Tips and Tricks – Tehama Group Communications

April 24, 2023

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

What makes a good team member? Tools and advice from a first-time Account Executive.

By Arya Patel

As PR professionals, teamwork is a crucial part of the job. Employers look for collaboration and leadership skills when hiring. Through my time in the Journalism and Public Relations Department at Chico State, I have collaborated with many different people. Here are tips I try to integrate while working with teams to become an effective member.

Communication

Communication is the most important tool to becoming a great team member. Even if you are unsure or confused about what needs to be done, communication with your fellow members and management can clear the fog for everyone involved in a project. It can also be used as a tool to reach out for help when you are overwhelmed or faced with stress and burnout. Communicate early and often for the best chance of success.

“Good team players understand what the team needs and why.” –Cisco

As a first-time AE, I have seen how crucial understanding those around you is. Making sure your team has measurable goals and ways to track them is a great tool to reference in times of uncertainty. It also creates a space for assistant account executives to tap into what they are interested in. There’s a sense of work accountability when evaluating your team’s needs. Another tool that has been very helpful is creating a timeline. Timelines help keep the team on track and “physically” see the process and its deadlines. Delegate work early and create an easy-to-follow timeline and your AAEs will have somewhere to refer back to. My favorite thing about timelines is being able to check off the boxes- it is such a satisfying moment.

A strong work ethic

Being able to push yourself without other people telling you what to do is something any person in charge loves. Observe people you look up to and try to mimic their work ethic, take notes and listen– especially in a new position. Self-discipline is also key to creating a strong work ethic. Make a list of things you want to accomplish [during the day, week, specific activity] that way you can visualize your goals. Remember, focus on what you can control, not what is outside of your control.

Flexibility/ Reliability

Being flexible is like being able to play any position on the field. Your coach can put you in left field, third base or shortstop and you can be an all-star at any of those positions.

Being a reliable person is someone an AE or team lead needs on their team.

Half of the work is to show up, if you show up you can ask questions, clarify and collaborate on things. If you don’t, your team will be resentful toward you during future projects. This semester for my client Krood, I took the initiative with a creative idea, which gave both my AE and client a sense of reliability. During our second client meeting, I pitched the idea of implementing filler posts through her feed. Filler posts are a “breathing space” on an Instagram feed that separates busy posts with lighter content. Our client loved the idea and gave me full creative range, my work is now published on her website and social channels!

A positive attitude can go a long way in every aspect of your life, especially in work life. Encourage your team members to do their best every step of the way. Positivity creates a healthy, collaborative environment where all will feel welcome. Even if you feel confused, understanding those emotions and looking for the positives during tough situations can make all the difference.

April 18, 2023

Non-Profit PR: Gaining Visibility Through Storytelling

By Stephen Taylor

The non-profit industry is full of selfless people. Some common attributes in non-profit workers are passion, kindness and activism. The goal of non-profit companies is for the benefit of society. As a public relations major, I can contribute to this goal through storytelling.

Storytelling humanizes a brand. By giving your company personality, you make it easier for people to connect with you emotionally.

A story is a combination of facts and emotions. Companies tend to focus on factual elements to be effective storytellers in the business sense, but you must also find a way to weave emotion into the narrative and bring your story to life. Any goal where the right message and content might make a difference is an opportunity for storytelling.

Storytelling is an extremely important basis for any company, but especially for non-profits. Non-profit organizations can evoke large amounts of empathy from their target audiences because of the nature of their work yet they may have very limited resources.

According to a public relations website, Wild Apricot, “In the U.S., just over 2% of non-profits account for 90% of all revenue in the sector.”

Not having the funds to run large marketing campaigns is largely due to poor storytelling. This leads to lower engagement and lower donor rates. An important way to combat this is to develop a storytelling strategy that aligns with the values of your brand.

“Any goal where the right message and content might make a difference is an opportunity for storytelling.”

The first step to developing a storytelling strategy is creating guidelines to determine the story you want to tell. It is important to use language that describes what you want your company to be known for.

For example:

Are you a loving and tender non-profit that helps save the bees?

Are you a stern and progressive non-profit that fights to save the bees?

Both of these address the issue of saving the bees, but the language used is entirely different. This is an opportunity to separate yourself from other companies.

Brand Guidelines

The next step is building your brand identity statement. This is a company’s agreed upon way of how they present itself across all platforms. At its core, a brand guideline will outline what colors and fonts to use, as well as when to use assets such as logos or other art. An example is Asana, who fit their entire brand guide on one webpage.

A great brand guideline will outline how the company talks about itself. Think of it as the key message that will be woven into your storytelling piece. An example here is Urban Outfitters, who crafted a brand book detailing their mission and exemplifying their brand.

Gaining Visibility

After you have your key messages and brand cemented, getting your mission out to your target audiences is the next step. It is important to utilize the press. For newsworthy events or releases, having a good relationship with your local news stations can only benefit you.

Prepare a pitch of what your company stands for so journalists get clear facts and information. Demonstrate a vision of how your organization benefits the public, and why it is important enough to be covered. Passion begets passion. If you are able to convince the journalist you are contacting to care about your cause, then you can develop a lasting relationship.

There are many opportunities to bolster your relationship with the media. Small actions such as sending a calendar of events or meeting for a meal can be mutually beneficial for all parties involved. Once you establish a strong relationship, it becomes much easier to generate visibility for your organization.

The non-profit industry needs more public relations assistance. Helping to connect passionate people to great stories is a public service. I hope to use storytelling and the public relations skills I have developed at Chico State to help heal the earth.

March 22, 2023

Tips on Boosting Productivity

By Daisy Beltran

Productivity is an essential aspect of our daily lives, whether we are working or pursuing personal goals.

One benefit to productivity is that it allows us to accomplish tasks at a faster rate. When we are productive, we can complete our tasks through a structured manner and move on to other important activities. The sense of accomplishment kicks in and the motivation for completing other tasks helps us finish our goals.

Another benefit of being productive is that it can help to reduce stress and anxiety. Stress and anxiety are common obstacles in productivity. The stress can feel so overwhelming that it hinders our daily routines. But when we have a clear plan for completing our tasks, we can avoid feeling overwhelmed about what needs to be done. This can help to improve our mental health and reduce the negative effects of stress on our bodies.

A common struggle is taking the first step. There is no need to jump in full force to your tasks. It’s okay to begin things at your own pace.

“Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.”

― Leo Babauta

Here are a few tips to help boost your productivity on a day-to-day basis. For additional tips, visit Wix.com to maintain a stress-free lifestyle.

Set clear goals and priorities: Establish clear goals and priorities for each day or week, and make a list of tasks to accomplish them. Use tools like to-do lists, calendars and reminders to help you stay organized and focused. Using reminders can help eliminate distractions. By doing so, you can maintain concentration and avoid wasting time on unimportant activities.

Eliminate distractions: Turn off notifications and avoid interruptions during work hours. Try to work in a quiet and clutter-free environment. Visiting a library or a public workspace can be beneficial. The simple act of eliminating distractions at home can be the beginning of a productive day. If your task remains at home, turn your phone on “do not disturb” as the notification ringtone can hinder your focus or enhance temptations.

Being productive means achieving our goals efficiently and effectively within a set time frame. It requires a combination of focus, discipline and motivation.

Use technology to your advantage: Although technology can be distracting at times, productivity apps and tools such as time-tracking apps and task management software can help you stay organized and focused. Evernote helps many people stay organized through reminders and different format tools. The Notion app is another way to maintain a balanced life. The app allows users to create folders, reminders, lists, and connect your Google calendar to the app. Whether you need to create a grocery list, errands, reminders, or goals. It’s a personalized app to make stressful tasks easier one step at a time. Technology was made to make our lives easier so don’t be afraid to take advantage!

Prioritize the most important tasks: Most people feel overwhelmed with the immense number of different tasks. Learning to prioritize the most important ones over the easiest ones can be a step that’ll make stress and anxiety decrease. Focus on completing the most important tasks first. This will help you stay on track and avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Stay healthy: Take care of your physical and mental health by getting enough sleep, eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly. You may be tired of being told to “eat a healthy diet” but, it’s so commonly advised because it’s true. A healthy diet feeds your body nutrients that give you the energy you need to live a productive lifestyle.

By setting clear goals, prioritizing tasks, eliminating distractions and maintaining good physical and mental health, we can increase our productivity and accomplish more in less time. Whether you are pursuing personal or professional goals, being productive can help you achieve success and fulfillment in all areas of life.

March 20, 2023

5 Tips for Staying Informed as a PR Student

5 Tips To Staying Informed For PR Students graphic

By Paige Seguine

For public relations professionals, it is crucial to stay informed about current events and industry news. It is important to understand what is going on in your clients’ industry to better understand and address their needs. As PR students, our time in college is essential for preparing ourselves for postgrad careers. A great way to do that is by getting in the habit of reading the news, tracking trending stories and keeping up with our local and national communities.

However, staying informed is easier said than done. It is overwhelming trying to keep up with the fast-paced, never-ending news cycle. As future PR practitioners, however, it is important to develop those skills as early as possible to succeed in the future. Here are some tips to become well-rounded readers and stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the PR industry:

Mobile News Apps

Traditional news media is a great way to get a glimpse of everything happening in the world. Local and national news outlets cover a wide range of topics and are constantly updated. Almost every outlet now has a mobile app that makes getting information accessible and easy to find. Phone providers like Apple and Samsung have their own apps that aggregate trending news stories. This is a great way to find out what is happening when you start your day. Setting notifications on these stories keeps you in the loop as they progress, too.

Utilizing Twitter

Twitter is a great source of information, especially in the PR and media industries. The ‘Trending’ section shows you what topics are currently popular and what audiences are saying. Content on Twitter moves quickly and can provide you with the most recent thoughts about your organizations. People take to the platform to share their thoughts about positive and controversial news. Users are honest and straightforward, which makes for useful qualitative feedback. Understanding how to use Twitter is key to connecting with stakeholders and scanning your client’s environment.

Checking Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a great way to track web mentions of your client, a product or a hashtag. Sometimes you just need to figure out what people are looking for concerning your client. Alerts let you pick multiple keywords and set notifications for updates. For example, searching “Chico State” provides you with the most recent news articles containing the phrase in the title or body. This can help PR professionals track media coverage as quickly as possible and stay up to date all day long as new stories are published.

Reading Trade News

Not only is it important to track your client’s media coverage but, it is imperative to stay up to date on PR industry news as a whole. This helps you understand trends and tactics, updates to your clients’ industries and competitor news. Trade organizations including PR Week, PR Daily and PR Newswire share industry news, press releases and tips for a wide range of topics. They provide information about events, awards and networking opportunities that can help you connect with your client and their audiences. Trade publications are a helpful resource for truly navigating the career field and building your professional knowledge.

Listening to Podcasts

Not everyone loves reading news articles and staring at their screens to get their daily dose of information. Instead, podcasts offer need-to-know information with easy listening. If you’re looking for traditional news content, podcasts like The Daily focus on the biggest news stories of the day. The Spin Sucks and other media podcasts offer insight into PR, marketing and advertising content that makes for productive listening. Podcasts allow listeners to absorb important information without feeling overwhelmed by busy copy.

Reading the news can sometimes feel slow and overwhelming but for public relations practitioners, it is more than just reading the news.

Our job is to keep an eye out for what is going on in our industry, between our clients and their audiences, and our competitors’ behaviors.

As students, we use our time to prepare for our future careers. Using these five resources, we can build the necessary skills to become informed, successful PR professionals.

December 15, 2022

Tools To Make PR Less Like ER

By Gabriela Rudolph

As someone working in public relations, keeping up with social media and tasks can be a heavy lift. What if I were to tell you that there are online tools that can make your job just a bit easier? I’ve decided to compile this list for different areas of PR:

Social Media

Canva

Canva can make just about anyone a graphic designer. Even with the free version, users can create visually appealing social media graphics for every platform. It’s very easy to use and also includes templates to make the designing process even easier. Canva graphics can also be shared with others, which is great when collaborating with your team. The general version of Canva is free and Canva Pro is $119/year.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that allows you to schedule social media posts ahead of time and analyze results. Hootsuite starts off at $49 and allows you to manage up to 10 social media accounts.

Buffer

If you want a more simple social media management tool, Buffer is a great start and offers a free plan that allows you to manage up to three accounts. What I like about Buffer is that you can design a free “Start Page” that combines all your social media accounts in one place. This is similar to LinkTree, but what makes it better is that it does the work for you.

Media Relations/Outreach

Muck Rack

Muck Rack is your best friend when it comes to building a media list and finding journalists’ contact information. Simply type in the reporter’s name and Muck Rack will provide you with their contact information, their current position, a list of news outlets they’ve written for and their latest articles. Journalists sometimes will include times that they prefer to receive pitches, or how long they prefer pitches. Muck Rack is the best for young PR professionals because of its free tools.

Cision

Similar to Muck Rack, Cision is media monitoring software with a large media database and PR analytical tools. The drawback to Cision is that it is a bit more complex to use rather than Muck Rack. However, it’s worth looking into because of its many features.

HARO

Part of Cision, HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out. This tool matches journalists and PR practitioners together. How it works is that journalists will send out an inquiry and PR practitioners have the opportunity to answer their questions and send a pitch to them.

Prowly

Prowly is another media database and is one of the most user-friendly of them all. Along with helping you find media contacts, Prowly can organize press releases, create online newsrooms and more. The platform is on the pricier side and starts off at $189/month, however Prowly does offer a 7-day free trial.

Project Management

Asana

When working with a team, you need a place to put all your work in one place. Asana is a “work management” platform that organizes tasks and shows the teams progress over time. It also has a social media calendar built into the platform that is accessible to everyone in the team. Team members can add their content in and create subtasks for other members of the team to collaborate and approve. My favorite part about it is that you can see how projects improve over time and when you complete a project, a unicorn flies over the screen.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a great platform for file and project management. Just like Asana, Basecamp allows team members to assign tasks to other members of the team. A feature that I really like about Basecamp is that it allows you to “ping” someone, which essentially is a direct message. Basecamp also has something called “campfire” where someone from the group can send a message and it notifies everyone in the team. This eliminates having to use outside forms of communication like Slack, or email.

December 11, 2022

Top 3 Essentials For Managing A Social Media Account

By Lauren Shannon

It can be tough to start and manage a successful social media account. If you want to reach people and build a solid following there’s a lot you have to do, which can be overwhelming. Here are the top three essential ways to stay on top of your social media accounts.

Know what message you want to send to your audience

Social media is a great tool used to promote your business but only if you are strategic with what you are posting.

The content you post should send a strong message to your audience about who your company/you are.

Before creating a social media account for your brand, you need to set goals. Do you want to teach your audience something? Do you want them to buy your product? Or do you want them to engage in contests and campaigns?

Tehama Group Communications’ social media account showcases the work our agency produces and the strengths of our team members. It sends the message that we are a hardworking, successful agency and aims to generate engagement with past, current and future clients. TGC communicates this by highlighting three main ideas; the projects we’re currently working on, the clients we work with and our stellar staff. When prospective clients visit our social media pages they are shown reasons why they should choose us for their public relations needs.

Know what type of content you’re posting

The most successful social media pages are ones that follow a cohesive theme and pattern. The easiest way to create a theme is to follow a branding kit. A branding kit is a collection of specific colors, fonts and logos that make up a business’s visual identity. For example, Google only uses specific green, yellow, red and blue for all of their logos. When you apply brand guidelines to your social media, it makes your brand identifiable and consistent. According to WeIgniteGrowth.com, this consistency “is vital for building brand recognition and trust” with both consumers and investors.

After you have your branding kit in place, it’s time to think about what posts you want to create. A social media page should be filled with a mix of hard and soft posts. A hard post is important, relevant and timely, such as announcements for new products and projects or introductions for new team members. Soft posts on the other hand are evergreen, easy to create in advance and can be posted at any time. Industry tips and tricks and general posts about what your company does are just two examples of soft posts.

Create a schedule

Now that you know what message you want to send to your audience, and what content you want to share, it’s almost time to start posting! Before uploading content to your channels, it is good practice to create a schedule. Without a schedule, it becomes easy to lose track of what you’re sharing causing odd posting patterns, and rushed or unproofed posts. No one wants to follow a page that’s littered with typos and random content circulations.

One of the easiest ways to schedule posts would be to create a table with three columns: date to be posted, caption and graphic to be used. This allows you to visualize what your feed will look like. Another way to manage posts is to invest in a social media management tool such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite These tools allow users to monitor and schedule content to all social media accounts at one time. They also offer several other features such as campaign planners, analytic tools and performance trackers to save time and improve “the effectiveness of your social campaigns,” according to Forbes.

Now that you have a message you want to send to your audience, know how your content is going to communicate it and have created a schedule, you are ready to become a social media manager!

November 14, 2022November 14, 2022

A Moment Of Self Reflection

By Marc Mercado

I remember when I switched my studies from concrete industry management (CIM) to interior architecture my freshman year. Even the architecture advisor questioned why I wanted to switch programs considering how successful CIM is.

That was the reason why I chose CIM for my academic career at Chico State. At that point in my life, I was driven by the expectations others set for me, with hopes of leaping over the poverty line. It only took the introductory course to push myself to look into other avenues– if this was going to be my full-time career I needed something more;

I was on a line: “to be a concrete man, or to know that I can [succeed without sacrificing]”.

With a minor in theatre arts, I looked forward to pursuing a program that included media arts. I came across the Media, Art, Design and Technology department, researched the major advisors, and I got in touch with Jennifer Meadows.

I hoped that she would be able to tell that I was lost and this was where I belonged, but my path continued to change and after that meeting, I kept looking. I was honestly intimidated by something new.

I thought, “if I’m worried about learning new skills/software in this academic path, then why not look for something that already encompasses my own skills and knowledge?”

Then I found interior architecture, so I figured, I know how to draw, I love design, and this will also satisfy two important areas of my life: family expectations and financial goals. There was much to love about this major, and to this day, I look back and wonder what life would have been like.

Int. Architecture sketches by Marc

Fall was turning into winter. I was burning up and freezing at the same time; during this time my mental health was declining so during break, I flew to Mexico. Being outside of the country where I studied and worked felt incredibly liberating, I was surrounded by the beautiful Michoacán coast, the most blue skies and the greenest plants. This place is a sanctuary to me, it’s where I spent most of my childhood.

A month turned into one more night and then I was in the sky, flying back “home”. There was still a lot of healing to be done, I hadn’t spent time thinking about the things I was still dealing with, but at least had a new academic plan.

It’s Junior Year, the first semester is a breeze, I joined AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) and felt comfort knowing I was part of a design community. I forgot to mention that every time I went to academic advising for my major changes, I had to do all the “figuring it out” and show up with a plan. The absolute best advice I got was from a friend, Luciana, who encouraged me to pursue this graphic design path.

The second semester was unexpected. My confidence level in this new program was low, but I knew I was still learning. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough “graphic design” and was still figuring out how I could find passion in this form of art and design. During this semester there were many new professors in the department and talks about how some would say “ you should’ve learned X in Jane Doe’s class”. The unveiling of Chico State’s rebrand happened during the same time students in our program were being told they wouldn’t be able to graduate on time due to class shortages and the entirety of at least two classes emailed the department with concerns about a discourteous professor.

With all this going on, I wasn’t sure of my place here at Chico State. The more I fell in love with graphic design, and learned about how to use it to communicate, to express and to create art, the more I saw how unimportant I was to my university. I turned my cheek and saw the Academy of Arts in San Francisco. Immediately, I began planning; I reached out and began the application process.

I was on the phone with Chico State but they kept me on hold. The Academy was ringing but the minutes were too expensive. I felt like I needed better guidance, I needed professors that cared, a campus that recognized my passion. I was going to end up paying more out of pocket than I ever did at Chico and could tell that my ambition was too much for my family, for our bank accounts. It was only going to be an online program anyway.

A letter was sent to my address, from the Academy. I got in, it all came down to the story I wanted to tell:

Work with what I’m given and persevere? Or succumb to a for-profit school and find myself in a worse financial situation?

Clearly, I chose the former option. It’s like this mantra I heard some years back about how a good artist can work under any circumstance.

October 10, 2022October 10, 2022

Let’s Talk Professional Communication!

By Skylar Trostinsky

If you’ve ever met me in person, you know I have quite the personality. It’s much easier for me (and many other professionals) to talk with someone face-to-face. This way we can effectively spread information, view body language, and make connections! Alas, this now virtual world has been inundated with digital communication and that means we must learn how to be professional in person and through text, too.

Communicating with an agency, client or representative can be a daunting task. Do you keep it dim and straight to the point? Or do you add a bit of flare and personality? I mean, you want to express who you are, especially when you work in public relations, right? With a semester of email chains, project delegation and more under my belt, I have learned a few tips and tricks for communicating online.

Set Goals for Emails

Staying organized is key to receiving useful documents and information. Before typing emails to agencies, clients or coworkers it’s important to set goals within the communication chain. That person is just as busy as you, so do them and yourself a favor by creating an outline of who you are writing to, what you need from the recipient and what you want them to respond with.

Use Your Subject Line!

When considering the workload your recipient may be dealing with, it’s imperative to use brief, catchy subjects that include keywords. With this, your reader will know exactly what to expect when clicking on your email or maybe even be tempted to respond.

Be Clear and Concise

Avoid using an excessive amount of words in emails, especially when providing instructions. Separate thoughts, questions and suggestions with paragraph breaks, bullet points, etc. to highlight information. This also allows recipients to quickly skim through text and find their to-do’s!

Utilize appropriate punctuation and refrain from using ALL CAPS. Although it’s OK to bold and capitalize some notes, you never want the addressee to feel like you are shouting at them.

Be Polite and Be Yourself

Here comes the question of whether personality is necessary, or appropriate, in an email chain. Although clarity and conciseness are imperative aspects to communication, you should never hide your character from anyone! It’s just critical that you remain professional and consistent with a soft, inviting tone. Check out READCITY’s “5 Clever Ways To Give Your Business Emails Personality” for more tips.

Proofread, Proofread, Proofread!

As a PR professional, one of the worst things you can do when communicating with other experts is to send emails without reading them over. Typos may send negative messages about you or your organization and generally come off as unprofessional.

A way to make sure your emails are grammatically correct and have been spell checked is by writing them in a separate document first. Doing this has helped me draft numerous messages, with different formats to ultimately choose which version will best convey my points.

“Although clarity and conciseness are imperative aspects to communication, you should never hide your character from anyone! It’s just critical that you remain professional and consistent with a soft, inviting tone.”

-Skylar Trostinsky

Professional communication doesn’t end in email chains! Further your credibility, express yourself and improve relationships by taking skills such as goal setting, clarity and politeness to group and one-on-one meetings. Email away!

Resources:

Tips For Professional Emails

Effective Email Communication In The Workplace

October 3, 2022October 3, 2022

Tips To Help You Stay Organized

By Madison Starboin

Staying organized is very important, especially in the world of public relations.

As a college student I am balancing so many responsibilities, so for me staying organized is not only a priority, but it is how I survive my crazy schedule.

I work 16-18 hours per week, I have four classes, and I have an internship that requires about 10-12 hours per week of meetings and work. If it wasn’t for staying organized and using my first 3 years of college to find a system that works for me.

Here are a few tips I’ve learned about staying organized and finding the right system for you.

The first and most obvious thing is to try different time-management systems to see what works best for you. There are a variety of different ways to keep track of your schedule and tasks. This is important because the older you get the busier your schedule is and the more vital it is for you to be organized. Some people use paper calendars or planners to keep track of events and assignments. For me, I have found that online methods work better for me because I can set reminders and check the schedule without carrying around a bulky calendar.

Remember, this is trial and error, so if something does not work, there are always other methods.

The internet is an amazing tool for finding out how people stay organized.

Another tip that I have is if your work, school, or internship requires you to use a tool or recommends a certain tool, try it out. Even if you don’t like it or aren’t required to use it, it is free so it is worth a shot to see if it works for you. For example, my internship uses basecamp which I love for having a central place to post and access documents.

This tip only works if you like using online tools to stay organized, but I highly recommend using Google. Google a ton of free tools to help you stay organized and you are easily able to access them from anywhere. I use google calendar for organizing my schedule. I set reminders, add events, and keep track of tasks. I can even put color codes and have the app send me a reminder 30 minutes before the event. It is also easy to delete or repeat events. The best thing of all is that it is completely free and there is no subscription fee to be able to use most of their products.

Within the Google Suite, I absolutely love using Google Keep. For those of you who don’t know what Google Keep is, it is virtual sticky notes and lists. I use this for my class assignments and tasks for TGC. I color code them and make checklists. This way I can see all the things I need to do for all my classes and internships in one organized place.

The last tip that I have is to keep a communication log. This is something I learned at work. I work in the Whitney hall mailroom and communicating with people after your shift is key. We use an online excel sheet to make notes about packages or anything that may happen on another shift. I have found that this is helpful when people work at different times, so it may not be something that works for your environment

I hope that these tips have inspired you to stay organized or at least gave you ideas on how to spice up how you organize your life!

September 23, 2022September 28, 2022

Online Resources for Graphic Design

By Claudia O’Brien

As a graphic designer, having a foundational knowledge of graphic design principles is essential but can always be helped with tools and resources.

“We live in an age where there is endless information and material provided by renowned designers and artists online for free.” – Claudia O’Brien

I believe using this online field of information to an advantage is essential to any design student looking to advance their skills. In this blog, I will feature several of my most favored resources online.

Chico State’s Adobe Creative Cloud

I shouldn’t write a blog about this topic without mentioning our university’s prepaid subscription to Adobe. Adobe Creative Cloud is a subscription package that enables access to all Adobe software, fonts, free images, and more. If you’re a student enrolled at Chico State, all you need to do is submit a request to the university’s IT support team and download the Adobe Creative Cloud dashboard. The university offers this service completely free for students.

Colors

Sometimes knowing color theory isn’t enough to create an appealing set of hues right out of your head. My first go-to is Coolors.co. Fabrizio Bianchi founded the website and is a web developer known for creating exceptional and contemporary websites.

The biggest sell on this particular site is its highly interactive color palette generator. The generator displays attractive color palettes that can be randomized to another color palette, customized by individual hue, be tested for color blindness/accessibility, and many more features on the same web page. Each generated color has its color codes on display for users that are looking for the most suitable hues for screens and printing. Besides the generator, the website has other unique features: hundreds of palettes created and shared by other users, a tool for picking colors from images, and a contrast checker.

Free Images

Free images are classified as public domain- they do not require copyright and royalty fees. Unsplash.com is a beginner-friendly site that has many high-quality free images. The website does not require users to make an account, and there is no limit on the number of images you can download. The images are categorized by themes of Travel, Nature, Business, etc. The site also offers a search engine. When clicked, each photo lists the photographer’s name, the location, and the type of camera used.

Mockups

A mockup is a model meant to display a product or design. An example is a design that has been digitally applied to an image of a T-shirt. When a design is shown to a client, they want to see what the design looks like on the product, not just the design by itself. Mockups can be created within Adobe software, but that takes time and skill. Smartmockups.com offers many customizable mockups free of charge. Users can upload their design to any of the offered images and 3D models and download a JPEG of a completed mockup image.

All in all, countless more free resources are available. I encourage any designer to take advantage of them, as they are there to be used! If you’re interested in learning about more design resources, this article provides various websites to check out.