STA Blog

Asha Rountree

Asha Rountree

Spring Break Recap – Post

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★ Spring Break Recap ★

Hello! Over the break, my family visited my brother in Kyoto, Japan, and we spent a few weeks traveling to nearby cities. I had an amazing time exploring the local foods and desserts, wandering around gardens, temples, thrifting, admiring the unique sewer covers, collecting stamps, and using the wonderful public bathrooms. I will definitely miss the convenience of the konbinis on every street, where you can find pretty much whatever your heart desires (I personally go for the banana milk smoothie).

My favorite location I travelled to is a little island called Naoshima, which is a small, mountainous location known for the public art scattered all over (and the island is in the shape of a cat!). I journaled some of my trip in my sketchbook, so here are some of my spreads:

Although I had a great trip, it’s nice to be back in Austin. I’m excited to see what this semester has in store for me, and am looking forward to getting back into STA projects. My goals this semester are to continue working on illustrative and UI/UX projects, and to grow communication skills with clients and fellow STAs.

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GOV350K Statistical Analysis in Political Science: Course Graphics

I’ve been tasked with creating a Tier 1 (Base) package of course graphics for Professor Stephen Jesse’s course GOV 350K Statistical Analysis in Political Science!

➜ Design Drafts: I started out this assignment by ideating on a few designs that could be used in the different components of this course graphics package (including Canvas banner, dashboard, ect). My instructions were to use blue tones, and blurry imagery of data/charts. I used Adobe Photoshop to combine different stock images I found, and added different effects and elements until I came up with these designs:

Here is a visualization of what these graphics may look like on a Canvas Homepage Banner:

➜ Project Status: In progress (11/14)

https://sta.laits.utexas.edu/blog/2025/11/14/55401/

TGDP Posters

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Donor Dialects and Language Variation (TGDP) – Banner #18

I’ve been continuing to create posters for the UT Department of Germanic Studies, and the most recent one I’ve worked on is Banner #18, which covers the topic of Donor Dialects and Language Variation.

➜ Draft 1

  • When I initially created this draft, there was too much content to fit everything into a single column on the poster space allotted, so I decided to split up the content into two columns (reading left to right)

  • The main feedback I received was to re-organize the three headers so that each section reads left to right and is separated by a horizontal line. This structure is easier for a reader’s eyes to follow, and makes logical sense.

➜ Draft 2

  • This draft was created by reorganizing the three main sections according to the feedback above.

  • I also adjusted the colors of the dotted map to be more accessible, as the previous colors used had low contrast and may have been difficult to view for people who are color-blind. The updated colors are much more saturated and distinct.

  • This poster is now up to the most current version, and I am awaiting feedback.

➜ Project Status: In Progress

Selected Features of Texas German Morphosyntax Banner (TGDP) – Banner #17

The past few weeks, I’ve been iterating on layouts of the Texas German Morphosyntax Banner (Banner #17) for the UT Department of Germanic Studies. This involves translating written text to a visually appealing poster using Adobe Indesign. I’ve been tweaking the layout of the text blocks and images based on I’ve gotten from my project admin. My fellow STA Kate has also been guiding me throughout the process, so shoutout to her!

➜ Text Clarity/Organization: An important piece of feedback I received was to align the “word-for-word” translations evenly, so that it’s intuitive for a reader to understand which words belong together. To fix this, I made the “word-for-word” spacings more standardized using a transparent table, with a word or number in each cell block. On the images below, the left image is before I added the tables, and the right table is after.

Before I added transparent tables

After I added transparent tables

➜ Draft 1: After two rounds of feedback, I rearranged several headers and adjusted text content:

➜ Draft 2: I ended up condensing the poster to make it much shorter, as I had accidentally elongated the original version. After rearranging some text, here is the most current draft:

➜ Project Status: In Progress

➜ Reflection: I’ve been enjoying my first project working with an actual client, and I’ve learned a lot about designing with a specific audience in mind (in this case, individuals wanting a clear way to learn about Texas German Morphosyntax). I’m also enjoying expanding my skills within InDesign.

Post Orientation + Training Thoughts/Deliverables

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Post Orientation + Training Thoughts/Deliverables

After spending the past few weeks working on completing the initial STA orientation and training tasks, I can say I’ve got a much better understanding of the different programs within the Adobe Creative Cloud. I had a lot of fun designing a bio for myself, especially playing around with image effects and patterns within Adobe Illustrator. I also enjoyed creating a caricature of myself on Procreate!

★ Orientation Graphics ★

★ Course Graphics Training ★

For this training, my main task was to create a comprehensive set of course graphics for a UT course. I chose to work on creating assets for LEB 320F Foundations of Business, Law/Ethics, taught by Professor David Quintanilla, as it is a course I am currently taking.

➜ Design Direction: My goal is to create a puzzle design that represents the intersection between law, business, and ethics, using distinct images from each field. Also, understanding law cases are about putting pieces of the puzzle together, so this imagery fits in multiple ways!

➜ Wall Monitor: Next, I iterated upon a wall monitor design.

Shown below is my first wall monitor design (left), and the design I created in response to initial feedback (right). After creating the first design, I was advised to add a more centralized component to draw attention to the presenter, and to follow a more collage-inspired concept.

After creating the second design, I received feedback that the central image was a bit distracting, and may take away attention from the presenter. To address this, I created a full collage with all images/cutouts equally emphasized. After playing around with color and texture, I arrived at my final wall monitor design:

This was my first time using Adobe Photoshop, so it took me a bit of time to get acquainted with all of the tools! However, I had a lot of fun, and definitely learned a lot, from using the background remover, overlaying textures, adding drop shadows, and more.

➜ Full Course Graphics Set: My next step was to use this main graphic/imagery to create a full set of course graphics, including a vertical monitor, Ipad overlay, canvas assets, and a powerpoint template.

➜ Reflection: I think this training helped me get over the hurdle of being intimidated of Adobe products and the vast amount of tools available within them. I learned that as long as you have a clear vision, and are willing to ask for help (thanks to Lila and Google), it doesn’t take too much for a design to come to life!

First Blog Post

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Welcome to my Blog!

˗ˏˋ ★ ˊˎ˗

Hi! I’m Asha Rountree, and I recently joined the Design STA Team! ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎
I am currently a Sophomore majoring in Informatics, and I’m from Austin, TX. After one week, I’ve enjoyed meeting the other STAs and getting familiar with the work tools. I’m looking forward to working on projects, and I’m very excited to grow as a designer during my time as an STA!

Welcome to the STA Blog!

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Hi Asha! Welcome to the STA Blog! This the page where your blog posts will published.

Toward the end of your STA Orientation, you’ll design and upload a banner to go at the top of this page.

Upload a Blog Banner

Step One: Design Your Banner in Photoshop

Use these Photoshop specs when you’re making your banner:

    • Your banner should be 780 pixels wide (the height doesn’t matter)
    • Must include your name, your major, and your expected graduation year
    • Your banner should reflect who you are (your personality, interests or major)
    • Make sure to save your banner for the web (i.e. File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy))
    • If you save your banner as a JPG, make sure sure the quality is high (i.e. at least 60)

Step Two: Save Your Banner

  • There are two places you can save your completed projects: UT Box and the LAITS server. You’ll be given a personal folder in both locations. For now, you only have to save your banner to UT Box, but you may have to access the server at some point in the future.

Accessing UT Box

Accessing the LAITS server

    • Accessing the LAITS server from off-campus is slightly more complicated.
    • You’ll need to be registered with Duo if you aren’t already (you can register here).
    • Then you’ll need to connect to the UT VPN and the LAITS server. The videos below will walk you through how to do that:
    • Then navigate to your STA volume folder and save
      • smb://file.laits.utexas.edu/sta/Asha Rountree
    • Save your banner both as an image and an unmerged PSD

Step Three: Upload Your Banner to the STA Blog

  • Log in the the STA Blog here. You should’ve received an email confirming your new WordPress account with your username and assigned password. If didn’t get it or you can’t log in, ask De’sha or another STA.
  • You’ll be able to change your password anytime by going to Users > Your Profile > Account Management > New Password.

Uploading media and banners in WP

  • Read these links before you upload your banner.
  • They will walk you through how to upload media to your blog.

How to Upload a Homepage Banner

Adding New Posts and Media

Make Your First Blog post

  • Reflect on the day. You blog posts will be a documented experience of your time as an STA with LAITS. They can include anything you want to share about the projects you’re working on, and the more media (screenshots, images, links, videos, gifs) you can use, the better.
  • For today, write a bit about about yourself and what you did during orientation.
  • If you haven’t already, upload your banner.

Things to Remember

Image Specs

  • You should never copy and paste images intoto your blog. Always upload images into the media section of blog first (Click on the add media button), then insert the image from the media folder to display on your blog.
  • Don’t use the thumbnail version of your images.
  • Use images that are 72 dpi
  • Screenshots are fine
  • Images that are 780 pix wide format nicely above or below text blocks

Always Categorize Your Posts

  • Always check the category “Fall 2025 – Spring 2026” on the blog posts you make this summer. This is the only category you need to check.
  • Make sure your posts are categorized correctly so that all of your work is documented in the correct semesters.

Commenting on Basecamp

Notification comments: etiquette, files, questions, feedback

Let us know when you’ve completed this task by adding a link to your blog to a comment in Basecamp.

Notes for all comments in Basecamp:

  • *Always address the person/people you are writing to by their names.
  • *Always use complete sentences.
  • *Always add links or paths to your design file in your STA folder.
  • *Make it easier for your collaborators and mentors to give you feedback on a design by adding screenshots to your comment.

Notify people in Basecamp by adding the @ symbol before their names (no spaces), otherwise they may not see your comment.

@ your STA mentor in your comments when you want to:

  • ask us questions about the mechanics of using the STA blog,
  • about the mechanics of photoshop,
  • to let us know that you have completed this task,
  • or that you would like a little feedback on on your banner design

Thank you & have fun!