STA Blog

Christmas At Winedale

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Christmas at Winedale

Project: 2024 Christmas at Winedale Poster

Client: LAITS Service Center

Staff Guidance: Leilani

Tools Used: Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop

Started: Oct 9, 2024

Completed: Oct 22, 2024

The Task

This year I was tasked with making the annual Christmas at Winedale flyer for the LAITS service center. I was super excited to take on a project like this because I love creating holiday themed designs! For this project the requested deliverables I had to create were a 5×7 postcard along with a 11×17 flyer that included all the information about the event and had a Christmas theme.

Starting Out

After reading thru the prompt I started my first draft. They wanted a Christmas theme color scheme and wood and garland embellishments, along with some necessary information.

So I created the poster below as my first draft.

On this first draft I got some great key feedback points to change.

  1. The audience is an older generation so this modern like design doesnt really fit their aesthetic.
  2. Three photos should be included so that people get to see more of the event
  3. Christmas should be cursive and Winedale should be in the font of their logo.
  4. Add more rustic Christmas elements

Making Changes

From here I created a new layout that more aligned with what the client wanted.

On this draft I got some great feedback to edit:

  1. Find a more holiday cursive
  2. Pick images that holistically represent the vent (one inside, one outside, & one of the venue)
  3. Make the images take up more space

The Final Design

After a couple more small tweaks and applying the previous edits I was able to get to the final!

Challenges & Takeaways

Overall this project was super fun to work on and allowed me to build my layout design skills. Some challenges I faced along the way of this project were:

  • The Timeline :One request as a part of this project was a specific amount of hours I worked on it, such as only one hour to make edits due to cost reasons. This was definitely a different way of working I had to approach which taught me how to work efficiently and design quicker with still good results.
  • The Audience: As a younger designer I naturally lean toward more modern designs so it was definitely a challenge to cater to the audience I was designing for. This was a great opportunity to work on this challenge and make sure audience is a key factor I am considering when designing.

Summer in the City

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Summer In The City

My Corporate Era

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to intern at Siegel + Gale’s New York City office as an Experience Intern. It was an extraordinary experience to work in such a big city at one of the top branding agencies in the country. Additionally, the chance to explore my passion for user experience and user interface design in a real work setting was truly invaluable. This experience allowed me to find how much I did actually enjoy UX/UI and how badly I want to keep working hard so post-grad I can return to NYC with a job in this field.

The Internship consisted of two main responsibilities one being the intern project, a prompt given to all the interns to complete as a team, and second being the client work assigned by manager. While both challenged me in different ways these tasks allowed me to grow as a designer and see where I have room to improve as well.

Overall, the friends and connections I made throughout this experience were invaluable. Working alongside talented professionals and fellow interns not only expanded my network but also provided me with a wealth of knowledge and support. The collaborative environment and mentorship I received greatly enriched my understanding of the industry and helped me refine my skills. I am excited to leverage these connections and lessons learned as I continue to pursue my career in UX/UI design, with a clearer vision of my future goals and a passion to contribute to the field of experience design.

The 5-9 After The 9-5

Along with the incredible work experience I gained, I also had the opportunity to live in New York City for three months! Exploring the city’s food scene, hanging out with friends, and soaking in the energy NYC has during the summer made every moment outside of work truly unforgettable. When coming to NYC I had the goal of going to a different coffee shop every chance I got and rating them all so I have a collection of pictures and notes. I am happy to announce that I did complete that goal and have succeeded in making the best list of NYC coffee shops!

Being in New York City for the summer has always been a dream of mine, and I feel incredibly fortunate and grateful to have had the opportunity to experience it. The combination of an enriching internship, city life, and meeting friends made this summer truly the best one ever. This experience has not only reinforced my passion for UX/UI design but also made me more motivated to continue my hard-work this school year. I will cherish these memories forever and I look forward to carrying these experiences with me into the future.