karen bu
Graphic design portfolio www.karenbu.com
my name is KAREN i am a graphic designer with an academic background in film studies. my areas of expertise include advertising, branding, illustration, layout, and multimedia design. in three words, my work is bold, professional, and communicative. i love learning new things, solving tricky problems, and helping people bring their ideas to life – and i think the best projects let me do all of these at once. my life’s mission to work hard, have fun, think fast, kick ass, and save the world with good design. welcome to my portfolio – enjoy your stay.
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intro resume columbia university libraries socialcode halcyon magazine columbia university photography society logo design music not included cyris the immortal
Columbia University
Columbia University Libraries
Graphic Design Intern New York, NY // Oct. 2015 – Apr. 2016
SocialCode
Design Intern New York, NY // May 2015 – Sep. 2015
Vidicom Georgetown University
Id
Graphic Designer New York, NY // Nov. 2013 – May 2016
InvestmentNews
HBO
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B.A. Film Studies // Class of 2016 New York, NY
Ps
Media Production & Operations Intern Santa Monica, CA // Jun. 2014 – Aug. 2014 Video Production Intern New York, NY // May 2013 – Aug. 2013 Design & Marketing Assistant Washington, D.C. // Sep. 2012 – May 2013
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columbia university libraries
ADVERTISING // BRANDING // ILLUSTRATION // LAYOUT // MULTIMEDIA columbia university libraries (CUL) is the library system of columbia university. as a graphic designer for CUL, i worked closely with the marketing and communications team to design flyers, postcards, slides, brochures, and other creative materials to advertise events and special initiatives while keeping within the style guidelines of the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time-honored (and world-famous) brand.
ADVERTISING // BRANDING // ILLUSTRATION // LAYOUT // MULTIMEDIA
SocialCODE
socialcode is a digital ad tech startup. as the graphic design intern, i designed all creative materials for CONNECT 2015, the annual employee conference (no interns allowed, but having the office to myself that week was cool) and helped the marketing team drive a company-wide brand refresh, from white papers to t-shirts. building community and redefining the look of the organization made for a fun and challenging summer.
ADVERTISING // BRANDING // ILLUSTRATION // LAYOUT // MULTIMEDIA
Halcyon Magazine
halcyon magazine explores what it means to be a photographer in the 21st century. i co-founded the magazine and served as the art director â&#x20AC;&#x201C; i built the brand from the ground up, managed the design team, and coordinated print production. though i left when the magazine moved to a web-only format, halcyon bred my enthusiasm for startup work, jackof-all-tradesmanship, and working together in a team to bring a passion and a creative vision to life.
Columbia U Photography Society
ADVERTISING // BRANDING // ILLUSTRATION // LAYOUT // MULTIMEDIA
columbia university photography society (CUPS) is the the only undergraduate photography club at columbia university. i served as publicity chair (and occasional workshop lecturer), spearheaded cupsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; transition to social media-only advertising in september 2014, and created advertisements to let people know about the coolest speakers, workshops, and outings on campus.
ADVERTISING // BRANDING // ILLUSTRATION // LAYOUT // MULTIMEDIA
L o g o D e s i g n
in my free time (which, amazingly, does exist), i freelance for a wide variety of clients. i particularly love helping startups build their brand – there is nothing more rewarding than making someone’s ideas a concrete reality – which often starts with the logo. these are logos i designed for kid with a kite (a film production company), azure studio (an artist collective), and inquiryfest (a film festival).
M u s i c n o t included
ADVERTISING // BRANDING // ILLUSTRATION // LAYOUT // MULTIMEDIA
music not included is a personal project that combines my love of advertising and illustration with one of my oldest hobbies and greatest creative inspirations. i really will listen to everything (including rap and country), and in homage to all the artists that i love, i have created posters of different music genres featuring fake bands and the equally fictional cities they are playing in.
c y r i s t h e immortal
ADVERTISING // BRANDING // ILLUSTRATION // LAYOUT // MULTIMEDIA
for the midterm project in a film noir seminar i took, i wrote and illustrated cyris the immortal, a short comic that highlighted some of the visual and narrative conventions usually found in the noir genre. the art style was inspired by the aesthetics of the movies we watched for class. most importantly, this project demonstrates the untold lengths to which i will go in order to avoid writing an essay.