Author: Sabrina Huth

Sabrina_FinalPresentation

The next client was Al’s Deli which is located in Manhattan. For this assignment, I had to create a smoothie sticker board, size 66.325 x 37 inches, with a fruit border, and images of their popular smoothies.

I found different images of fruits from online that were in the smoothies, brought them into photoshop to create png files with a transparent background, and placed each fruit on top of one another. For the splattered colors, I was inspired by the way a blender works and visually thought of the smoothie splattering everywhere. Marla was happy by how the board came out and so was I!

On my first week at Calling All Graphics, Marla assigned me, five digital menu boards, three of which were completed by a previous intern and two new boards that I created from scratch. Since the client, Panini Grill, wanted some minor changes, I proceeded with the task. Marla put all her files in Dropbox so it was easy for me to get whatever files I needed that were required for the project, such as images, InDesign files, Illustrator files, and After Effects files.

For the cheeseburger deluxe menu board, Marla asked me to change the text within the circle from “add a lemonade” to “juicy & delicious”.

For the Philly cheesesteak board, Marla wanted a different catchphrase inside the circle. We both thought of different phrases and decided on one together. I changed it from “try our lemonade” to “add a fresh lemonade.”

For the breakfast burrito board, the phrase was the same as the cheesesteak board so I changed it from “add a lemonade” to “many options to choose from.”

The smoothie digital menu board and Panini Grill introduction were some of the first boards I worked on from start to finish. Marla gave me all the elements from type, images, and layout. From there I created a static board in InDesign, placing all the elements in the position that I wanted and showing it to her for approval before moving into After Effects. Once Marla approved, I created outlines and moved it into Illustrator to release all the clipping masks. Next, I transferred the file to After Effects to start moving each element.

Once I was finished, I uploaded the mp4s to Dropbox and Marla assigned me my next project.

Coffitivity is an app and website that impersonates the sounds of a public cafe to help with your creativity and increase your concentration. Based on proven research, background noise helps with exploring new ideas. Now that some of us are still working from home, this app lets you interact with virtual people around you as if you’re at an actual cafe.

This app has different sounds for you to choose from such as morning murmur, lunchtime lounge, university undertones, and for an extra $9 you can listen to Paris paradise, brazil bistro, and  Texas teahouse. The noises include people talking, humming, doors opening and closing, kitchen utensils, and more. My favorite one is morning murmur because it reminds me of a busy Starbucks and all the times I went to go pick up my coffee before going to class before COVID-19. I wish I knew about this app earlier because it helped me write the rest of my blog posts.

The first app that I chose to review is Pinterest. Pinterest is an image-sharing and social media service that allows users to find inspiration, shop, and share ideas like recipes, fashion, beauty, home decor, and more.

There are billions of Pins that you can find that will suit your liking. Pins are bookmarks that include images, videos, or products. Pinterest allows users to be creative in their unique way by pinning as much as they want to their boards and even uploading their images. You can also link your Pins with websites and edit a Pins information at any time. Other users can comment and pin your images to their boards if your profile is public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can create as many boards and categorize them however you like. For example, nail designs, Christmas party ideas, typography designs, layout designs, etc. Pinterest will then recommend images that it thinks will fit perfectly onto your board, so you will never be left without an idea! As someone who uses Pinterest, I highly recommend this app because it has been very helpful whenever I need inspiration for any project or occasion. I also use Pinterest as my diary when I can’t seem to find the right words to express how I feel.

The virtual exhibit that I found most interesting was the Nassau County Museum Exhibit Blue. Blue is the world’s most popular color, which represents a contrasting range of emotions and is associated with open spaces, freedom, imagination, and sensitivity.

The first artwork that I chose was The Old Guitarist, 1903 by Pablo Picasso. The dimensions of this piece are 122.9 × 82.6 cm and the medium is oil painting on canvas. Picasso used a monochromatic prussian blue palette to represent the suffering and sadness of the guitarist, also adding a warm brown hue to the guitar to represent the man’s hope for survival. The texture in this work of art is soft with visible strokes for details. The old guitarist is the main subject who is crammed in the frame with elongated legs and worn-out clothes with his eyes closed which implies that he is weak, poor, and blind. I selected this piece because, to me, it brings a positive message. I see that the guitar represents hope in life and no matter how bad things get, there is always something that can keep you moving forward.

The second artwork that I selected was Blue Nude II. 1952 by Henri Matisse. The dimensions of this piece are 116.2 × 88.9 cm and the medium is Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, on white paper, mounted on canvas. Matisse’s assistant pre-painted the paper using a singular color of blue and repeated the process of pinning and unpinning the bits of paper to create the female figure which was an important subject for Matisse. He effortlessly cut out shapes and layered them together for a simple and elegant composition. I selected this piece of art because I find the female body to be very beautiful in all shapes and sizes, and Matisse easily conveyed that using flat paper but with a 3-dimensional appearance.

The third artwork that I chose was Deep Blue Day, 2014 by Jeffrey Gibson. The dimensions of this piece are 49.5 x 15 x 15 inches and the medium is a vinyl punching bag, recycled wool blanket, repurposed painting, leather fringe, tin jingles, and beads. The colors used are blue, yellow, and white. The punching bag is the subject matter that represents his personal history of physical anger and frustration. He was inspired by his Native heritage, culture, fashion, and sports. I selected this piece because I have never seen a punching bag with beads and tin jingles so it was very different and unique.

I felt the virtual tour was effective in some ways compared to an in person tour. With the virtual tour, I took the time to search up each art piece and read more about each one that I wouldn’t find in person. In comparison to an in person tour, it’s better to see the small details of the artwork instead of looking at a photo.

The second networking event that I attended was Landing an Internship at the Times: CUNY x NYT Series ’21. I found this event through the Internship coordination site on OpenLab that was posted by Professor Goetz. This event talked about how to land an internship and what they look for in your resume when applying. At the beginning of the zoom call, Nya who is one of the coordinators and hosts on the NY Times series team asked everyone to put where they were from, and from what I remember I saw a lot of people from Manhattan and Queens. Nya introduced four employees, Jenni Lee, Jamie Liao, Jeanie Kay, and Tina Ye. Everyone introduced themselves and mentioned their early career internship experiences to kick off the event.

Starting with Tina Ye, she stated that there’s no one way to get into the industry but as long as you get there that’s all that matters. You get even more opportunities when you take different paths in life. I agree with her because life is not linear, there will be open doors in places where you’ll never look to find. Jeanie Kay mentioned that there are various designs out there, do what makes you happy, not what makes other people happy. Ask a lot of questions to help understand your company, role, and audience. Jamie Liao dealt with imposter syndrome, she had to put herself in an uncomfortable position to be comfortable. I feel like that is something that everyone deals with at times, especially since I’m an introvert and I find myself to be socially awkward. I constantly have to remind myself about who I am and how different I am from everyone else because that’s what makes me unique. Jennie Lee talked about how her experience with different internships has helped her get into the flow of things.

What they look for in your resume:

• Portfolio (Password next to the website if needed)
• Intellectual facts
• Hobbies/Interests
• Originality (BE YOURSELF!)

Towards the end of the zoom call, all of the four ladies left us with great advice for the rest of our design careers. Kay said to be curious and aware, bring yourself up as much as you can to stay up to date. Lee’s advice was to show up, be responsive, and show up on time. Lastly, Liao said to show your passion in everything that you do. After the event ended, I connected with them on LinkedIn.

This webinar had two speakers, Linda Joy Kattwinkel and Shel Perkins. Linda whose an attorney with a background in copyright and trademark law, has an undergraduate degree in graphic design and studied at Hastings in San Francisco where she went into law. She is now specialized in intellectual property. Shel is a management consultant with a background in graphic design, he was involved in creative organizations and worked behind the scenes on resources and contracts dealing with financial issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linda and Shel discussed AIGA contracts and how they mirror normal contracts. The binding legal agreement consists of offer plus acceptance plus consideration between the designer and client. Oral contracts are acceptable as long as the parties make it clear that they plan to fulfill their duties, but certain contracts can be written as long as your services will not be fully performed within a year that the contract is made. The statute of frauds states that services that pass the one-year time frame such as large interactive projects, wayfinding systems, or public info systems require written contracts.

Keep in mind that if you don’t have a signed contract or if it’s too vague, that may get you into a legal dispute in court. Shel talked about three forms of guidance – course of dealing, course of performing, and usage of trade. The course of dealing and performing both go hand in hand with one another, the court looks into previous successful behaviors that were established in the past and uses that as a guide moving forward. A usage of trade is the standard business practice, the court looks at other agencies that are similar to yours. For example, if you have a graphic design business, the court will look into other graphic design firms to see how they behave and what’s in their contract.

This webinar was very informative for me because I plan to open my own motion graphic design business one day and I had no knowledge about creating a contract. For motion graphics, it is essential to include the basic terms and conditions, work made for hire, and final motion graphic deliverables.

Adobe Max Keynote: Create Tomorrow Together was the first networking event that I attended on October 26. This event was for three days but I only took part in two sessions on the first day. Before the sessions began, there was an introduction from multiple people who were talking about the importance of Adobe and what to expect for the new features in the Creative Cloud Apps. Shantanu Narayen kicked off the event, he is the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Adobe. Narayen talks about creativity and how it is powering the digital economy from every surface and media type. Creativity is a catalyst for positive change and is about telling your story in fresh and impressing ways by using design to visually create that concept. Not only can it be done individually but it is also a team sport that brings together the community.

Another speaker who stood out to me was Scott Belsky, who serves as Adobe’s Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President of Creative Cloud. He talks collaboration and the future of connected creativity or in simpler terms, creativity + connectivity = impact. Connected creativity includes your assets which is the Creative Cloud libraries such as colors, fonts, etc., your apps which are the cloud documents and your team who determines your impact based off of organization and alignment.

The first session that I attended was The Art of Storytelling: Making an Impact, hosted by Esther Havens Mann. She is a Humanitarian Photographer, Storyteller and Speaker based in Dallas, Texas. Mann spoke about how to photograph someone with dignity and respect and how to tell stories through images. There is beauty in connectivity between the person and the camera. It is crucial to keep in mind that the person is more important than your photograph, building a relationship with who you want to photograph is something that should be done beforehand which includes asking them for permission to take their picture.  Getting to know them determines the climax and resolution in someone’s story. The questions you should ask yourself when building their story are, what did they overcome? what are they hoping for? what were the way things were? and how are they now?

The second session that I attended was The Future of Design: Creating the World You Want to See, hosted by Laci Jordan who is a Multi-disciplinary Artist from Alabama. Jordan talked about how to get yourself out there in the design industry, as well as dropping some of her favorite gems and tools on us to help us grow and become the best version of ourselves. Three of my top messages that were said by Jordan were, “Pay attention to your experiences, nothing in your journey happens for no reason.” I believe this is absolutely true, no matter what stage you are in your life. People, opportunities, and failures all happen for a reason and sometimes it happens for the better. Laci Jordan also stated, “Closed mouths don’t get fed!” I probably heard this quote over 20 times in my entire life, it encourages me to always have a voice because my voice may have a positive impact on others. Lastly, another message that stood out to me was, “Your difference is your strength, stay different”. I used to struggle with being myself when it comes to social environments because I tend to fear that nobody will accept me, but I began accepting the fact that I am different for a reason and that’s what makes me stand out.

Marla Gotay is the president of Calling All Graphics, a small business that specializes in printing, graphic design and marketing. She creates design printed materials that include menus, menu boards, flyers, logos, posters, postcards, signages, and more for all of her restaurant clients. Marla is such a sweetheart and communicative team player who only wants the best for her clients, who she’s been designing for over 25 years. A lot of the projects that she works on are mostly done with Adobe Indesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

When Marla set up another Zoom meeting with me, she instead called me by phone and basically told me that she liked what she saw on my portfolio website. She wanted me to start interning for her right away and would love to see my After Effects skills in her projects. I gave her my availability and I am now interning from Monday-Fridays from 9AM-2PM. Depending on my other classes and flexibility, I sometimes do 2-5 hours a day.