Field Trip - Salk Institute





I was really grateful we got to go to the Salk Institute. Back when I went to La Jolla more often, I would pass by the place now and then and wondered what it was all about. The first impression I got when our class entered the institute was pure amazement. I thought it looked alright from the outside, but from the inside, it's gorgeous. The architect who designed the institute did an amazing job combining functionality with design.

We got a brief tour of the institute by Maximo; the institute's senior designer. He told us some history behind the institute as we walked around and explored. After the tour, he took us to his office and explained how it was like working at Salk as the art director of their magazine. He explained the process, how they kept themselves organized, and how he ended up at salk. The main thing he stressed was keeping yourself organized as a designer regardless if you're going into editorial design or not. Organization is key to getting things done in a timely fashion.

I loved browsing through the magazine sample he gave us. It really amazed me learning how much goes into publishing a magazine and comparing the final product to a proof he brought out on the table to show us. It's a lot of hard work, but in the end it really pays off to be on it on the printing. Some good advice he gave us was to make sure to review any printing proofs thoroughly with your client before you have them sign off; otherwise any mistakes not caught early will cost more to fix the deeper into the printing process it goes.

I learned a lot from him, and the best part was that the field trip was scheduled at the same time a spring eclipse (or equinox, forgot the official term) was happening! That definitely made it a memorable field trip.

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