My name is Sharanya Gupta, though most know me as Anya, and I use they/them pronouns! I am a graphic designer and photographer, and this year (from January 2024 to November 2024) I had the opportunity to intern with the Motion Media Arts Center.
Here is an (approximately) 5 minute long video recounting my time as an intern at the Motion Media Arts Center
The Motion Media Arts Center, or the MMAC is a center that has been active since 2002 serving local Austin creative communities. The MMAC hosts two main programs, the Austin School of Film and the Austin Cinemaker Space, abbreviated to ASOF and ACS accordingly. I worked for both programs as a Marketing Assistant, a role which allowed me to expand my skills in both design and business. 34
As a Marketing Assistant, I gained experience in building partnerships with local organizations, securing needed funding & resources for our weekly events. We emailed local organizations, ones that we often have been customers to, with acknowledgement to their brand values and audience aligning with our own at the MMAC. This allowed us to make a strong argument as to why their products would best be advertised within our space. Through my photography, I was able to document the presence of these sponsors in our space, and I created “Thank You” albums to be delivered to each of our sponsors.
A few graphics I created for marketing purposes as an intern at the MMAC. I was able to utilize my photography within these, meaning I was apart of every step of the process in creating these graphics!
Additionally, I created graphics and videos to advertise our products and programs, which were published on our website and Instagram. A still from our advertisement video was even showcased on the local news!
GIF animated of the completed branding guide, PDF may be accessed to view still spreads.
MMAC.ProposedBrandingGuide.pdf
Throughout the months of my work, I recognized that many individuals in our space were having a difficult time distinguishing the MMAC from ASOF and ACS. In between the regular marketing work I conducted for the MMAC, I began to also survey individuals regarding their experience at the MMAC and it’s various programs. I received feedback from fellow employees, students aged 10 to early 30s, and event participants, all expressing a similar confusion. Most people knew our facility as ASOF or ACS, though neither were technically correct, we are the MMAC hosting those two programs!
The MMAC logo looked identical to the ASOF logo, but ASOF and ACS were programs underneath the MMAC! With approval from my manager, I made it my personal project to create a branding guide for the MMAC and its programs, to help better distinguish the logos and establish hierarchy.
The goal was to maintain the ASOF and ACS logos due to their popularity, and create a new MMAC logo for usage. The MMAC and its programs did not have any lossless forms of their logos so I created SVG versions of the original logos for temporary use. I redesigned the MMAC logo to better reflect a hierarchy between the center and its programs. (present within the larger PDF for still viewing)
After consulting my manager for feedback, she expressed to me that her biggest desire was to have an expressive color palette, a rainbow of colors, given we are a creative space supporting arts of all genres! I adapted the guide to fit these desires.
