Picture 1.

Upon entering Studio Conover you are immediately greeted by the proprietors David, and Cecilia Conover before ever having opened the door. The clever caricature of the couple depicts the business relationship between the two creative fields Graphic design, and architectural color to the tee. This company logo was created by the studio in the 80’s and has become the icon of the partnership ever since. Being that the company has been around since its beginnings in 1985 the work produced from the company is mature and specialized, making it a great place to intern and experience a successful creative business.

Picture 2.

Seemingly just arrived my first project was to enter our work into the melting pot of graphic design for southern California the Ad Club Addy awards, a quirky award show that has gained prestige over the years in the creative community. This year however the Addys presented a special challenge. A brutish bloodbath of hardwoods and speed known as the pine wood derby race, the theme of the year being brain power and horse power a battle to the splinted death seemed logical… I designed and built for two weeks the most un-breakable, stylish, and aerodynamic piece of wood I possibly could. Representing Studio Conover in the Addy’s pine wood derby was a car christened “the stock car” with detailing and a name like that nothing could stops its plummet downhill.

Picture 3.

The Addy Awards named Studio Conover medalists in various design oriented categories, chipotle burritos were served and it being a design competition the majority of the artists there began drinking at 6:00. Though the entire point of the awards is to exhibit design work the evening seemed rushed with the prospect of hurling decorative wood blocks down a 20 ft. long gradual slope. Come 7:30 the real competition began, between the sub-par bracket system and overwhelming bias to their own cars the event would have been proudly approved by the Boy Scout fathers of America. When my pine wood racer was up to race the political innuendo was rank in the air provoking only a few chuckles, and then exhibited an average 3rd place performance once the cars began to roll down the track. I was beaten, my careful calculations had been wrong. To top it all off the victor of the event was a wooden taco, not nearly as clever as my own. I sustain to this day that the race was rigged.

Picture 4.

I’ve learned from my internship experience that design work can require some long hours, in order to cope with these hours the studio has experimented with some methods of acquiring energy. Upon walking into the kitchen you will find boxes of Emergen-C a tart fizzy powder that when added to water makes some kind of chalky, bubbly, raspberry nightmare. This is one of the many staples of Studio Conover. Between these drinks and small Hershey’s chocolates more sugar is consumed on a weekly basis than at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Not only that, but the beverage is stock piled in bulk like a cold war era bunker. If an important job comes through you better believe that there will be sufficient energy supplies to get the job done.

Picture 5.

Perhaps the most important part of the day at the studio is the twice daily trip to star bucks. Masked at a mandatory break or social excursion I personally believe that the amount of coffee they have consumed has made them develop an addiction. It is incredible the influence that coffee has on the business. On days without coffee, it is speculated that productivity goes down 30%. Desi McKinnon, fan of the non fat latte says “We need our coffee, its what makes the world go round.” Despite speculation I’ve grown use to my twice daily coffee breaks and do find it to be a great way to get to know my co workers.

Picture 6.

Organization and communication is important between designers working on one common goal, or project. The meeting room is frequented by the staff updating each other on the Buddhist saying of the day, their work load, and for some reason economic criticism that always ends in talk of communism. Overall the communication between a group of people is exceptional, and the motivation for this is evident as there are seldom clarifying questions asked and instead constructive conversation. The meeting room is a place of Zen in my eyes as organization has a calming effect. No doubt it is the most important thing to running any kind of business big or small.

What I can bring to the magazine.

Ive already done some prior though on the subject of what I can do for this magazine because i decided to incorporate it into my honors project as well. Since I have been interning at a graphic design studio all semester i have learned a lot about editing programs like in-design and illustrator that i think I can utilize to do some of the design work for our magazine. We can work with typefaces, layout, and come up with a logo or signature look for the publication.

Since this is basically my honors project i am not sure but i think I will also need to write an article? If this is the case i could deffinantly write about having an internship in a creative field which was uncommon in our group of internships. What the differences are between an internship in say engineering versus graphic design, with range of projects, skills/ programs utilized, an work environment. Does working in a creative feild necessarily mean that you have complete freedom to create what you want? Does working in a lab setting mean that you have to follow strict criteria? these would be some of the question i would cover in the article.

Optional Blog

My internship works in the creative fields. specifically graphic design. This included advertising, web design, branding, and package design. Their clients are not everyday people looking to buy a logo, but large companies who want to attract business. So in this recession if companies do poorly then they do poorly because the large companies will have little money to spend on advertising and what not.

Some economic advice I would give to anyone in the graphic design field would be to seek out and target the companies who are surviving the recession and growing from it via adaptation. Because if these companies will still buy your service then you need to piggyback on them to ride out the recession.

Immersion

1. What are you most excited about in regards to your immersion experience? Why do you feel this way?

I really enjoy all of the individuals who work at the design studio and mentor me so being able to spend two weeks working on my projects and being completely "immersed" in my work will not only be a great opportunity to create quality work but it will give me the experience of going to work form 9 to 4 everyday, giving me a real working experience. (also i can get a brief break from engineering)I feel this way because i am genuinely happy at my internship, i can attribute that to setting it up myself (Which i recommend to everyone) I think that decision will maximize the expirince and knowlege that I gain from immersion.

2.What are you most concerned about (what causes the most stress) regarding immersion? Why do you feel this way?

I am most concerned about the fact that for the first week i will be working with someone else in the company because my mentor will be skiing... I have never worked with this individual before so it is unknown if i will like her as much as my mentor or if she expects more or less of me. It is the fact that there is an unknown factor in my very first week of immersion. Otherwise i think it will all go fine.

30 minutes with mah Boii B-Rrack

If i could go on a lunch date to quiznos with president obama and give him advice on the current state of the economy first i would recommend that we purchase the five dollar 12'' sandwich, for the benefit of the economy instead of the more expensive sandwiches that simply feature a different sauce or something trivial like that...

More importantly than our lunch our discussion on the economy would be the main focus of the lunch date. I have many solutions to our current economic crisis that I would be willing to share with him, all of which i assure are gaurenteed to fix the current state of the economy.

I would immediatly bring up his proposed 800 billion dollar bailout after he took his first bite of turkey and swiss. The bill which is currently being approved by congress will probably need revisions. These are the revisions that I would suggest. give the 800 billion dollars to every person in america to spend specifically on their public debts to banks, credit companies, and any other legitimate company. I personally would count to mob also... This would not only help out the banks which would be boosted, but it would act as a little economic stimulus because when people pay off their bills/ debt they will have money to spend on "stuff" that will make the country more money.

As Barrack Obama opened his bag of jalpeno flavored kettle chips i would mention the economic stimulus plan he is proposing. I would grab a few of his chips and munch on them as he waits for my advice. I would say to him that the bet way to stimulte the economy isnt to give people money to spend becuse that is only a temporary fix.

mentor information

Information:
http://studioconover.com/communicationdesign/

Interview Questions

- What field of design do You specialize in?
- Are there any familiar advertisments that my classmates would recognize?
- Where did you go to school?
- How did you come here to san diego?
- I know you specialize in design for construction materials, Was it a bussiness move?
- Why take on an intern?
- Does most of your business take place here in san diego?
- tell me a story about a client from hell.
- Where do most of your clients reside?
- How many projects a year are you involved in.
- How would you explain your studio's individual style?
- How many entries are you entering in this years addy awards?
- What do you think are the chances you you guys taking one home?
- At the addy's raid how do you think our pine wood derby car will stack up?
- How did you end up in the graphic design bussines?
- what advice would you give to an individual who was trying to get into the profession.
- What is the most important aspect of running a bussiness?
- Were do you find your employees?
- How do i stck up as an intern?

Design Principles

My writing partner Amanda and I came up with some design principles that we thought would make for a good interview. We thought some good interviews to follow were the interviews done by Mike Wallace because they followed our design principles.

"The Conversation Principle"
One of them would be a "non script sounding" conversation. When watching good examples of interviews we noticed that the interview didn't sound like just a question and answer session. The interviewee gave fairly long in depth answer and provided substantial evidence for their answer more like a conversation. Also, what made the interview sound "non script like" was how the interviewer would ask clarifying questions, if necessary, based off the answer the interviewee gave. There was no fear of improvising questions.

"WALLACE: Dali, first of all let me ask you this, you're a remarkable painter and you've dedicated your life to art, in view of this, why do you behave the way that you do? For instance, you have been known to drive in a car filled to the roof with cauliflowers. You lectured, as I mentioned, once with your head enclosed in a diving helmet and you almost suffocated. You issue bizarre statements about your love for rhinoceros horns and so on. You're a dedicated artist, why do you or why must you do these things?

DALI: Because for this kind of eccentricities correspond with more important and the more tragical part of my life.

WALLACE: The more important and the more tragical part. I don't understand.

DALI: The more philosophical.

WALLACE: Well, what is philosophical about driving in a car full of cauliflowers or lecturing inside a diving helmet?

DALI: Because discover and make one tremendous speech, a most scientific in the Sorbonne in Paris... of what my discovering of the logarithmic curve of cauliflower.

WALLACE: The what?

DALI: logarithmic curve of cauliflower.

WALLACE : Oh yes, the "logarithmic curve"... yes...

DALI: And if in time the logarithmic curve in the horns of rhinoceros -- in this time discover, this is a symbol of chastity, one of the most powerful symbols of modern times."

This is part of an interview Mike Wallace had with Salvador Dali. He asked why it was that he did such strange things and when he didn't understand he asked clarifying questions. This made it sound more like a conversation more then an interview which we thought was an aspect that made the interview good.

"The Prior Knowledge Principle" Another design principle we though makes for a good interview is that the interviewer has prior knowledge of the interviewee. In an interview we watched conducted by Mike Wallace he asked his interviewee Aldous Huxley about a previous essay he wrote. We liked the fact that he had a quote pulled out of that book and used it as evidence to ask a question, having obviously done his background research. We thought it made the interview more professional because Mike came across as very prepared for the interview. The interviewee may also elaborate and give you information that is in depth if they think you

"WALLACE: You write in Enemies of Freedom, you write specifically about the United States. You say this, writing about American political campaigns you say, "All that is needed is money and a candidate who can be coached to look sincere; political principles and plans for specific action have come to lose most of their importance. The personality of the candidate, the way he is projected by the advertising experts, are the things that really matter."

HUXLEY: Well, this is the... during the last campaign, there was a great deal of this kind of statement by the advertising managers of the campaign parties. This idea that the candidates had to be merchandised as though they were so-called two-faced and that you had to depend entirely on the personality.

I mean, personality is important, but there are certainly people with an extremely amiable personality, particularly on TV, who might not necessarily be very good in political... positions of political trust."

"The Connection Principle" We noticed in the Mike Wallace interviews we watched that the interviewer and the interviewee have some sort of connection. It seems that they have spoken before or were not complete strangers. We feel, from experience, there is a much different vibe you get when you do or see an interview that is between two people who have just met for the first time, a more awkward feeling. In the interview we watched with Margret Sanger it states in the beginning that the interview was in no way rehearsed but we felt that while watching the interview it was very smooth and more like a conversation which made it pleasurable to watch and easy to stay focused while watching.


"WALLACE: Do you feel that Birth Control is essential to keep millions of people across the world from starving?

SANGER: Well, I think that Birth Control--if you keep the population more or less static until you pick up your resources, certainly you'll-- keep--prevent their starving.

WALLACE: Well, what's more important -- Birth Control or picking up the resources?

SANGER: Well, picking up the resources there's just a limit to that too. There's just so much -- take Japan -- and she cannot feed they've had the best experts come there when MacArthur was there and the best experts would say that they have twenty million more people than they can feed; she's got to be fed outside in some -- in some way. She's got to have that kind of help if she's going to keep from fighting."

Watergate 2.0

The Nixon administration’s array of illegal activities known as Watergate gave the next president Gerald Ford the difficult decision of prosecuting America’s president and his administration; similarly Barrack Obama is being faced with the same predicament as the Bush administration leaves a slough of illegal activity as they leave office. As Gerald Ford prosecuted the cabinet with the exception of Nixon, it is only fitting that Barrack Obama do the same.


On November 17, 1973 President Richard Nixon addressed the country in his final televised event and became the first president to resign form office. This was all in the wake of the Watergate scandal where three men were caught breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters in order to sabotage it. The FBI linked the men to President Nixon exposing a vast amount of illegal activities all over the world. Nixon maintained his innocence, rejected accusations of wrong doing and vowed to stay in office as his approval ratings sharply fell. He insisted that though he had made mistakes he had no prior knowledge of the burglary or cover-up until early 1973. That November he addressed the country and so famously said;

“People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got.”

President Gerald Ford was sworn in immediately after Nixon resigned and was faced with the decision of weather or not to prosecute Nixon and his administration for there crimes. Though the decision was very unpopular Gerald ford decided not to prosecute Nixon in light of all of his wrong doings because he thought that the American people would lose faith in their government, causing the nation to divide further. The rest of Nixon’s administration was fair game for head Watergate prosecutor Leon Jaworski. Many people in Nixon’s administration were prosecuted for their crimes involving the Watergate cover-up.

Barrack Obama the new predecessor to the bush administration is very much following in a modern day version of Gerald Ford’s shoes as the Bush administration leaves behind many counts of illegal activity over the course of his eight year presidency. These crimes include engaging in the Iraq war, torture at Guantanimo bay, and the controversy the “Patriot Act” which legalized wire tapping. Barrack Obama has stated that he does not want to prosecute George bush or his administration for their crimes because he wasn’t the country to progress instead of being stuck up on the past. He also does not want the country to lose faith in their government, sharing the same view as Gerald Ford. Other politicians like Nancy Pelosi disagree with Obama’s decision and think that criminal activity should be prosecuted no matter what.

I believe that Barrack Obama should as the very least prosecute President Bush’s cabinet following the example of Gerald Ford’s decision. I think that the decision to not prosecute the administration in order to keep the country from dividing, may have the opposite effect making barrack Obama appear to be protecting the Bush administration. Considering George bush’s incredibly low approval rating this may be a mistake for Barrack Obama. Plus Prosecuting these individuals for their crimes could take the bitter taste out of America’s mouth.

Artist's Statement Outline
My quote: "After the fear and terror of what I'd done had left, which took about a month or two, I started it all over again. From then on it was a craving, a hunger, I don't know how to describe it, a compulsion, and I just kept doing it, doing it and doing it, whenever the opportunity presented itself." Jeffrey Dahmer
Connecting to: The artwork of Alex Pardee (http://www.eyesuckink.com/)
Thesis: The artwork of Alex Pardee captures the twisted nature of Jeffery's Dahmer's horrific actions through his use of similar statements, dismemberment, and animal skulls in his artwork.
Body Paragraphs:

* Intro: Thesis statement, introductory sentence.
Body:
* Topic Sentence: FIX THIS to fit with the first of the three connections stated in your thesis statement above.
* Evidence: Jeff Dahmer's childhood obsession with necrophilia (http://www.karisable.com/skazdahmer.htm)
* Analysis: The animal skulls painted by Alex Pardee paired with he quote taken from an interview with Jeffrey Dahmer are an allusion of his sexual experiences with dead animals.
* Transition:
* Topic Sentence: ...

Internship

1. What do you hope to learn or discover about the "adult" world of work while you are at your internship?

I think that it will be very interesting to see how in the "adult" world do the various team working and communication skills are applied, and whether or not I am being adequately prepared for a real workplace. I think I will learn the most from immersion because this will give me the complete experience of going to work from nine to five, hopefully i will learn that I can handle the possible stress of this routine.

2. What do you hope to learn or discover about yourself and your identity while you are at your internship this semester?

This experience will be a true test of my motivation it will show me a lot about what kind of environment wall (hopefully) work for me and which will not. keeping myself interested and motivated is very important and i in time will find out how my weakness hold up in a real world application. Since I chose my own internship in a field that I am currently interested in perusing for a career i will soon find out if this particular job is something that I could consider and if the feild is even right for me. There is a huge opportunity for self learning in a few weeks.

3. What goals do you have for yourself for your internship experience?

* I would like to take what I learned in my internship and incorporate it to my future life when I actually am working.
* I want to enjoy my internship as much as possible while reaching success in any field I am given.
* I want to stay consistent through out the whole time at my internship so that I won't fall behind on my work.