Blog #3 - First Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?
-I plan to interview my mentor, Ken Chen. I believe that since he is the one mentoring me, it's best to go to him for any assistance or questions. He is the one who will knows my situation and is willing to help me in any possible way.

2.  Five questions will be assigned to all seniors to ask.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  Ask open-ended questions.
-Additional questions I would like to ask are:

1. What is your graphic design process?
2. What do you think is the biggest accomplishment you have done as a graphic designer?
3. What qualities do you consider necessary for a good designer?
4. What do you think is the key to success when getting a job as a graphic designer?
5. What makes someone want hire a graphic designer?

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

(This isn't something I made during my mentorship, but it's something I was requested to make for my church, which was a type of graphic design: layouts, which I learned to do during my time of mentoring.)

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

-Caroline Hou, (626) 330 4919, Betani Footwear

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?
-My mentor designed shoes. Since shoe design and graphic designing is within the same category, it was something that could work out. My job was to take pictures and create layouts for the shoe catalogs.

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.
-1. What are the things I'm presenting to the world that requires professional design?
2. What are the key materials needed to design something the customer will be satisfied with?
3. What does a graphic designer need to know outside of their field to create a successful business with other businesses?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
-The most important thing I gained from this experience was that I needed to be able to satisfy many people, ranging from my mentor to the customer with my designs.

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?  Please explain.
-My senior project topic will be about graphic design. I originally decided on going down the graphic design path, therefore I decided to start small and I really liked how interactive I was able to be in that environment. It made me like my topic even further, since it was not only just designing, it was also photography and layouts all together.

Blog 1 – Senior Final Lesson/Interview Reflection

(Cap: A beautiful graphic design created by graphic designer Silencio)

1.  What three lessons were most helpful for you to see, and why?

The lessons that were most helpful to me were computer programming, business, and language acquisition. I am currently aiming for graphic design as my senior project topic, and knowing about computers and how to program them really helped me understand and become more interested in my topic. Business also helps me understand that if I ever run my own business, there are many things I have to consider, and I’ll know how to handle them. For language acquisition, I can speak and communicate with customers who cannot speak English or prefer to speak a different language fluently.

2. List one thing that you learned about the senior project in interviews that will help you get off to a good start?

I learned that it’s useless to worry over everything, and that it will be easier than I thought. I also learned that it’s okay to switch topics, and that I need to think ahead of things and prepare beforehand. I also have to check a lot of things daily, do a lot of research, and make a schedule to organize things in order to turn things in on time.

3. What topic(s) are you considering, and why?

I am considering graphic design. Ever since I was little, I was interested in art. I also found out at a young age that I was pretty skilled with the computer as well, so I thought, “Why not put them together?” It’s also what I want to major in in the future, so I want to study more about graphic design before I decide whether I want to go down this path or not.

4. What EQ do you think might be interesting to consider in guiding a project like this? (Please don’t worry about any sort of formula…we want this question to come from your genuine interest).

Something like “What is the best way to please a customer with your graphic design?” It’s something that I would take a lot of time trying to form a perfect answer.

5. What are some ideas you have about finding summer mentorship?

Since my uncle is a graphic designer, but lives in Maryland, I wanted to call him and ask if he has any buddies here in LA that could mentor me. I also could go online and email a bunch of graphic designers to help me out.