This semester I spent one day per week helping out at the Compound, a small non-profit institution based in Baltimore that provides affordable live/work spaces to artists, holds cultural programming events, and supports small local businesses. I have a friend who worked there in the past and got me an internship position through word of mouth.
The Compound itself had a few projects in motion that we worked on together—a website redesign, grant proposal design, general branding, event promotion and email newsletters. That said, I also did work for Phrame, which is an art handling business which operates out of the Compound. I worked on their pricing sheet design, some label designs, and a proposal packet for a major DCPL job.
I am most proud of the work where I got the most individual liberty and artistic freedom. I designed a flier and event signage for the first official concert at the Compound post-pandemic, where I was allowed to be as experimental as I pleased. For this, I modified some code I wrote which auto generated flier layouts and used the same visual language across the board for all of the signage. Because the institution is non-profit and within the arts, they were supportive of my more experimental tactics and overall loved the work I produced.
My biggest takeaway from this experience was the illuminating experience of working in the non-profit design sector. Seeing the mechanics of how non-profit organizations can actively participate and function within communities—and how design can be used to elevate their goals. I learned how to work in a professional environment and communicate with board members to meet the needs of the organization. This experience reiterated my desire to work in an industry that functions not for excessive profits but to work for the greater good.
