Internally by josiedegler

internally a little book of an internâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts Josie Degler

Thanks to Brian for teaching me everything I know about internet culture, millennialsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; issues, the 1990s, and above all, design. 227 | 27 | 35

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF INTERNING; I WILL BE YOUR GUIDE. — In the graphic design world, there are chief creative officers, creative directors, art directors, senior designers, junior designers, and then, the lowly interns. Being an intern is not a glamorous position, unless maybe you’re a bad ass intern working for Pentagram or something.* As for the rest of us, we’re probably not doing the design history shattering work we always imagined. But being an intern isn’t as much about as creating as it is learning. The past year and a half has been a crash course in being a real-life designer with a real-life boss who hands me real-life projects for real-life clients with real-life demands and deadlines. Oh boy.

— Congrats, we are all just sooo happy for you.

I taped this picture on my boss’s door and he’s kept it there for about a year now. Win.

— — — — — — — —

—

“WE THOUGHT OF A COUPLE MORE IDEAS FOR YOU.” — 22 — Financial Report Cover

—

“WHERE ARE ALL OF THE OXFORD COMMAS?” — 18 — Cardio Booklet & Tree Brochure

—

“CAN I HAVE THIS BY THE END OF THE DAY?” — 14 — NSSE Signage & World Fair Signage

—

“IT’S A LOGO. JUST A LOGO.” — 10 — Health Promotions Identity

—

TABLE OF CONTENTS

—

“GIVE ME A GOOD ADJECTIVE.” “BEER CHEESE.” — 38 — Concluding Thoughts

—

“WHO SAVES A PHOTO AS AN .EPS?!” — 34 — UofL Campus Map

—

“JUST PICK A FONT THAT LOOKS LIKE OUR BRAND.” — 30 — SBTS Work

—

“THAT’S ACTUALLY A GOOD IDEA.” — 26 — The African Co. Presents Richard III Poster

—

THERE ARE FEW THINGS WORSE THAN A NEVER-ENDING MEETING. — For the Health Promotions department on UofL’s campus, we were asked to help rebrand them. Their logo was dated looking and broke university brand standards. After much sketching and revising, our intern team came up with three solid approaches and we prepared a presentation. Being the newbie, I was tasked with delivering the presentation. I made it short, sweet, and to the point, thinking they would ask a few questions and we’d be on our merry way. The ladies started to really dig into the logos, and they ultimately felt like none of them really captured the mission and future of their brand. What was their mission and future exactly? Well, after an hour-long tangent, I could tell you, but that’s not the point of this book.

HEALTH

H E A LT H

HEALTH

HEALTHPROMOTIONS

PROMOT ION S

Health Promotions

PROMOTIONS

HEALTH

PROMOTIONS

promot ions

HEALTH PROMOTION

Pro

HEALTH

P RO M OT I O N S

HE A LT H Promotions

HEALTH PROMOTIONS

PROMOTIONS

HEALTH

PROMOTIONS

Health Promotions

HEA

PROM

H P

HEALTH PROMOTION

HEALTH P R O M OT I O N S

health promotions

Health

Promotions

omotions

Promotions

HEALTH P R O M OT I O N S

Health

HEALTH P R O M OT I O N S

ealth

Promotions

Health

Promotions

HEALTH P R O M OT I O N S

Health

Promotions

HEALTH P R O M OTI O N

Health

Promotions

the moral: I learned how to steer a presentation and keep the client focused. — PRO TIP

CONCLUSION

It’s one thing to listen to a friend. You

The client wanted me to copy another

let the conversation flow where it may.

school’s health promotion department’s

But with a client, you need to make a

logo, which I was not okay with. After one

game plan before meetings and take

revision (left), they still wanted the copy

the reigns when it gets off track.

so they hired another designer.

BEING A PERFECTIONIST CAN BE A GOOD SKILL, UNTIL YOU HAVE A TIGHT DEADLINE. — My favorite parts of a project are research and refinement; but sometimes, those processes have to be leapt over to sprint to meet a deadline. I whipped out this campaign idea, yard signs, flyers, banners, and napkin holders in less than 8 hours for a university-wide survey. It wasn’t going to win any awards, but it was clean, hierarchical, and effective. However, it’s harder to reign in a design when you get an awesome project. For example, one day my boss at SBTS asks me to create some signage for their booth at WorldFest. He explains the need for a quick turnaround and that the client wants a vintage 1920s baseball feel to it. What a cool theme! Instantly my brain filled with all of these grand ideas. I started working, and before I knew it, the clock struck 7 p.m., two hours past when I was supposed to leave. And I had hardly made a dent on my grand scheme.

the moral: I learned to factor time into a design. — PRO TIP

CONCLUSION

Leslie, one of my professors, always says,

I ashamedly spent about 20 hours on a 5

“Under promise, over deliver.” Make it a

hour project for an unpaid internship. I

goal to have a project finished a day or

finished the artwork several days after the

two before its deadline and go the extra

due date and my account manager sent

mile on deliverables.

me a couple passive-aggressive emails. I

If you’re not sure how long projects take you, start tracking how much time you’re spending on each part of a project. It’s probably more time than you think.

didn’t even get to the second part of the assignment to create a menu, so my boss had to do it for me. Embarrassing.

WORK WITH, NOT AGAINST, THE WRITERS. — When I got the copy for this cardiovascular research booklet, I noticed some typos, so I took it upon myself to fix them. There were a few misspelled words, but more importantly, the Oxford comma was nowhere to be seen. I added Oxford commas to all of the lists and printed out the new design with revised copy for the writers to review. The edits came back with all of my precious Oxford commas slashed with red ink and a note, “Who added all of these Oxford commas?” Whoops. Several months later, I was tasked with creating a brochure guiding visitors on UofL’s tree tour. The copy was stale and needed some spice. I needed to figure out how to not insult the writer and make them my partner in this project.

the moral: I learned collaborating is better than trying to be a know-it-all. — PRO TIP

CONCLUSION

Delegating is a key part of any project.

The writer and our creative office had a

You have to respect other people’s skills

blast thinking of tree puns to put in the

and recognize you can’t do everything.

copy. Some of my favorites include:

If you want to see changes in someone else’s part of the project, you can’t micromanage them. Rather, explain the overall goal or mood of the project and how you want their piece of it to

• To check out our bark, here’s where to park. • Woodn’t it be nice? • In-tree-ging. • Don’t leaf just yet.

contribute to that goal. See where they

• Tree yo’ self.

go from there.

Whew. All of these puns have me stumped.

THE PROBLEM WITH IN-HOUSE DESIGN IS THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST.* — At UofL, my boss usually gives me no more than 4 weeks to do a project, which is almost always plenty of time. In January, he assigned me a project that was due in April, so I assumed this was going to be quite an undertaking. As I read the project details, I realized the final outcome of this project was a report cover. Four months to do a report cover. Surely, this was a mistake. Proof 1. Proof 2a. Proof 2b. Proof 2c. Proof 3a. Proof 3b. Proof 3c. Proof 4. Proof 5. Proof 6. Proof 7.

— And it keeps trying to make fetch happen.

2015 OPERATING BUDGET

2014–2015 Operating Budget

2014 2015 OPERATING BUDGET

the moral: I learned what happens when revisions are free. — PRO TIP

CONCLUSION

If a client is taking advantage of you,

My boss was right. Final proofs were sent

which is more likely to happen if you’re

to the client on April 10th, four months

an intern, ask your boss to intervene or

after starting. After working with five

for advice on how to handle it.

different people and having to change

When you’re freelancing, be up-front about how many revisions the client gets and how much you will charge for every revision after that point.

direction each time, my boss decided to take over the project, which was disappointing but for the best.

“NOW THERE’S AN IDEA.” — One of the hardest skills to master when meeting with a client is reacting to a terrible idea. You don’t want to hurt their feelings—especially when they’re really excited about an idea—but you do want to show that you’re listening and understanding. The phrase, “now there’s an idea” is a lifesaver. In my experience, clients tend to be more attached to their ideas for projects when they’re more emotionally attached to the product. For example, play directors tend to be picky about their play posters because they put their heart and soul in their productions. For The African Co. Presents Richard III, the director told us he didn’t want something flat or illustrative like most play posters we do. He suggested a vintage playbill with a sepia look. For a play that takes place in the early 1800s, that’s actually a good idea.

the moral: I learned that clients can have great ideas. — PRO TIP

CONCLUSION

Remember to keep yourself in a design.

After researching the time period,

Don’t go so far to please the client that

I created a playbill true to the era. As a

you lose yourself. There’s a healthy

type fanatic, I was delighted to create

balance in between there.

something type-centric. The African Co.

Clients’ ideas, even if they seem bad, can be especially helpful when you’re clueless about the subject or where to even start.

— This lesson was brought to you by Project Runway.

Presents Richard III is a play within a play, so the poster is a poster in a poster. Bam. The director loved it and I enjoyed making something a little out of my comfort zone.

I NEVER THOUGHT I’D (KIND OF) MISS A BRAND BOOK. — During the summer of 2014, I interned for both UofL and Southern Seminary. Although they’re both higher education, they have pretty different aesthetics so I was excited for a change of pace. On my first day at UofL, I was given a brand book and read it like a Bible. That spiral bound beauty covers every nook and cranny about our brand. At Southern, I was surprised to learn they don’t have a brand book. All you have is a single Illustrator file with the different logos, colors, and usage guidelines. I’m sorry, but what?

SECONDARY COLOR PALETTE These are all the secondary colors for use only as accents in relevant UofL applications .

UofL PURPLE

RGB

PMS 262 45 / 100 / 0 / 55 86 / 0 / 78

WEB

56004E

PANTONE CMYK

UofL BROWN

RGB

PMS 161 0 / 52 / 100 / 64 118 / 66 / 0

WEB

764200

PANTONE CMYK

UofL MUSTARD

RGB

PMS 118 0 / 18 / 100 / 27 196 / 159 / 6

WEB

C49F06

PANTONE CMYK

UofL DEEP AQUA

RGB

PMS 3035 100 / 0 / 5 / 72 0 / 73 / 99

WEB

004963

PANTONE CMYK

LICY

UofL MAROON

RGB

138 / 37 / 41

RGB

PMS 159 0 / 66 / 100 / 7 227 / 111 / 30

WEB

8A2529

WEB

E36F1E

PANTONE

PMS 506

UofL DEEP ORANGE

45 / 100 / 100 / 15

CMYK

UofL TAN

RGB WEB

CEAA7A

CMYK

UofL MOSS

RGB

PMS 5777 10 / 0 / 49 / 28 177 / 181 / 121

WEB

B1B579

PANTONE CMYK

UofL AQUA

RGB WEB

00788A

CMYK

RGB

PMS 460 4 / 5 / 44 / 0 246 / 231 / 161

WEB

F6E7A1

PANTONE CMYK

UofL OLIVE

RGB

PMS 371 43 / 0 / 100 / 56 79 / 110 / 24

WEB

4F6E18

PANTONE CMYK

UofL SLATE

PMS 3155 100 / 0 / 24 / 38 0 / 120 / 138

PANTONE

CMYK

UofL CREAM

PMS 465 20 / 32 / 58 / 0 206 / 170 / 122

PANTONE

RGB

PMS 7545 23 / 2 / 0 / 63 91 / 111 / 123

WEB

5B6F7B

PANTONE CMYK

UofL ORANGE

RGB

PMS 144 0 / 48 / 100 / 0 248 / 152 / 29

WEB

F8981D

PANTONE CMYK

UofL GOLDENROD

RGB

PMS 7407 0 / 22 / 85 / 11 229 / 181 / 58

WEB

E5B53A

PANTONE CMYK

UofL GREEN

RGB

PMS 349 100 / 0 / 91 / 42 0 / 112 / 60

WEB

00703C

PANTONE CMYK

UofL LIGHT SLATE

RGB

PMS 7542 10 / 0 / 3 / 16 194 / 209 / 211

WEB

C2D1D3

PANTONE CMYK

the

THURSDAY

JOB & BANK

11 A.M. – 3 P.M.

2014

FAIR

AUGUST 28 Are you or your spouse looking for a job? Do you need to open a local bank account? Come visit with approximately 40 local employers and several banks. Employers are hiring now for fulltime or part-time opportunities. A list of participating vendors is available at inside.sbts.edu. Door prizes will be awarded.

God Our Vision

September 23–24 | Heritage Hall

DAV I D W E L L S Distinguished Senior Research Professor Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Tues, Sept. 23 | 1-2 p.m. Wed, Sept. 24 | 10-11 a.m. and 2-3 p.m. Book giveaways and an iPad giveaway

the moral: I learned to see branding with a different perspective. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; PRO TIP

CONCLUSION

Try multiple internships while youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in

Southern is more concerned about the

school. UofL and Southern may appear

work maintaining their look. They had

like similar experiences on the exterior,

brand colors and fonts but were totally

but the work environments and brand

flexible about other colors and fonts as

styles were completely different.

long as it looked like them. This freedom was exciting yet weird at first. I learned a lot about creating brand unity and saw a different side of in-house design.

SENDING FILES TO THE PRINTERS IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES. — Cutting open the box from the printers is either the worst or the best part of your day. Sometimes, the work looks better than you could have ever imagined. Other times, you pull out fist fulls of hair and say “SHIT” so many times that you may just spontaneously combust. My first time I sent a really big job to the printers was UofL’s campus map. Although I didn’t get to design it from scratch, I spent several weeks updating the map and got to design a new cover. Since no major changes had been made, we didn’t request a proof for these 10,000 maps. That’s a lot of maps.

C W

1 The Bellamy

.S HI P

W. HIL L

The Province

T .5

TO KFC Y & DOW LOU

Scholar House

W. L E E ST

Bettie Johnson Hall

3R S.

Univ. Planning

Early Learning Campus Urban & Economic Research

The Great Lawn

China Inn, Bazoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, J. Gumboâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Insomnia Cookies

Kurz Hall

W. B R AN

Louisville Hall

Student Rec Center

Community Greek Life Park Housing

Minardi Hall

College of Business

Speed Museum Garage

Speed Art Museum (reopening 2016)

ST H 4T S.

Brandeis School of Law

THE GROVE

Ford Hall

Baptist Center Interfaith Center Overseers Honors House Stevenson Hall

Bingham Humanities

Gardiner Hall

Shumaker Research Bldg.

Gottschalk Hall

Mill

The Oval

8 McCandless Hall

Brigman Hall

Grawemeyer Hall

West Info Center

Schneider Hall

Dougherty Hall

Crawford Gymnasium Lutz Hall

Patterson Hall Administrative Annex

Servic Compl

Miller IT Center

Vogt Bldg.

K Chemistry

Speed School of Engineering

Water Plant

Sackett Hall

Natural Sciences

Davidson Hall

The Quad

Oppenheimer Hall Brodschi

Hall Jouett Hall

i North Info Center

Life Sciences

Ekstrom Library

Stansbury Park

Rauch Planetarium

Strickler Hall

School of Music

West Hall

L BL VD

S AV E

Wellness House

D IN A

The Playhouse

Ville Grill Univ. Tower Apts.

Center Hall

D EI

W. C AR

W. B LO O M

Cardinal Towne

Duthie Center

Ernst Hall W.S. Speed Hall

University Relations & Development

S FAL

the moral: I learned to request a proof. — PRO TIP

CONCLUSION

To avoid a yucky chocolate, use the map

The photo for the cover was originally

on the inside of the lid. To avoid a crappy

saved as an .eps (no idea why). So, preflight

print job, go to press checks and/or

checks skipped it over assuming it was

request proofs. As Momma always says,

a vector file, and it ended up printing

“When you assume, you make an ass out

pixilated. Ten thousand maps with a

of you and me.”

pixilated cover. I cringe every time I see someone using one.

*BREAKFAST CLUB FIST IN THE AIR* — As an intern, people expect you to mess up (and make them coffee). What matters is that you work for people who are okay with that. Every project is an opportunity to learn, even if it results in failure. If you find yourself driving the struggle bus, remember to hold your head high and give yourself grace. I promise, whatever you’re going through, it’s not the end of the world. In my experience, intern struggles can be cured with ice cream, laughing, and looking at fluffy animals on the internet. If you feel like you’re not learning anything, pull up your first project. It’ll probably look awful, but it’ll show your growth and how much you’ve learned. Everyone has to start somewhere.

you’re gonna make mistakes, but you’re gonna learn a lot. —