Internship Week 3

So I’ve finished week 3, and so very much has changed in the last seven days. Firstly, I actually got the job I was interviewing for last week! This makes me super happy, since it’s a job that will allow me to actually make enough money to pay back those school loans by doing what I took all the loans to learn. Of course, this means that my internship is going to be restructured a little bit. Before actually starting this semester, Suzette and I had discussed the likelihood of me working from home the majority of the time, a plan that changed when the Art Guild mentioned that they had extra work space for me to use, even if I do tend to use my own computer. Now that I am getting this job, I will have to revert to that original plan once I start, right after mid-term.

Perhaps because they know that I will no longer be in the office in a couple of weeks, and hopefully not because they don’t actually like the work I’ve been doing as much as they say they do, the Art Guild has had literally only about 30 min of work for me to do this week. I basically got to do the type setting for the sheet for Jenny that I couldn’t do last week. I’m glad I got to do it for her in time for it to be put in the physical packets that were handed out at Thursday’s shindig. I really hope that they have more work for me to do in the future. I also really hope that they have faith that I am capable of working from home and getting stuff to them in a timely manner.

One very big plus side to not working as much on Art guild stuff is that I am really getting somewhere with the artwork for the 2011 Educator’s Guide. I have three really cool ideas for reworking the apple; I just need to work on how exactly I am going to create a unified theme for the cover. Really, I need to just sit down and do a couple of mood boards, and that is probably where I’ll be going next with this project. I also got to experience calling everyone who hadn’t gotten all of their blurbs for the inside turned in to Suzette yet. There were quite a few, and I just hope that everything is ready to go by the time I need to have this thing ready to go to print. I suppose I’ll probably always have to deal with this sort of thing, waiting for copy or whatnot so I can finish a project. I’ve just decided to consider it good practice for the future.

Internship Week 2

So far I really feel as if I am in the right place with this internship. I really feel as if I am doing something that I would do with or without the added benefit of earning college credit anyway.

I finally got to meet Suzette Boulais in person, and she is a really amazing woman. She really believes in what she is doing with Arts partners, and it shows just by talking to her. In our meeting Monday she really went over again what ArtsPartners is about, and really drove home that fact that helping and pulling together the overall arts scene is the main point. Really, this is why she wanted to let me work with the Art Guild as well. She told me that they have enough work for me just with ArtsPartners ( and I whole heartedly believe her), but that since their goal was to aid the local arts community and arts based organizations, she felt that sharing me was more in line with ArtsPartners as an organization.

I also got a lot of information on different projects that I am going to be working on for ArtsPartners, and about a million samples. I think the projects that I am most excited about are the 2011 Annual Report and the 2011 Educators Guide. They are both multiple page publications, and I have been given basically free reign, with the understanding that I need to provide a couple of options for Suzette to choose form. I am so excited about these projects in fact, that I have already volunteered my continued support via volunteer hours in order to AT LEAST finish the annual report.

Things seem to be going well with the Art Guild; I was able to finish the ad project I was working on in plenty of time to get printed. Of course this week I had a very important job interview on Wednesday, so I was only able to be in the office for one day, but they were very nice about my interview, and very supportive as well. Other than finishing that ad project, I was asked by jenny to work on basically a type setting project that I was unfortunately unable to actually finish. She didn’t have the copy for me when I was in the office, and wouldn’t until later in the week. She also needed it to be finished by Friday at noon, and with my interview, a long planned trip to Chicago, and my graduation ceremony on Friday; I just didn’t have enough time to work on that project. I do have to say that she was very nice about it however.

All in all, everything seems to be going really well, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the semester. I really look forward to seeing what new projects the Art Guild comes up with for me to do. I also really can’t wait to get started on the projects for ArtsPartners.

Onlyness Statement

uniTea - The only sustainably grown, fair traded black and herbal tea blends, using only organic and natural ingredients.

Competitive Audit

Who are the competitors?: Twinnings and Celestial Seasons

What do their brands stand for?: British tradition and young fun respectively.

What markets do they serve?: Older more polished tea drinkers/ hippy tea drinkers

What strengths do they have?: traditional and older/ interesting herbal blends

What weaknesses do they have?: Seem stodgy/ seem flighty with no caffein

What are their modes of selling and cultivating consumers? occasional ads, keeping it simple/ interesting packaging and ads

How do they position themselves?: Tea for the traditional/ tea for fun herb lovers

How do they characterize their customers?: Older, British, traditional/ hippy, natural

What are their key messages?: We've been here forever and wont change/ we are a fun alternative to other drinks.

What is their financial condition?: good, holding steady

How much market share do they hold?: unknown

How do they use brand identity to leverage success?: keep it simple and traditional/ keep it fun and interesting

What do they look and feel like?: Very traditional/ fantastical

Product and Company Development

Company Name : UniTea

Product Produced : fair trade organic teas

Price Range : 5 - 15 dollars depending on tea blend and type

Who is the market?: People concerned about sustainable agriculture and social issues.

Who will buy?: the concerned individuals who will be drinking the product.

What types of color schemes?: Fresh, unique, bold, bright

What type of typography?: Modern, clean, progressive.

Market and purchaser are the same.

What Qualities will the logo communicate? "Green", health conscious, eco-conscious, socially conscious.

What word describe the product?: Fresh, Delicious, Smart

What are the major strengths of the company?: Very natural honest

What are the weaknesses of the company?: may not appeal to people who care more about price than health or conservation.

Who are the competitors for this product?: Twinnings, Stash, PG Tips, Celestial Seasons, PickWick

Organic Tea Logo Ideas

Ok, so here are my ideas. I did them all in a nice green, but I think in the end they are going to change color based on the type of tea with the light cream color being the standard and the dominant color changing. these three are my favorite of what I've been working on, but personally I like the abstract logo with the accompanying type the very best.

Internship Week One

I have finally begun my last semester of school, and with it, basically the internship of my dreams. I know, I know, quite the statement. the fact of the matter is, the organizations that I am working with are places that I have wanted to volunteer for anyway. The people are also amazing to work with, and I feel as if I will be able to really learn from them. I also feel as if I am going to get a huge amount of real world experience. I've learned never to work for free, and I really feel as if this internship is going to be immensely rewarding even without considering the school credit I am receiving from it.

I am technically interning with Suzette Boulais at ArtsPartners, although I am being shared with a couple of other organizations as well. ArtsPartners is a local organization dedicated to getting the word out about the different artistic programs in the area. a lot of their work revolved around simply partnering with an array of organizations and getting the word out as much as possible. They are funded through city money, and have to account for every cent they spend. Actually since their goal is to lift up the local art community, my getting to work with the Art Guild is one of their “services”. As Suzette put it, they have plenty of work for me to do in my 100 hours of internship work but they want to make sure that the free intern is shared with other groups who might need me more.

The Art Guild is also going to be pretty sweet I think. Not only do I get a chance to see the different exhibits, but I have already designed a few different advertising pieces for them, and will continue to do so. Although it’s not really the way I have worked in the past, I like getting thrown into something and expected to just sink or swim, and churn out something that is better than just useable. So far they seem to like the work I have done for them, and I really hope that I can get better through my time there. I also really hope that I can learn how to work in a smaller office, where design is maybe only a part of what I do every day. I do know one thing for certain though, this is going to be one interesting ride.