I Heart OU

OU Recruitment Services

May 2009-present

Various publications

Communications intern

I started working at Recruitment Services because I wanted to expand my resume and try something a little different. This department produces all of the publications that go out to prospective students, their parents and high school counselors. I am responsible for designing many of those publications. As the communications intern, I work directly under the Director of Communications for Recruitment Services.

Working here was an adjustment because it was a different environment than what I was used to in Student Media. At Student Media, I am surrounded by other students and we make all the decisions regarding our publications. We have an advisor who gives us feedback and shows us how we can improve, but at the end of the day, all the decision-making powers belong to us. At Recruitment Services, all of my work goes through many other people and departments before it can be given the green light. Most of the time, I am working on several different publications simultaneously, so I’ve refined my organizational skills to keep up. Below are several of the things I’ve worked on this semester: 

This invitation was sent out to prospective students and their parents to promote Sooner Saturday, OU's premiere event for high school seniors.

A card promoting OU's social media sites including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter

Four bookmarks concerning:

1. Applying for admission

2. Important dates for prospective students

3. OU's website

4. Academic interests

Recruiters for OU hand these out to prospective students and their parents at various events to give them more information about the university and encourage them to visit and apply for admission.

Meatloaf

Sower (Issue 2)

September-October 2009

Glossy magazine

Art director

This issue is kind of like meatloaf. You don’t want to know what went into it, but you can admire the tastiness of the end result. Only the people who worked on this issue truly understand just how much went wrong and how much of a struggle it was to meet the deadline. The day before deadline, I was only able to have several pages laid out as things trickled in. But…loads of caffeine, an IHOP trip, zero sleep, and several breakdowns later, we had a second issue.

And that is why I love what I do. Time after time, even when it looks next to impossible, we always pull it off. Somehow. 

Note: The background on this page is supposed to include a light gradient.

Sower...Round Two

Sower (Issue 1)

May-July 2009

Glossy magazine

Art director

Being the art director of Sower magazine has been such an incredible opportunity. Here we had a chance to create a bi-monthly magazine for the OU campus. This first issue was similar to past single-issue Sowers in that it was more geared toward freshmen (and it was mailed out to them). However, it was also placed in racks around campus as we also attempted to appeal to the rest of the OU community. 

I am the only designer on Sower’s staff, so I get to create everything from the cover to the quiz on the final page. As the art director, I set the style of the publication and this has probably been my favorite part so far. I spent a lot of time looking through other magazines for inspiration, talking to the editor-in-chief about our visions for Sower and poring over font websites. When I found my perfect combo of serif and sans serif typefaces, it was like magic. I made mock spread after mock spread while I waited for content and photos. I got to create something out of nothing, and unlike the first round of Sower a year prior, this time I had more experience and knowledge under my belt. 

The Era of 2009

Sooner 2009

August 2008-May 2009

400-page yearbook

Design editor

As design editor for the Sooner 2009 yearbook, I was able to continue refining my leadership and design skills. This role was probably the hardest and most challenging one I’ve had so far. It involved managing a fluctuating staff of about 7-9 designers, from teaching them the basics in staff training, to coaching them on each spread. We had monthly deadlines for the book that we were required to meet, as well as weekly deadlines that I set up internally. I ran weekly meetings with my staff to assign projects and I attended weekly editors’ meetings and art meetings.

Because of the nature of design and its relationship with the other aspects of a publication (writing and photography), my staff and I very often had to pull things together within a matter of days. Photos fall through and stories have to be rewritten and design strings it all together. At first I struggled trying to juggle this stressful job with school (because, of course, this came at a time when I was finally knee-deep in my upper level advertising courses) and other commitments. But as life went on, I came to enjoy the adrenaline rush of finishing a spread 10 minutes before deadline and I learned how to prioritize between school and Sooner. My patience was tested every day, both with people and inanimate objects like the printer and my computer. And I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for anything. I built relationships that will last past college as my fellow editors and I worked late nights and early mornings to put together a book we are so extremely proud of. I became a better leader as I found that other people must also learn from their mistakes, instead of watching me do everything for them. I observed a designer that I very much respect and through him I learned how small things like broken-up words and the stroke of a line affect readability and legibility. At the end of it all, we produced an award-winning publication that I will have sitting on my coffee table for years.

Note: On this spread, the white rectangle in the upper left corner is supposed to be a column of dots (same as the ones seen in the other spreads). For some reason, when this particular spread is exported, the dots do not transfer.

 

Sower...Round One

Sower (single issue)

May-July 2008

Glossy magazine

Editor-in-chief

At this time, Sower was a single-issue magazine that was mailed out to one of OU's most important audiences: incoming freshmen and their parents. It covered everything that a new student should know about university life, from OU's revered traditions to its parking rules. As the editor-in-chief, I oversaw a staff of seven people and managed weekly deadlines. I also ran weekly meetings to assign stories, photos and design, controlled the budget and kept track of payroll. I had one other designer, but I took on the bulk of the page design and layout. I developed all the content ideas and set the style for the magazine, which was a challenge because I only had about four months of any kind of design or publication experience at this point. But I was determined to prove that I could do it and I am proud of the result, especially given my inexperience at the time. Today I still find things that I wish I would have changed, but that's a part of evolving into a better designer!  Here are some examples:

A Blank Page

Sooner 2008

January-May 2008

200-page yearbook

Designer

I don't have much to share visually about this position, but I can describe what I experienced in my first staff position at Student Media. This is where I got my first taste of designing for a publication and I fell in love with it. When I applied to work there, I had never even heard of InDesign and if you had asked me to kern a line of text, I would have stared at you blankly. All I had was my portfolio of artwork from my high school AP Studio Art class. I remember freaking out when I found out that I had gotten an interview because I didn't have a real business suit. After a stressful trip to the mall, I had what I thought was the proper attire for such an occasion. Turns out you don't need to wear a suit to your interview, which I quickly found out when I walked into the Features office and got several strange looks. But, I figured, better safe than sorry. 

It all paid off and I began working as an intern designer for Sooner 2008, OU's yearbook. OU's yearbooks are premier publications and win many awards annually, including the Pacemaker, which is considered by many to be the Pulitzer Prize for collegiate publications. I was so excited to be involved and associated with these high standards. I quickly learned the ins and outs of InDesign and began laying out pages with the help of the design editor. Mid-semester I earned a paid position on staff. 

I loved being able to build something from scratch. Some people say a blank page is intimidating, but I never found it to be. I think it's an opportunity. A blank page is also kind of like college, or more specifically, the end of college. Although the thought of leaving OU behind is insanely frightening and nerve-racking, it is also exhilarating. How many times in your life can you do anything you want and go anywhere you please without being tied down? Not many. So, as scary as my looming graduation is, I'm determined to continue looking at it as an amazing opportunity, just like the blank pages I work with every day.