Wednesday, March 30, 2016

FWS Student Highlights: Leilani Romero


My name is Leilani Romero, and I am a Graphic Design Intern for Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here DC 2016. On a weekly basis, what I do for the internship changes. During the Fall semester (2015) I mainly worked on the preparation of the festival. I helped design bookmarks, brochures, and Gallery labels and other similar materials. I also had to conduct some research. Second semester, because the Festival opened in January, has been a little different. Instead of preparation, the focus this semester is mainly on the upcoming events (through March) for AMSSH and also on the magazine we are working on Witness and Memory. For this magazine, each intern wrote an article based on his or her experiences with the project or based on a specific event. One thing I discovered this week was how these festival events and exhibitions around DC can impact a community, and send such a strong message. I can see this experience being related to my long-term goals through the knowledge I am gaining while working for this project. There is definitely a skill set, professionalism, and a lot to be learned about the process and work that goes into a festival as extensive as this one.  As a graphic design intern, designing a lot of the components for the festival has given me a taste of what it will be like to work as a designer post graduation.