www.pen.

org

or: My adventures in the not-for-profit world of the PEN American Center.

WEEK 1

Friday, Oct. 2: Went in for interview. Met with Elizabeth Weinstein, who
contacted Pratt about the position, and Antonio Aiello, the web editor.
Basically, PEN needed a designer to do all the print graphics for their events
- largely flyers and postcards printed inhouse. I asked about the budget for
posters for the events, and was told it was whatever it costs to run to Kinko’s
and get a poster printed. Hmmm.
I took a look at the printed material that they have so far, mostly the PEN
journal and event programmes. I can’t say I was terribly excited about any
of them; they were all pretty dry and boring and I imagined hours of laying
out body text and waiting for the inevitable corrections/additions. But
Antonio assured me that there was room to push the boundaries of what
had been done before. Antonio, coming from a web and television graphics
background, seems to want to push the limits of what’s been done. The term
“more New York” is used in conjunction with the direction. I’ve no idea
what a New York style is, but I’m as game as anyone to take design into
strange new places.
At any rate, it’s the posters and flyers that really have me fired up. I chose
to be an illustrator over a fine artist because I wanted my work to be seen in
as many venues as possible, not just galleries limited to a few art snobs. I
have visions of guerrilla marketing, posters being printed and secretly hung
in Borders and Barnes & Nobles across the City. Dare to dream.
Antonio also floats the idea of re-branding the organization. It seems that no
one is happy with the logo that’s in place; in fact, different printed materials
have different versions of the logo. The idea of being responsible for re-
branding an organization that’s been around since 1922 is both daunting and
exciting. I wonder if I can pull it off.
Antonio gives me a handful of flyers and leaflets to look over. They vary in
style and quality, but I’m relatively confident that I can do a better job than
most of what’s shown to me.
The end result of the interview is that I basically had the job at “Hello;”once
I contacted them and sent my portfolio, I just needed to show up. I ask for
a project brief for each assignment, and ask Antonio if he’s going to be my
point man. It just makes it easier for me that the workflow is set and that
there’s a chain of command in place. Antonio agrees with me to be my
traffic control officer and go to contact person for everything. I’ve been in
companies where everyone in the office felt comfortable coming to me with
any and all graphic related errands, and it was both a headache and a bad
strain on my work efficiency. Besides, Andy Brenits always stressed in my
Design Management class that designers work best with a formal structure.
I’m just applying what I’ve been taught.
Tuesday, Oct. 6 - Wednesday Oct. 7: First day of work. Antonio asked me to stop by for the weekly “traffic” meeting, where PENs’s
activities for the week are outlined. I am introduced to the staff. I remember everyone’s faces and no one’s names. I’m sure it’ll click
within a few weeks.
Immediately after I meet with Antonio and Jackson, who is heading up PEN’s Prison Writing program, where incarcerated people
around the country send in submissions to PEN. There is an event at the beginning of November, where the selected writings will be
read by celebrities, such as John Turturro and Eric Bogossian. The assignment is to come up with an invitation for the event. Jackson
has a few ideas for visuals (orange prisoner jumpsuits, hands on a desk). I have a hard time visualizing them though. I have a few ideas
of my own which I thumbnail in my sketchbook. I decide to do a few of his ideas and send in a few of my own. I hope mine get through.
The next few days are a rush to try and finish up mock-ups for the two projects. Since there is a PEN event on the following Tuesday, I
have to get all the flyers done and approved beforehand so that the flyers can be given out at the event. It ends up being a lot of work,
especially as I try to incorporate my own illustrations into the designs. I haven’t drawn in a few months, and am extremely rusty. My
drawing of Natalia Estemirova don’t work out, and I end up just using a photoshop effect instead. This ends up being an issue with
some of the event sponsors, who take an issue with the way that their late colleague is depicted. The flyer starts to take on an arduous
tone, as I struggle to work out the type treatment with my own concept. Throughout it all though, Antonio is a supportive and helpful
boss. He asks me to call him to discuss the project, and reassures me that everyone is happy with my work and not to take the changes
personally. (I’ve worked in this field for almost 10 years, and I almost always take criticism personally. Something I’ll either have to
work on or just get over) I e-mail a final version with the original InDesign file on Saturday afternoon and settle in to deal with the
rest of my workload, including my thesis project. I’m starting to worry that this internship may be more than I can deal with - it’s an
additional 15 hours on top of my already full-time student workload (15 credits all in all).
About the project briefs: Caro, one of the event organizers came in on Wednesday while Antonio was out (he doesn’t work at PEN on
Wednesdays) to ask me to relay out an ACLU ad that PEN was cosponsoring. This wasn’t a major task for me to do -just moving some
boxes around, really - but it did land on top of me when I was still struggling with the concepts for the two event flyers. I said I’d do it
and took down the specs for the redesign.
Later on Robyn DesHotel, the organizations Chief Finance officer asked me about my workload, and if there was a queue for jobs to
be done and what the process of assigning me work was. I mentioned my deal with Anthony and the project briefs, which led to the
following exchange:
“So when Caro came to you with this job, did she give you a project brief?”
“Uh, no.”
“Did you ask for one?”
“...no.”
“Should you have asked for one?”
“Um, yeah. Yeah, I should have.”
“Does Antonio know you’re working on this other job?”
“No, I probably should let him know.”
“So what should you do now?”
“I should let Antonio know.”
“And then what should you do?”
“I should ask Caro for a project brief.”
I explained to Robyn that I knew I should have asked for a brief to go through Antonio, but since I wouldn’t see him till the following
Tuesday, I went ahead and took on the job, so as not to look like a dick. Robyn basically told me that it was part of my job to be a
dick and make sure a) everyone goes through Antonio, and b) I get a project brief for everything I do. It was something I was willing
to let slide on my first week, but I’m glad I had someone in my corner looking out for me. I got the job finished that evening, but I also
made sure that Caro sent the what and when of the job to Antonio. My excuse was, “I don’t want him to think I was goofing off for two
hours.”
Other thoughts about my first week:
-Wednesday we got constant warnings from the Fire Department not to use Broadway, which is where PEN’s building is located.
Apparently one of the buildings was deemed structurally unsound and so they closed off our block. Strangely enough, the idea that I was
working in a building that might collapse didn’t bother me as much as it should.
-The office kitchen has a stellar selection of fancy teas that are just out of my budget. I’ve made it a point to have one Bigelow Vanilla
Chai as a reward for my unpaid labour.
-I don’t have a real workstation. The 24-inch iMac that I use in Antonio’s office is placed on a long filing cabinet, and I’m using a
wooden chair. This forces me to sit sort of parallel to the computer. Not terribly comfortable.
-Wearing a black sweater my first day was a good choice. Seems to be the unofficial office uniform.
 Version 1
bearing witness
in the legacy of

Natalia
PROJECT BRIEF Estemirova Don’t miss this evening of readings and conversations in

NECESSARY COPY remembrance of award-winning human rights activist Natalia

Estemirova, who was murdered while working to uncover
violations in Chechnya. We will honor her legacy and call
attention to the situation for freedom of expression in the
North Caucasus and in Russia.
Event Title: Bearing Witness in Chechnya: The Legacy of Natalia Estemirova

Date: Thursday, October 29 at 7 pm

Venue Address: Proshansky Auditorium, CUNY Graduate School, NYC

Salman Rushdie
Tickets: FREE and open to the public
(Best of Booker winning author, former PEN president)

Michael Arena
(former investigative reporter)

Keith Gessen
Participants: Salman Rushdie(Best of Booker winning author, former PEN president), Michael Arena (former (co-editor-in-chief of n+1)

investigative reporter), Keith Gessen (co-editor-in-chief of n+1), Tanya Lokshina (Researcher at Human Rights Tanya Lokshina

FREE
(researcher at Human Rights Watch)

Watch), Kati Marton (author, member of Human Rights Watch and CPJ boards), Elena Milashina (journalist for Kati Marton
(author, member of Human Rights Watch and CPJ boards)

Novaya Gazeta), and Zarema Mukusheva (filmmaker, human rights activist for Memorial, Grozny, Chechnya). Elena Milashina
(journalist for Novaya Gazeta) and open to the public
Zarema Mukusheva
Brief description: Don’t miss this evening of readings and conversations in remembrance of award-winning hu- (filmmaker, human rights activist for Memorial, Grozny, Chechnya)

man rights activist Natalia Estemirova, who was murdered while working to uncover violations in Chechnya. We Thursday, October 29 at 7pm
will honor her legacy and call attention to the situation for freedom of expression in the North Caucasus and in Proshansky Auditorium,
Russia. CUNY Graduate School
www.pen.org

Logos: PEN Logo (available at www.pen.org/logos), Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists,
CUNY, and Witness. These can be small/tiny so long as they are legible. Version 2
Don’t miss this evening of readings

Web Address: www.pen.org and conversations in remembrance of

award-winning human rights activist
Natalia Estemirova, who was murdered
while working to uncover violations in
Chechnya. We will honor her legacy
and call attention to the situation for
freedom of expression in the North

bearing
IMPORTANT IDEAS TO COMMUNICATE Caucasus and in Russia.

Salman Rushdie

witness
Natalia was a human rights activist silenced by violence; despite threats to her life, she continued to write/ (Best of Booker winning author, former PEN president)

record abuses against people in Chechnya. She is the latest in a string of murders against brave people just like Michael Arena
in
(former investigative reporter)
her.
Keith Gessen

Chechnya
(co-editor-in-chief of n+1)

Tanya Lokshina
SPECS
(researcher at Human Rights Watch)

8 1/2 x 11 Kati Marton

the legacy of

N atalia
(author, member of Human Rights Watch and CPJ boards)

Will print in b/w but should have a color translation for web use.
Elena Milashina
(journalist for Novaya Gazeta)

Estemirova
Zarema Mukusheva
(filmmaker, human rights activist for Memorial, Grozny, Chechnya)
OTHER NOTES (NOT COPY)

PEN American Center joins forces with the Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Committee to Protect Journalists

FREE
(CPJ), CUNY’s School of Journalism, and Witness to pay tribute to Natalia Estemirova, the award-winning human Thursday, October 29 at 7pm
Proshansky Auditorium,
rights activist and journalist murdered on July 15, 2009, as she was working on “extremely sensitive” cases of
human rights abuses in Chechnya. Since 2000 Natalia Estemirova had been working for the highly respected
CUNY Graduate School and open to the public

www.pen.org
Russian human rights organization Memorial in Grozny, Chechnya, where she documented the extrajudicial kill-
ings, abductions, rapes, and other abuses perpetrated by various armed forces since war between Russia and
Chechen separatists erupted in 1994. Version 3
This free public event will feature readings and conversations to honor the legacy of Estemirova, while calling
attention to the situation regarding freedom of expression in the provinces of the North Caucasus and Russia
in general. Participants will include author Salman Rushdie, Michael Arena (former investigative reporter), Keith
Gessen (co-editor-in-chief of n+1), Tania Lokshina (Researcher at Human Rights Watch), Elena Milashina (journal-
ist), and Zarema Mukusheva (filmmaker and human rights activist).

TIIME FRAME

Discuss Concepts: 10-06-09

Rough Concepts: 10-09-09
Final Art: 10-13-09
 Version 1

PROJECT BRIEF

NECESSARY COPY

Event Title: Breakout: Voices from Inside

Date: Monday, November 9, 7 p.m.

Venue Address: WNYC Greene Space, 44 Charlton Street, NYC

Tickets: Collaborator: $75/Friend: $50.

Participants: Mary Gaitskill, Eric Bogosian, John Turturro, Patricia Smith, and other special guests Version 2

Brief description: Please pull from the event description below. This can be very brief--one sentence--or non
existent.

Logos: PEN Logo

Web Site: www.pen.org

IMPORTANT IDEAS TO COMMUNICATE

Prison is a peculiar kind of silent exile--but democracy benefits from recognizing every voice. Hearing these ex-
iled men and women, and whatever they have to tell us good or bad, is part of the experience of democracy.

SPECS
Black and white, two-sided post card: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4

OTHER NOTES (NOT COPY):

PEN Members and friends will read the award-winning work from PEN’s Prison Writing Program. Breakout: Voices
from Inside, the Program’s second annual benefit reading and reception, will feature readings by Mary Gaitskill,
Eric Bogosian, John Turturro, Patricia Smith, and others. As an installment of WNYC’s signature series “The NEXT
New York Conversation,” this event will be broadcast and live-streamed, allowing incarcerated men and Version 3
women with radio and/or internet access to listen to the event and join our audience.

For more than 30 years, PEN’s Prison Writing Program has been dedicated to helping make the harsh realities
of American imprisonment part of our social justice dialogue. PEN’s Program has also been on the front-lines of
prison reform, helping inmates in federal, state, and local penitentiaries cope with life behind bars, gain skills,
and have a voice while they are there. Breakout: Voices from Inside will help raise much-needed funds to en-
able our important program to continue its most important mission into the future—helping incarcerated men
and women to see themselves in a new way: as writers.

TIME FRAME

Discuss Concepts: 10-6-09

Concepts: 10-9-09

Final Art: 10-13-09

Version 4