Internship at the Women’s Press Collective
COMD 4900
Professor Stella Nicolaou
1st ENTRY.
Founded in 1982 , Women’s Press Collective (WPC) is an all volunteer , non-government funded , membership association uniting writers , designers , printers and other media professionals with low-income and working people, community and labor organizers , students and other concerned community women and men to develop alternative media resources in the interest of low-income and working communities .WPC uses and teaches an organizing approach that assures the voice of a minority can gain in strength and determination using publication as organizing tools.
WPC is a small public organization and it has a two office location in New York, one in Brooklyn and the other in the Bronx .Nevertheless , WPC has partners all over United States and has friends abroad.Most of the clients of the WPC are small local business and sometimes Union Organizations . Currently Im working on redesigning WPCs brochures , flyers posters .My position includes phone calls receiving and attendance of the company meetings
2nd ENTRY
My position at the Women’s Press Collective covers variety of activities such as phones answering , publication design and group discussion meetings. This internship program was provided by the school due to the lack of available programs at that time. Nevertheless , I really appreciate that a have a chance to participate and be a part of WPC’s organization and mostly because I admire their political and social awareness which is perfectly corresponds with my personal views regarding media and corporate impact on it . At the office , which is located in Gowanus Brooklyn , mostly I’m dealing with Lisa Daniel , operations manager and main supervisor.On the first interview I was introduced to a short history of the WPCs organization and i was asked a couple of questions about todays media , my knowledge of that topic and my opinions .In general the interview went very smoothly and i was accepted right away.Now I’m working mostly with a redesign of their brochures , flyers and posters .
3d ENTRY
Women’s Press Collective located near Gowanus Canal neighbor in Brooklyn . The neighborhood mostly occupied by industrial and manufacturing zones and shops .Office located on the second floor of one of those commercial offices at the area.The office has a two large rooms with open work areas, so everyone can see each other at work. Women’s Press Collective really doesn’t have a strict dress code in the office , everyone dressing casual or business casual . In the same way my dress code is the same one that i wear at school which is casual and sometimes business casual .For me usual working day at the office , from 10am till 4 pm , starts with a coup of green tea with honey.While I’m cooking tea I can discuss with Lisa (our supervisor ) details of the new or previous projects.She usually provides here opinion or critiques for the current projects that I’m working on and then when we getting to a consent we may discuss future projects. Most of the time Im working with my laptop because they have older version of the computers and operating systems , but sometimes Im using their computers too.Sometimes we can have a discussion group meetings at the conference table but mostly everyone is busy with their own projects .We have a lot of visitors , and everyday Im meeting a new people .Sometimes its clients ,sometimes coworkers from different cities , and of course plenty of volunteers .WPC office has really interesting press machine right in the office and a huge library with a selected books , all this was donated by labor organization .In general , its a very quiet space and people are nice and easy going .Have no complaints .
4th ENTRY
I think , one of the main skills that I’m learning at the WPC is to how to be a able to communicate in a working environment with people. To be able to convey ideas and share personal opinions , understand what exactly person is requiring from you and in what mater you have to propose your ideas regarding your projects . For example , our supervisor didn’t approved my first brochure that I designed for them .After discussion and short critique i came up with a better solution and it did work pretty well.From that point I realized how critical is to understand what exactly clients want’s you to do for theme.Everyday we have new people at the office – volunteers, students from other departments , clients and coworkers from other cities . By talking with theme It really helps me to improve my communication skills .
5th ENTRY
Women’s Press Collective is an all volunteer , non-government funded organization and it is mission is to support non corporate news/press sources in order to maintain objective flow of information in the mass media and in that way support labor communities.WPC has a long background history , and because of that I’ve learned a lot about women’s labor history and in general labor history in the US .Ive discovered how media is being effected by large corporations and a lot of facts related to a publication and press production. As a graphic designer i think it is very important to understand and know how mass media works in this country and whole world in general.
6th ENTRY
My typical day at the office starts at 10 am till 4pm.Nevertheless ,it takes me one hour in one way to get there , so I have plenty of time to read or review my notes.Most of the time I’m working on my laptop if the project in progress. If I start new project I usually discuss it with our supervisor Lisa Daniel . After every project is finished i have to showed it to our supervisor ,if there some mistakes are made i need to correct it and then review it again until perfection is done . Sometimes Im answering phones if no one is around. There is a lot of students from different departments at the WPC and it is a great opportunity to talk with mates about their school progress and to share my own experience.It helps me to understand my current situation . Once in a while on the kitchen , while making a tee , we can have interesting discussions related to a graphic design field .Its a very quiet office , despite that its location is in the manufacturing area.
7th ENTRY
As I mention before , WPC host a lot of new people everyday.Most of theme are volunteers and students. Every day i have an opportunity to talk with new people and it is very educational because some of them are students from different majors schools .For example we had a very interesting conversation with a sociology student from Brooklyn College who was working on research for a class , and we agreed upon that Women’s Press Collective is a perfect place to do a research and gather data .So far my internship is going pretty well . I really like at this place and coworker are really nice here
8th ENTRY
Recently we had a short lecture on women’s labor history in the USA and presentation on WPC’s officials trip to south America on the labor conference that was conducted in Venezuela .Our supervisor provided interview which was made with Venezuelan Government officials on the topic of labor and mass media that covers issues and difficulties that south America is facing right now. At the same time on the lecture we discussed how US media is covering Americas and World problems throughout their perspective and how objective information is being lost or simply brutally manipulated by large corporation that owns most of the media sources .Todsay 90% present of media is owned and being controlled by corporations -Comcast, Disney ,News Corporation ,Time Warner, CBS Corporation ,Viacom.
9th Entry
My internship almost getting to its completion .Our supervisor Lisa Daniel preparing office stuff to move in a new office location at the Bronx.Me and other students help at the office to pack library books in to the boxes.At the same time I almost done with my WPC Poster Project .Lisa and her Companion from Switzerland really like my posters. In general the hole project went pretty well . Furthermore , Their are not sure when they going to move completely , but its obviously a huge project for them, because they have those huge and heavy printers , and I think they are not sure how they going to deal with it .Approximate date of the move is a mid December .I hope their going to make it .
10th Entry
On november 10th I have finished my 125 hours of my internship at the Women’s Press Collective .I submitted all my work to our supervisor and we had some critique on it.Ive showed to here my finals of WPC posters and Lisa Daniel really liked it, so she asked me if I can make Women’s Day postcards or brochure for the march 8th and I gladly agreed.Right now WPC is in moving process to new location to the Bronx and I wish them luck with it . Overall , I think i had really great experience at this office, and the people where really nice .Ive learn a lot of new skills and approaches that can be very helpful in a working environment such as time management and organization. In conclusion ,I’m really thankful to this organization and I wish them all the best , in the same way i hope they would find more supporters in their successful future .
Final Presentation
