Overview
Worked for Red Frame Lab part-time as a student Graphic Designer for 3.5 years making promotional material for print and digital. I met monthly with a team consisting of my bosses and some other students to discuss strategies for expanding Red Frame’s presence on campus. I had complete creative freedom when it came to designing for events, though I worked closely with my boss to develop a consistent brand identity for our content during my last 2 years.
My job
I was responsible for creating visual promotional content for print (11x17 posters) and digital (social media and TV screen). Being a part-time student job, I would receive about 1-3 projects per semester from my bosses usually with a 2-3 week turnaround. Starting with an email or Slack message filled with logistics, a description, and maybe a headshot of the speaker/group leading the event, I would then have complete creative freedom when it came to deciding how I would portray the event through visual design.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/3b931e4f-6b4e-4d0e-9f07-1971ca2dadc4_rw_1920.jpg?h=3e3199311f29a960f44febee69c65b8d)
A typical 11x17 poster
![1x1 for social media](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/89de99ce-8d2b-422a-8fb7-dd3bf4a64e89_rw_1920.jpg?h=eb5bea99ffc39deb4fb7514f59999500)
1x1 for social media
![1920x1080 for TV screen](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/88dd8f93-1477-4a3a-916d-3642c3df5594_rw_3840.jpg?h=bbb3f84580e4f9f01077e8203afd5a37)
1920x1080 for TV screen
My process
After getting hired my freshman year, I remember stopping in front of a large bulletin board outside my dining hall overcrowded with posters advertising groups, events, and opportunities all across campus. I stared at the board for a minute or two and asked myself:
“How can I make a poster that stands out on this wall or any other on campus?”
When beginning a poster, I would always start with the title. I love working with type, so I found that by figuring out a font and style I liked with the title, I could then continue the rest of the poster accordingly. I write essays the same way—start with the introduction paragraph and then write the rest of the paper.
![SP22](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/1b07a4f8-9343-40ec-8929-1501c1d6ab0e_rw_1920.jpg?h=bccede78409ac75f9da40f560dbe3396)
SP22
![SP22](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/26b2a96d-5d88-48d7-af59-a7066052715b_rw_1920.jpg?h=cddaef3e15f3539c6e496732c00771cc)
SP22
![FA19](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/0cf0d1e3-1ce4-4a30-9e5f-2494505b3bcf_rw_1920.png?h=c8aad4b77f02e61a845d637b82a2b9b1)
FA19
![FA21](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/4910acb5-2b65-4d88-b932-2d38cc5702e4_rw_1920.jpg?h=ccf6da39742055e4afd0f072e9d0344c)
FA21
![SP19](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/43e3ad66-e035-4ce3-9874-eacbbecaa512_rw_1200.jpg?h=e72ced335e182a838134374855a248d9)
SP19
![SP19](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/07f5d468-2deb-4d6d-a7c1-7e56e51ff488_rw_1920.jpg?h=ac7aad106d4c84f943659649c1e1f78e)
SP19
![SP22](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/65bfa43a-e1ad-456b-a75c-1e0ef40e26ac_rw_3840.jpg?h=242e430b84b75aabb5baead8b768cca6)
SP22
![FA19](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/be64e991-c530-4e9e-8bd0-6477d57914cc_rw_1920.png?h=307dc1a56e0dc4cddeb175a3e22ce3d3)
FA19
![FA20](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/49a08398-a9ae-4574-b974-2ce9ac749017_rw_1920.png?h=72e511d0c281e8959306be757ee64b07)
FA20
![SP19](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/657c47de-5ae2-4eba-8dbc-f91cdea3bf3f_rw_1920.png?h=d2d30e496cc1e0ec18ccf3d9bae6ab48)
SP19
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/82a3b1cc-99b6-43a3-9a7a-c1c995a3be9f_rw_1920.jpg?h=ea2f2984899633e43843297d37fc41d6)
Other projects
Amongst the typical event posters, I also had the opportunity to design logos for subbrands within Red Frame, such as their consulting program, Red Start Up. From brainstorming to sketching to tinkering in illustrator, I went through many iterations of this logo before landing on the final design.
![Final RED logo](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/154066e9-bad2-4ffb-be22-29354e1bbeb5_rw_1920.jpg?h=02c1b092af6fcc402b5f91f754f7056d)
Final RED logo
![Logo iterations from start to finish](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/c22aab09-41c2-4e6f-acf7-601b0b04dd32_rw_600.png?h=093438399c7f53d409ad56588abe6f88)
Logo iterations from start to finish
In the fall of 2019, I had the chance to tackle a much bigger project for Red Frame, which was designing a series of cohesive advertisements to help promote their annual alumni summit, ReMix.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/79c14c83-eb04-4a4e-9fd8-47e8e431d8a9_rw_3840.png?h=73d38521cc654f6ae73a2871003284ef)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/06bbe366-1557-47f5-89e3-8280019d44db_rw_3840.png?h=e3a802a6a71dc0af98cfc46b8d790e03)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/613258ba-82a7-45f1-b641-f8494fea9f80_rw_3840.png?h=8f7e0363502144561608930d5f336557)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/7e27f3e7-925a-405e-9b51-c94f37cc699b_rw_3840.png?h=401d95b9c7b008d943da090337dcc314)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/336d0501-0055-4fc3-9989-82dfd2250859_rw_3840.png?h=b7f271e94b148f60d64ec05a5dc0ecbe)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/233684d9-2c8a-4692-bab9-e1c429493f5f/14c2e65a-8d76-4a16-8d08-ea4f871c694c_rw_3840.png?h=81624ee8e0fafad0b42ca1da901164c1)
Takeaways
Looking back, this was such an excellent opportunity for someone like me who was passionate about design and needed an outlet to practice and show my work. Being a busy college student, having a casual, low-stakes design job during school was a nice creative outlet to test out techniques I had learned online or in class.
The biggest aspect I was missing from this experience was critique. None of my bosses were designers, so whenever I would finish and send them a project, it was always “great,” aside from maybe a typo or a time change. So, while I was producing lots of posters and feeling confident about them, I wasn’t developing my design skills. I gained plenty of experience in workplace communication, collaboration, and inner-company logistics.