My Mentorship

Internships are often described as a stepping stone to your career, a chance to gain hands-on experience and develop your skills. But for me, my internship has been more than that—it’s been an opportunity to learn from incredible people. Reflecting on this experience, I realize how fortunate I’ve been to meet someone who has not only inspired me but also shaped my approach to professional growth.

From the first day, My mentor stood out. Her ability to communicate well and bring out ideas amazed me. But what truly set them apart wasn’t just their talent, it was their willingness to guide and encourage me. Working closely with my mentor , I’ve realized that mentorship isn’t just about imparting technical skills. It’s about nurturing creativity, challenging assumptions, and pushing you to think differently. One pivotal moment during the internship was when I worked on a wireframe for the openlab website and Jenna guided us through the process, asking thought-provoking questions like, “How does this design make the user feel?” What’s the one action we want them to take here?” or ” What is one thing ideal theme that the user can easily manage the website?” These questions pushed me to go beyond surface-level solutions and dig deeper into user-centered design principles. By the end, I had created something I was genuinely proud of, thanks to their mentorship. The influence of a mentor like Jenna extends far beyond the internship itself. They’ve taught me to think critically, communicate ideas effectively, and always keep the user at the center of my designs.

Self Evaluation

Recently, I’ve been working on wireframes and exploring for websites that can serve as inspiration. I would say that I have been pretty busy catching up on assignments. However, in terms of attending meetings and presenting my work to representatives. I believe that I need to grow more with my communication abilities and it appears that I need to be more clear and precise when offering comments for the website.

Creating a Wireframe for Openlab and Inspirations

As someone passionate about creative problem-solving, I recently embarked on a design project that pushed my skills to new heights: crafting a wireframe for a website. Wireframes are the backbone of any website design blueprint that maps out the structure, navigation, and overall layout. The project began with a clear objective: to create a website that is both visually appealing and intuitive to navigate. With a strong emphasis on accessibility and usability, I wanted the design to cater to a broad audience, ensuring every element served a purpose.

Every great project starts with research. I spent hours studying design principles, analyzing competitor websites, and identifying user pain points. My research focused on:

  • User needs: What do users want to see, and how can I make it easy for them to find it?
  • Visual hierarchy: How do I ensure the most important information stands out?
  • Accessibility: Is the design inclusive for individuals with diverse abilities?

As a group, we created a wireframe that can be easily to navigate. The only tools that we use is Figma to create a clean, low-fidelity wireframe. Wireframes are intentionally minimal, focusing on functionality over aesthetics. We talked to the representatives and they told us to create a simple layout and suggested that we have to only put letters and no images.

Typical Day

Even though this internship is remote, I would say that my days are only stuck in my room as I’m fulfilling every task that I need to complete for the project. I do my best to remain on top of all of my work, whether it is internship or class-related. While it can be difficult to keep up with school assignments, internships, and a part-time work, I believe I need to improve a lot with my time management. In terms of time management, I was searching up for solutions to stop with procrastination. As I was investigating, I found that pomodoro timer is the solution to track my time. The Pomodoro Technique typically involves working for 25 minutes or longer and then taking a short break, and then repeating. With this technique, it can help Maintain concentration, Reduce mental fatigue, Preventing burnout,  Reduce procrastination , Manage distractions, Breaking down big tasks into smaller, and more manageable pieces. I felt very satisfied with the process on maintaining my time in a orderly manner.

Culture of Workplace

I started the meeting by showcasing websites that will inspire the team and assist them come up with solutions that will allow the public to browse the site without any problems.

We talked about the design concept and that the website needs to be transform in sort of a block- style design. We assumed that it suitable for the public to navigate easily without having to scroll down and see too much text. With this style, We website would come out with an authentic and organized presence. For next week, we will present our design ideas by showing some examples of themes that is visually appealing in a WordPress website. In terms of dress code, even though it’s an online internship, my co-workers are always wearing formal clothes. Although it’s not an in-person meetings, I see that everyone from the team is determined to dress appropriately.

Websites 

https://www.endofound.org

https://hibiscusinitiatives.org.uk

Animated websites

Openlab Evaluation

Everyone gave their thoughts on City Tech OpenLab at the second meeting. A issue in OpenLab was discovered during the presentations. Although it states that there is a friends list, students are not able to add friends. One of my assessments that I felt was superfluous is “Who’s Online?” Only a maximum of 12 persons can be viewed, and those who do not wish to be seen online are not granted privacy. Additionally, when you navigate down the webpage, the rows labeled “Courses, Projects, Clubs, and Portfolios” become confusing. It appears like the rows are connected or related to one another when you scroll down without seeing the category name.

Additionally, I gave my feedback on the website. We talked about the issues with the announcement section in the mobile website, in my notes, I wrote ” The announcement space is not shown in a better way.  It only shows letters  and pictures. I think there should be like a video or something that can be visually appealing to the audience.  I find it difficult to scroll down the sections of the announcements, in order to see the sections, necessarily, we have to tap the bullet points.”

 I also talked about that I’ve been working on a research project inside a program ESP( Emerging Scholars Program) . That I been investigating on a health related topic which was conducting medical research based on the disparities in women’s health issues and the effects of endometriosis. After the explanation, I suggested one website that caught my interest while I was doing my research on my topic.

https://www.endofound.org

The Beginning of my Internship

We simply introduced ourselves and learned about our upcoming endeavors during the initial meeting. After some discussion, our team decided to adopt Asana for communication. Additionally, we use a spreadsheet to record the number of hours worked each week. Our initial task was to review City Tech OpenLab and provide both positive and negative comments on the website. In order to serve as a model for other students who require portfolio assistance, our first goal is to work on our e-portfolio. In my portfolio, I discover different themes that can enhance visually my home page. One theme that I used before is called ” Koji”. in my opinion ,I felt like this theme is very simple and authentic. The sub- navigation and the homepage along with the latest post manifest as a visually in a grid layout design with wider blocks. This theme didn’t satisfy my expectations for my portfolio so I tried to look up and investigate for the theme called ” Twenty Twenty-Two” I believe this is a new theme so for the next week, I’ll see how it goes navigating with this theme.

About Organization

For this semester, I am pursuing an internship with Openlab . The organization facilitates communication among participants and fosters teaching and learning. The OpenLab allows students to work on projects and courses, join clubs, and build portfolios. Additionally, the representatives are the only ones that have access to customize the Openlab website so throughout the semester. they will teach us how to use the testing site just to customize and add options to the site. By doing this, interns will have the opportunity to showcase their designs examples to the representatives and provide feedback for their work.

Our duty as interns is to work on semester-long projects to help improve the OpenLab website and provide support and outreach to the OpenLab community. Throughout the semester, some of the Projects will include, Community Support , Community Outreach Campaigns: Did You Know? Series , ePortfolio Student Engagement via The Buzz, Tutorials, Workshops, Swag (printed handouts/stickers) , WP Theme improvements, Dev Testing, and vetting additional theme choices.

Ethics in Design 2B

a)My experience so far has been good. The supervisors had assigned us to complete 3 task for this week. Even though it has been a busy week , me and my workers have been planning to get some ideas for improving the navigation for the website.

B) According to the article “Why Every Designer Needs a Code of Ethics,” having a code of ethics is crucial because it provides a framework for designers to make responsible, thoughtful decisions, especially when facing ethical dilemmas. By following a code of ethics, designers ensure they prioritize user well-being, avoid harmful practices, and create products that contribute positively to society. This commitment to ethical standards also fosters trust between designers and their users, enhancing the credibility of their work and promoting accountability within the design industry.

  • Cousins, C. (2014, August 5). Why every designer needs a code of Ethics. Design Shack. https://designshack.net/articles/business-articles/why-every-designer-needs-a-code-of-ethics/
  • Code of ethics. AGDA. (n.d.). https://agda.com.au/about/code-of-ethics/
  • Stim, R., & law, R. S. A. at. (2021, November 25). Welcome to the public domain. Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center. https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/public-domain/welcome/

Ethics in Design 2A

I have gained a great deal of knowledge about copyright, using other artists’ photos and illustrations, and my obligations as a designer to clients, other designers, and the public from reading the AIGA Design Guides. After reading about the “HOPE Poster” case, Shepard Fairey faced legal issues after using an Associated Press photograph of Barack Obama as a reference for the iconic design without proper licensing. The case raised important questions about copyright, fair use, and the balance between artistic inspiration and intellectual property rights.

I now have a better understanding of image source and how altering photos that I haven’t sought for permission to use or bought a license for could harm my reputation as a designer and artist in addition to costing me money.

Sources

  • “A Client’s Guide to Design: How to Get the Most Out of the Process” AIGA. (2001). PDF. New York City; Richard GrefĂ©, AIGA. 
  • “Case Study on Fair Use and Fair Dealing: The Hope Poster Litigation” Fisher, W. (2012). PDF. Cambridge; Harvard Journal of Law and Technology. 
  • “Use of Photography” AIGA. (2001). PDF. New York City; Richard GrefĂ©, AIGA. 
  • Kennedy, R. (2012, September 7). Shepard Fairey is fined and sentenced to probation in ‘hope’ poster case. The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://archive.nytimes.com/artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/shephard-fairey-is-fined-and-sentenced-to-probation-in-hope-poster-case/