Farewell post (I’ll probably be back)

BYE!

Being an STA for the 2022-2023 year has been such a great experience! Spring semester I received a larger variety of projects (image sourcing, course graphics, posters, logos, etc…) I’ve been able to learn so much from my fellow STAs and Design managers. I’ve also been fortunate to receive other design/art opportunities where I can apply what I’ve learned at LAITS. I plan on coming back in the Fall (from Italy haaaha) and designing more projects for LAITS!! Hopefully, I will see everyone after a restful and enriching trip to Italy ( I’ll try to take pictures to share). I’ll miss the fun polls on the board and having a group of design experts to ask for help though.

Thank you to Carrie, Leilani, Lorena, Luisa, Adrain, Thang, Daniela, De’sha, and Isaiah for being a supportive and welcoming team of graphic and web designers! I have learned so much from y’all and for that, I am so thankful. I’m always inspired by everyones’ work and hope you guys have a great summer!

BIG thanks to Maddy, Valerie, and Suloni for hiring me and allowing me to work on the design team at LAITS. I’ve gained invaluable skills and knowledge from this job and you guys!

 

Projects I’ll be Handing Off:

• R.A.C.E. Lab logo: I believe Maddy was taking over this project since she and I worked together on the initial drafts and final picks. But if another STA picks up the logo design, we are making a logo for Professor Ibekwe-Okaforwork’s research website. Her research will focus on the effects Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems (family, social, and cultural relationships) have on black children’s development.
  • • key terms: access, resilience, systems (Brunfenbrenner), education, early development, adversity, & black joy
    • steer away from explicit political imagery and colors (red and blue)
    • color: neutrals, earth tones, greenery
    • layers and systems to the way people develop

 

• UTCF Backdrops/Image Sourcing: I am currently working on 7.5 Hair and Make-up image sourcing and the images I have found thus far have been logged in the spreadsheet, box folder, and PowerPoint. I think 4.1 Professions and Occupations still needs to be signed off by either Maddy or Valerie. As for backdrops, I sourced for UTCF modules 5 & 6 but couldn’t find any images for 6.2 Bamako. Leilani, Carrie, and I have tested those images in the studio. The PSD template for modules 5 & 6 are in the box folder and still need to be edited a bit (I think Leilani was going to do this).

Me shocked to be in Cairo :0

UTFC Backdrop Image Sourcing

Project: UTFC Image Sourcing
Client: UTFC
Completion status: started 4/11/23
Staff guidance: Maddy & Valerie
STA team members: Carrie & Leilani
Description/plans: Search for photos of specified cities (natural color, cityscapes, landmarks, skylines) and put them into a PSD template to test as backdrops for UTCF. I went to screen test the module 5 UTCF backdrops with Leilani yesterday. I learned some things to avoid/look-out for in images for the backdrops from Leilani!

5.4 Tunis & 5.6 Caire

 

Vocab Image Sourcing

• some of the new images I sourced for UTCF 4.1 Professions and Occupations

 

 

GOV 306C Backdrops

Project: GOV 306C Backdrops
Client: GOV 306
Completion status: started April 13th
Staff guidance: Maddy
Description/plans: For the digital backdrop, the professor wanted something similar to the vertical backdrop we use in GOV 310, and similar to the day stage background panels. The campus/tower pictures had to be desaturated and have a color overlay/color gradient to match the tan/sepia tone.

• Going into the studio to test the backdrop appearance was super fun! I hope I get to test more backdrops in the future:0
• I also learned to be wary of cropping/logos because they can be cut out or cropped differently than how we think they might appear.

 

 

GOV 306C cont’d…

Canvas Dashboard and Homepage Banners

 

STA Presentation Lower Thirds

Project: Lower Thirds
Client: LAITS
Completion status: started/completed 4/12/23
Staff guidance: Maddy
STA team members: Adrian & Carrie
Description/plans: Maddy asked us to use Adrian’s AI template to create lower thirds for each of the STA/LAITS staff & their titles.

 

UTFC Image Sourcing/Rights

Project: UTFC Image Sourcing
Client: UTFC
Completion status: started 4/11/23
Staff guidance: Maddy & Valerie
STA team members: Adrian, Luisa, & Leilani
Description/plans: We were tasked with tracking down images for the French Textbook, some of which came from copyright-free sources, while others had more mysterious origins. We’re trying to keep our search at 5-10 minutes per photo since there is a lot of content that needs to be checked/updated. Thankfully most of the photos still had their original file name, and we were able to easily track them back to Unsplash or Pexels. The image search/sourcing will probably get harder once we go into nameless file territory…

In the meantime, we have a very detailed spreadsheet keeping track of any legal copyright info:

1.5 Personality Traits

 2.1 Colors and Common Objects

 

STA Presenter Intros

STA PRESENTATION IS ALMOST HERE!!!!

Project: STA Presenter Intros
Client: LAITS
Completion status: revisiting
Staff guidance: Maddy
Description/plans: The STA PResenter Intros are finished but need an “up next” image.

• My initial idea was to have the “up next” on a scrap piece of paper to tie in with the theme. I added colored paper because at first, the plain white seemed too stark– but the text is also more legible on white. Maddy agreed that the white was more legible, but the color helps the hierarchy by putting the “up next” below the bio info.

 

 

edits:

• I turned down the opacity of the color overlay on the scrap paper. This was to make the text slightly more legible. I just decided to use the LAITS colors so it all tied together.

 

STA Presenter Intros

Project: STA Presenter Intros
Client: LAITS
Completion status: started 3/20/23, finished 4/6/23
Staff guidance: Maddy
STA team members: Lorena, Carrie, & Luisa
description/plans: I made a template for other STAs to help out with creating the STA Presenter Intros. I then delegated the STA intros to Lorena, Carrie, and Luisa to start working on them.

 

ALL OF THE INTROS ARE DONE! It was very intimidating to be in charge of an assignment like this, especially with my more experienced co-workers looking to me for clear instructions. In the end, it felt very rewarding though:)

more stickers!!! (I like the hotdog lego man)

 

RACE Lab Logo

Project: Resilience and Adversity (in) Children’s Ecology Lab Logo
Client /Prof: Professor Ibekwe-Okafor
Completion status: Started March 2, 2023
Staff guidance: Maddy
Description/plans: Design a logo/branding for Prof. Ibekwe-Okaforwork that can be used on her website.
To be completed: before Summer

We recently received feedback on our first draft of logos from Prof. Ibekwe-Okaforwork. She emphasized the importance of displaying her lab’s core values: resilience, adversity, race, ecology, policy, and research. She liked the silhouettes but requested a more gender-neutral presenting child. She also wanted to see if we could incorporate ABC blocks, puzzles, or gears into the logo. Some of these more detail-oriented qualities might not translate as strongly when it’s in a small logo, but I tried my best to create something legible and recognizable.

First draft:

After feedback:

STA Presenter Intros

Project: STA Presenter Intros
Client: LAITS
started on: March 20, 2023
staff guidance: Maddy
STA team members: Lorena, Carrie, & Luisa
description/plans: Last week I made a template for other STAs to help out with creating the STA Presenter Intros. I then delegated the Audio STAs to Lorena, and this week Carrie and Luisa started working on the other STAs.

It feels very different to be in the art directing position. The STAs who are helping come to me for guidance and feedback which I’m not used to (usually I am the one asking!) It’s fun to organize and talk with other STAs about the project though. The overall task doesn’t seem too complicated after I made the template and typed out instructions. I had to take a pause from the intros since I had to prioritize the RACE lab logo, but I’ve been trying to cut out knick-knacks and STA photos to make to process smoother for Lorena, Carrie, and Luisa (They are the best!)

We have 12/14 completed!

Template:

Finished Presenter Intro by Lorena!!!!

STA Presenter Intros I completed:

 

Studio Stickers (the mug is my favorite):