Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1. I plan to interview Mimi Orth. She is very knowledgeable when it comes to graphic design and typography. She definitely helped us when it came to designing for the yearbook and she was also the biggest factor in deciding one of our main design element for this year.

2. What do you think of the current design standard versus older designs?
What makes a design work?
What do you think we can improve on in terms of design?
Going chronological for out small school is quite the leap of faith. Any advice?
Why did you choose to become a Herff Jones Rep?
What are your thoughts on the field of graphic design?

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

1. My topic is Graphic Design.

2. By becoming more active within the school, I will become well versed in each of the four iPoly ESLRs.

Effective iPoly Citizen - I will continue to design the school yearbook which holds all of the best memories that we share as a school as well as a few personal memories. By doing so, I am effectively 'archiving' our school lives for everyone to see and enjoy. I will also tutor fellow students in Mathematics if I am asked to assist.

Effective Communicator - My communication skills have improved greatly during my time at iPoly and I have become a better presenter, but I could still use a little more work and will improve in the slight shakiness in my voice. I will act on this to ensure that my voice is heard and that when I speak, people will listen.

Effective Learner - Considering how much I learn about things outside of school, I don't know how I can improve this, but I can continue to do what I already do in learning outside of school and now I can take full advantage of my mentorship and make sure that if I have questions, they are answered. I will also continue to completely understand 100% of what I am taught.

Effective User of Technology - In order to become a more effective user of technology, I will use credited sites to find scholarly sources more often and take advantage of the resources available to me on the programs which I have at my disposal at any given time, such as Microsoft Office when at home, Google Drive while I am at school, or even Adobe products to design.

Summer Mentorship Component

Literal
1. Mentorship Log
2. Mimi Orth
(626) 798 1680
3. What questions did I have during the mentorship?

• How do you choose what type of fonts work well with each other and what how can you identify legibility without needing to print?
• How can one successfully integrate different forms of type in their designs to help a reader in diminishing the 'fear' when seeing large blocks of copy.
• How can you design photo packages that not only help with the flow of the page, but also don't draw away from the impact of the dominant photo?
• When receiving critique, how do you decide which elements stay and which change based on critique?

Interpretive
4. Graphic Design is a job that is far more difficult than people seem to imagine. Countless hours of hard work go into designing some of the best looking ads, magazines and yearbooks. Inspiration is key in making a design and you should ALWAYS have some sort of inspiration rather than designing out of your own head unless you are the next GD prophet (Pro-tip: You probably aren't.)

Applied
5. Graphic Design has interested me ever since I learned how to use Adobe Photoshop during my Sophomore year. Since design interested me so much, I learned about GD in magazines and in different publications and joined Yearbook to test my skill. I was introduced to Adobe InDesign which I became proficient in. I still have much to learn, but Graphic Design is definitely a field which I am thinking about as a side job. (Pay is far too low for my goals.) This mentorship helped me improve my skills and lock in this topic for my Senior Project.