and give them credit as well as a copy of the artwork that is being designed. I was once told that even if there are photos that do not have a copyrighted symbol, they were still copyrighted. There are free stock image sites that can be used but sometimes it doesnt have what you are looking for. How do you handle a situation like this? How do you keep yourself protected? There seems to be so much details and laws that it becomes very overwhelming. In the New York Times article, graphic designer Shepard Fairey, designed the 2008 presidential campaign “Hope” poster is being sued  by AP (Associated Press) for incorporating the photo of Barack Obama in his design. Why should a designer face jail time for using a photo? Yes, there are penalties, but jail time? Is it really that serious? On both sides, I can understand the usage of photos but there is also the one who approves the final say for these projects. This case teaches a lesson to be extra careful of using anything that is liscensed or copyrighted.

My experience at Calling All Graphics has been a good experience. The environment was in a home office setting and not too busy. I was greeted every morning at the bottom of the steps by Coco the cat lol. The office was a nice room with a cherry blossom tree artwork painted on the wall. It gave a homely yet creative feel environment. Most of the design work was mainly geared to designing menu boards for delis and cafe. I learned a lot by being here with a reminder of running a business and dealing with clients. From my experience, the clients usually give you the information and you give them the artwork. With Mrs. Gotay, she comes up with the concepts and wording for her client’s menus to attract more business from customers. This reminds me of being in Professor McVicker’s class for advertising where we had to come up with pitches, slogans, and lines to catch the target audience’s attention. In her collection of photos, Mrs. Gotay has a group of high-resolution photos that she uses from google as well as paid stock websites she is signed up with if she ever needs to buy it. I know that some companies need you to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement Form but this was not the case here. She made sure that I would save some of the artwork so that I have it to show in my presentation. What I have learned from working with Mrs. Gotay you have to create a balance between working and having a social life. This is something I have struggled with but just watching her made me realize that I need to be more firm and to really find that balance so that I can have a healthy life.

This week, I finally made it to the MAD Museum (Museum of Arts and Design)!!!! This museum is located in Manhattan at Columbus Circle. This area is a popular area because it is close to central park where a lot of tourists comes to sightsee and shop!. The museum is really nice, clean and a bit intimate. The exhibit that is being shown here is called Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die, Punk Graphics from 1974-1986. There was a lot to take in and a lot of different design styles that I recognized from other artists. It was easy to recognize some of the styles of constructivism, surrealism, postmodernism and pop art. It was amazing to see how the designers incorporated old techniques and recreated posters, album covers, playbills, brochures that geared mostly towards the music industry. I really was impressed with the typography layout and how the negative space in these designs was used to make the message and information legible. The photography stood out mostly because it captured the artist’s actions and emotions that explain who they are. These design trends and techniques seem to be coming back and being utilized in different media forms. I really enjoyed this museum the most. I am not a fan of punk rock music but I would definitely recommend anyone to go visit this museum. It really is worth it. not  

Spring break came and went. It didn’t feel like I really had a break because I was still working but was happy to get some extra hours in since I began my internship a bit late. So many things to do, so many tasks and assignments to finish. At my internship, Calling All Graphics, there was a lot of work to be designed and also a lot of approvals for previous jobs to be sent out for print. I was working on a Playbill program for “On The Town”, a Broadway show. This program was for Mrs. Gotay’s (president of Calling All Graphics) theatre organization. This organization reenacts stage shows with their own twist to it. I helped designed the cover and lay out the cast members, the crew and sponsors for the show. Another design I worked on was creating billboard menus, take-out menus and menu boards for some organic delis and cafe. This was a little bit challenging for me because I could not get the tab settings right in Adobe Indesign. It’s weird because when I went home to practice, I got it and when I’m at the internship, it doesn’t work for me. As I see the style that is being used, it helps me to understand and see how hand-lettering, sans serif and serif fonts, work together to create an attractive layout.

On Wednesday evening, I decided to go to an event that was being held at The New School in Manhattan, NY. The name of this event was “The Part-time Professor.” I chose to come to this event because I wanted to get some tips on entrepeneurs balancing a work life and a social life. This was my first time visiting this school. The admission was $5.00 for students and the lady at the door let me in for free because they weren’t allowed to take cash at the door. I walked in and it was a nice little set up. As people were coming in, I really didn’t notice any students. It seemed to be more professors than students there. To my suprise it was a panel discussion about designers who have their own business and also teach graphics part-time. It was more based on their experience of teaching and using techniques to have the students interact with one another and do critical thinking. It was interesting to hear their side of not knowing what to do all the time and wandering if they are giving the right answers to the student’s questions. I thought this was going to be more of talking about graphic design but it wasn’t. Overall, I was happy to have finally be able to make it to an event.

Learning new software can be very challenging. The Adobe Creative Cloud has so many programs for all your graphic design needs. Technology is constantly evolving and becoming more advanced in everything we do. In the UX/UI (User Experience / User Interface) world, everything is based on how the user interacts with all types of platforms created digitally. It also consists of research and collected data on how the user navigates throughout their experience. UX seems to have been around for a long time but now there is more of a hands-on trend to actually hear from users what can be improved to accommodate their needs more efficiently. Professor Pellicciotta gave the assignment to design a short mobile prototype in Adobe XD for an ice cream business that makes deliveries. First time using Adobe XD and the creators definitely made something that is much easier and more helpful to use. One of the nice things about it is that you can create your layouts in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator and import them into Adobe XD with all your layers. It also lets you preview your work on a template mobile of the device you be easily shared with a client to receive their feedback and changes for their project. The name of the ice cream business I decided to call it was “Organic Flavors“. I wanted to create a logo and layout that represented it to be more organic to sell plant-based flavors.

The whole idea was to create and familarize ourselves with the programs. This motivates me to design my own website once I finish the layout and the next challenge would be the coding!

What a week! I was feeling stressed out last week about not getting an internship. Professor Pellicciotta and Professor Goetz helped me find one. I got a copy of the employer’s list and began sending out my resume immediately. I applied to NYSPIRG, Uniworld Group, Firefly Design, New American Chamber of Commerce, Calling All Graphics and others that were from another site. I received a response back from a company called Vibe Inn, a small music business that promotes new and upcoming artists and wanted to set up a telephone interview. After I confirmed this interview, another company, Marla Gotay from Calling All Graphics contacted me. I spoke to the owner via email and received the internship. At first, I was like “Wow, no interview?” I guess my portfolio was enough. So I cancelled the interview with Vibe Inn and informed them of receiving an internship. I’ll admit, I was preparing myself for this type of work being part of the music industry which was something I wasn’t sure of if wanted to get back into that type of field. After my confirmation with Calling All Graphics, other companies started replying back to me. I was shocked and wasn’t expecting a quick turnaround. Then I was feeling like maybe I shouldn’t have responded back so quickly. I was just too eager and didn’t want to waste any time. There was one company that I was hoping to receive a response back from and that was Uniworld Group, Inc. The company was based more on the community, arts and entertainment. I felt that maybe this was a place I can see myself receiving some growth from learning more about their company. Then I received a response back and was told they were going to contact me next week to discuss more. I wasn’t sure on how to reply back because I already confirmed with Calling All Graphics and to start on Thursday. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Sigh! I weighed my options and had to turn them down :0(. It wasn’t a guarantee that I would get the internship and didn’t want to waste any more time into not completing my hours. I did send Uniworld Group Inc. a reply back and hoping for a future position after I graduate.

My first day at Calling All Graphics felt different since I have not worked for someone in so long. I arrived at 9 am to begin working. It was a nice little setup in a room. Mrs. Gotay has been doing her business for over 30 years and still going on strong. She does a lot of work for restaurants and other places creating menus, window signs, logos, posters and more. She also has an organization in theatre. We were working on ID cards for a deli. The ID cards are those little cards you see displayed on top of sandwiches and salads that are in the front to identify what kind of items they prepare. It wasn’t too bad. The next project I worked on was a sign for a food stand Kiosk. The client wanted some lettering designs to be placed on the back with the food items they sell. It was cool to just play around with some text and arrange them in different orders. The last project was a window sign for a deli store. This was just a large photo with their logo and lunch specials. It was interesting to see that Mrs. Gotay not only goes by the content the client wants but she also comes up with some catchy titles for the client that will draw the customers in. I used to think you just give them what they asked for but I see that she also engages in helping her clients as well with their content of what to say. Overall the first day wasn’t bad. This type of work I am familiar with because my first graphic design job was working for a company making signs and circulars for supermarkets like Keyfood, C-Town, Associated and more just to name a few.

Today was my second round interview with New York Minute Magazine. This company is an online magazine that recognizes strong women for their accomplishments as well as empowering women in reaching their goals. The interview experience was different for me because it was done virtually. I didn’t get the job because legally I would have to be in school for six months in order to receive credit. The interviewer Sara Rizkalla was nice and very helpful in giving me some advice for future internships. She really was impressed with my work and liked me but it was just the laws of hiring for the academic credit period. My search continues…..

Isometric Drawings

Isometric Drawings discovering lights and shadows from the top side view.

One Point Perspective

Two Point Perspective

In the One Point Perspective, all buildings meet to the vanishing point  on the horizon line. This gives you an idea of how we view buildings by looking down the street. In the next photo is a Two Point Perspective drawing which shows you an overall view of looking down both streets from an angle or standing at a corner. It also illustrates how boxes are created by cubes to form buildings.