I haven’t updated my blog in awhile, so here we go…
project: RUS Promotional Material
Client /Prof: Mike/ Dr. Rice
completion status: In progress (waiting to hear back)
staff guidance: Suloni, Tate
STA team members: N/A
description/plans: create a 5×7 postcard for RUS promo
To be completed: Feb. 12, 2019
Following up on the 8.5×11 and 11×17 RUS promotional poster/flyer, Tate has asked me to work on a 5×7 postcard. Since he has already created the front side of the postcard, my job was to create the backside that matches both my flyer design and the front design. After messing with different designs, I decided to stick to the front design more so than the flyer design. These are the final versions I came up with, and Tate and I are waiting to hear back from Mike and Dr. Rice !
project: “Brexit in Global and Historical Context” Flyer
Client /Prof: Courtney
completion status: completed [Feb. 28, 2019]
staff guidance: Suloni
STA team members: Olivia
description/plans: create a 11 x 17 flyer for the History Department event
To be completed: Mar. 12, 2019
Another big project I have been working on as been the flyer for a History Event called “Brexit in Global and Historical Context” Courtney. Suloni has asked me to be the ART DIRECTOR for this project, meaning that I would assign the graphics to someone else (which turned out to be Olivia), communicate with the client, and also work on the layout design. At first, I was scared to jump into a more of a leadership role, because I am still doubtful about my skills and experiences in design. But ultimately, I was super glad I stepped out of the comfort zone, because Courtney and the event organizer loved my design! A huge shoutout to Olivia who has helped me with the colorization of the image for the poster, as well.
Before taking a jab at the layout design, I first focused on communicating with Olivia and giving her the assignment. It felt funny that I was teaching someone else how to do things like “color overlay” and giving instructions, because I was in Olivia’s shoes when I first became an STA. How the turntables!! I came up with a thorough instruction so that Olivia would feel comfortable working on the graphics, as well as understand Courtney’s requests clearly.
Because the B&W version of “Paul Revere’s Ride” looked like an antique illustration, I initially wanted to incorporate an old newspaper feel. This is the first version I came up with:
Although Courtney liked this version, I was not too happy with it because nothing really “stood out.” I wanted the text and colors to pop, and so I came up with a different design…
There were some adjustments to make in terms of the text and the placement of things, but Courtney and James ultimately chose this one as the final version! With Olivia’s graphic, I had to add the text bubble, “European Union” sign on the house, and the red “Paul Revere’s Ride” text at the bottom; I wanted the font and the word bubble to match the overall style of the original image. Overall, I am super happy with how this flyer turned out, and most importantly, very content with my ability to do client communication! Everything went smoothly (maybe beginner’s luck?), and I am excited to take on more projects for the near future.
project: Mellon Scholars Seminar
Client /Prof: Mellon Scholars
completion status: completed [Feb. 26, 2019]
staff guidance: Suloni, Tate
STA team members: Jac
description/plans: lead a Photoshop seminar for the Mellon Scholars
To be completed: Feb. 26, 2019
Another project that Jac, Tate, and I have been working on for the past 2 weeks have been the seminar for the Mellon Scholars. For Part 1 of the seminar, Jac started off with a presentation about design and the visual “guidelines” that come with creating any promotional materials, like a flyer. Then Tate gave a brief overview about Photoshop and useful tools, as well as some important terminologies. I then led the group to make a flyer identical to my 11×17 flyer I made for RUS promo. Although at times it was difficult, because the group varied in their experience with Photoshop, I think it went great, overall. For Part 2 of the seminar, we were able to do a one-on-one with the scholars regarding specific things they wanted to work on utilizing Photoshop. I helped Ricardo with photo editing, as well as helping Michael with his flyer design at times. I hope that the Mellon scholars thought the 4 hour cram session of Photoshop was worth awhile!
This is a google doc that Jac made for the overview of what we should do for Part 1: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zVTbTAjzfuu7HF5FjEP-G83k1K7FvSRpiMO_qTIQjcA/edit#heading=h.5x0d5h95i329
FINALLY, not really a project, but now that both Olivia and Clarissa sent in their avatars, I was able to update the STA blog banner:
