# Career Agent: Maya Chen, Aspiring Junior Brand Designer

> A personal learning plan I built to bridge the gap between my current skills and a real junior
> brand designer posting. This is my agent. I run it, I update it, and I keep it after the course.
> Each AI chat starts fresh, so this file is the spine I drive.

*One of three real Render personas used as worked examples in this module. The others are Riley
Torres, a character animator running a 50/50 freelance practice and job search, and Nina Okafor, a
photographer building a freelance business.*

---

## Profile

- **Name:** Maya Chen
- **Program:** Digital Media Arts, AAS (graduating this semester) at Glendale Community College
- **Dream role:** Junior Brand Designer at a creative studio doing identity, packaging, and
  environmental work for regional and national clients
- **Where I am today:** Confident in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. Strong on
  typography and identity systems, and comfortable with print production and prepress (dieline
  setup, vendor handoff). I use Figma for collaboration. I have a capstone brand identity system,
  a beverage packaging redesign, and an environmental wayfinding project in my portfolio. Where I
  freeze up: motion. I cannot animate a logo or build a brand motion package yet, and that keeps
  showing up in postings as a “plus.”
- **Time I can commit:** About 8 hours a week for job search, plus roughly 5 hours learning and 6
  hours on portfolio work when I can protect them.
- **How I learn best:** A short course module I follow along with, then a small real project of my
  own that uses the same skill so it sticks and becomes a portfolio piece.

## The job I am closing the gap to

**Junior Brand Designer**, small independent brand and design studio (the Studio Moxie and
Haymaker Creative postings in my job log are exactly this). From those postings, the role asks for:

- Strong portfolio showing typographic sensibility and system thinking
- Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop
- Familiarity with Figma for collaboration
- Print production and prepress experience (preferred)
- Motion and After Effects skills (a plus, not required, but it keeps appearing)
- Comfort presenting work and receiving feedback
- An AAS or bachelor's in graphic design, visual communications, or equivalent portfolio

## The gaps, in my own words

1. I have zero motion. Every studio posting lists After Effects or brand animation as a plus, and
   right now I cannot do it at all. This is the single skill that would most widen my range.
2. I have never run a real client presentation, only a capstone panel review. Studios want a
   designer who can present work and take feedback live.
3. My UX vocabulary is thin. Some studios want designers who understand user context and research.
4. My portfolio shows strong static work but no case-study depth that walks a client through my
   process from brief to brand standards.

---

## My self-built syllabus

Five modules, roughly two weeks each. Every module has skills to own, vocabulary to own, real
resources, and one applied task that becomes a portfolio piece.

### Module 1: Typography and Brand Systems (sharpen my strongest skill)

**Skills to own:** type pairing, hierarchy, building a type scale, grid systems, designing a
flexible identity system rather than a single logo, documenting it as brand standards.

**Vocabulary to own:** type scale, baseline grid, kerning vs tracking, leading, modular scale,
identity system, brand guidelines, logo lockup, primary and secondary palette.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- *Graphic Design Specialization* (CalArts) on Coursera, free to audit: https://www.coursera.org/specializations/graphic-design
- *Practical Typography* by Matthew Butterick, free to read: https://practicaltypography.com/
- *Typewolf* for type pairing inspiration and study: https://www.typewolf.com/

**Applied task:** Take my capstone restaurant-group identity and write a real one-page brand
standards sheet for it: logo lockups, type scale, color values, spacing rules. This becomes the
first true case study on my Behance and proves system thinking, the exact phrase the postings use.

---

### Module 2: After Effects for Brand Designers (close the motion gap)

**Skills to own:** animating a logo reveal, building a lower-third template, simple social bumpers,
clean exports for web, easing that feels intentional.

**Vocabulary to own:** composition, keyframe, ease in / ease out, the graph editor, anchor point,
pre-comp, null object, render queue vs Media Encoder, lower third, bumper.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- *Motion Design with After Effects* (Adobe) on Coursera, free to audit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/motion-design
- *After Effects for Designers* intro on the School of Motion blog (free): https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog
- Adobe's official *After Effects* Get Started tutorials (free): https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/tutorials.html

**Applied task:** Animate the capstone identity from Module 1 into a short brand motion package: a
logo reveal, one lower-third template, and one social bumper. Export clean at 1080p. This is the
portfolio piece that turns the recurring “motion a plus” line from a weakness into a strength.

---

### Module 3: Packaging and Print Production (deepen what studios pay for)

**Skills to own:** structural dieline setup, label and panel layout, prepress checks, preparing
print-ready files, vendor handoff, mockups that present the work in context.

**Vocabulary to own:** dieline, bleed, trim, safe area, prepress, CMYK vs spot color, knockout vs
overprint, proof, SKU, structural template.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- Adobe's official *InDesign* and prepress tutorials (free): https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/tutorials.html
- *The Dieline* packaging gallery and articles to study real work: https://thedieline.com/
- Printer prepress and bleed reference guides from a major online printer (free PDFs), e.g.
  https://www.moo.com/us/help/articles/file-setup

**Applied task:** Build a 3-SKU beverage packaging project from structural dieline through
print-ready production files, then mount it as a case study with realistic mockups. This matches
the exact “packaging and prepress” line that postings call preferred.

---

### Module 4: UX Foundations and Presenting Work (the soft gaps studios test for)

**Skills to own:** understanding user context, basic research methods, structuring a design
rationale, walking a client through a decision, taking critical feedback without getting defensive.

**Vocabulary to own:** user research, persona, journey, rationale, design critique, STAR answer,
stakeholder, scope, revision round.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- *Introduction to User Experience Design* (Georgia Tech) on Coursera, free to audit: https://www.coursera.org/learn/user-experience-design
- *The Futur* free Business of Design content on presenting and selling work: https://thefutur.com/
- AIGA career and practice resources (free): https://www.aiga.org/resources

**Applied task:** Record myself presenting one portfolio project end to end (brief, options I
considered, the decision, the result) in under three minutes, as if to a studio. Then write two
STAR answers: one about a project I am proud of, one about handling critical feedback. Use these to
prep for the studio interviews already sitting in my job log.

---

### Module 5: Portfolio, Case Studies, and Network Activation

**Skills to own:** sequencing a portfolio for impact, writing a real case study, hosting work,
reaching out to people like a human, and asking for and using feedback.

**Vocabulary to own:** case study, process narrative, hero project, portfolio sequencing,
informational interview, warm vs cold outreach, reference.

**Real resources (free / low cost):**
- Behance brand and identity galleries to study strong junior portfolios: https://www.behance.net/galleries/graphic-design
- *The Futur* and AIGA portfolio guidance (free articles)
- Free hosting: Behance and a simple portfolio site

**Applied task:** Assemble the three case studies from Modules 1 to 3 plus the motion package into
a sequenced Behance portfolio, each with a short process narrative. Then activate my network
tracker: send one real message this week to Jordan Park (GCC alum at Studio Moxie), follow up with
Prof. Lena Marsh for the studio introductions she offered, and reach out to Derek Solano at AIGA
Arizona for an honest portfolio read.

---

## Self-assessment checklist

I am ready to apply with confidence for the junior brand designer role when I can honestly check
all of these.

**Typography and brand systems**
- [ ] I can build a type scale and a flexible identity system, not just a single logo.
- [ ] I have a one-page brand standards document for at least one project.

**Motion**
- [ ] I can animate a logo reveal and build a lower-third template in After Effects.
- [ ] I can export a clean 1080p file the first time.
- [ ] My portfolio has at least one brand motion package.

**Packaging and print production**
- [ ] I can set up a dieline and prepare print-ready files with correct bleed and color.
- [ ] I can do a clean vendor handoff and explain prepress in plain language.

**UX and presenting**
- [ ] I can explain basic user research and why context matters to a design decision.
- [ ] I can present a project end to end in under three minutes.
- [ ] I have two solid STAR answers ready, including one on critical feedback.

**Portfolio and network**
- [ ] I have at least four distinct competencies shown on Behance as real case studies.
- [ ] Each project has a short process narrative.
- [ ] I have reached out to at least two people from my network tracker like a human.

---

## How I run and improve this agent

Each AI chat starts fresh and remembers nothing, so this file is the part that carries my context.
When I sit down to work I paste this file into Claude (or another AI tool) and say what I want help
with this week. For example:

> Here is my career agent file. I just finished the Module 2 applied task and exported my brand
> motion package. Look at where I am, suggest the most useful next step, and give me a focused plan
> for my 8 hours this week.

Then I update this file: check off what I finished, add links to the work I made, shrink the gaps
as they close, and add new ones as the job market shifts. The agent is never “done.” It grows up
with me, the same way my portfolio does.

*Last updated: I keep this date current every time I revise. This is my plan, and I own it.*