A GUIDE TO INTERN ROLES

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Australian Red Cross is a member of the

International Red Cross Red Crescent

Movement (the International Movement)

with millions of members and volunteers

operating in over 189 countries.

Our Movement’s mission is to prevent

or reduce human suffering, wherever it is

found. Our Fundamental Principles guide us

in this mission.

We provide relief in times of crisis, care

when it’s needed most and commitment

when others turn away. Red Cross is there

for people in need, no matter who you are,

no matter where you live.

The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement

helps tens of millions of people around

the world each year and here at Australian

Red Cross, we care for local communities in

Australia and further afield.

With millions of volunteers worldwide

and thousands of members, volunteers

and supporters across Australia we can

reach people and places like nobody else.

Commitment when others turn awayRed Cross is there for people in need,

regardless of nationality, race, religious

beliefs, class or political opinions. We are

impartial, neutral and independent.

Each day innocent people live with conflict

and the indignity of discrimination. Each

day Australians need blood to help battle

cancer. Countless lives lost could be saved

through first aid.

We are the keepers of the Geneva

Conventions or the ‘laws of war’; we talk to

military, governments and militants alike.

We are guided by Aboriginal and Torres

Strait Islander communities to create,

together, sustainable solutions with a new

determination.

We train people in first aid, motivate the

next generation to make their community

a better place and with the help of half

a million Australian blood donors, we

save lives.

And we are committed to supporting

our Red Cross partners in Asia Pacific,

helping them build strength in their own

communities. We are in it for the long haul.

Red Cross is there for people in need,

no matter who you are, no matter where

you live.

Who we are

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Our principles

HumanityThe International Red Cross and Red

Crescent Movement, born of a desire to

bring assistance without discrimination to

the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours,

in its international and national capacity,

to prevent and alleviate human suffering

wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to

protect life and health and ensure respect

for the human being. It promotes mutual

understanding, friendship, co-operation and

lasting peace amongst all people.

ImpartialityIt makes no discrimination as to nationality,

race, religious beliefs, class or political

opinions. It endeavours to relieve the

suffering of individuals, being guided solely

by their needs, and to give priority to the

most urgent cases of distress.

NeutralityIn order to continue to enjoy the confidence

of all, the Movement may not take sides

in hostilities or engage at any time in

controversies of a political, racial, religious

or ideological nature.

IndependenceThe Movement is independent. The

National Societies, while auxiliaries in the

humanitarian services of their governments

and subject to the laws of their respective

countries, must always maintain their

autonomy so that they may be able at

all times to act in accordance with the

principles of the Movement.

Voluntary serviceIt is a voluntary relief movement not

prompted in any manner by desire for gain.

UnityThere can be only one Red Cross or Red

Crescent Society in any one country. It

must be open to all. It must carry on its

humanitarian work throughout its territory.

UniversalityThe International Red Cross and Red

Crescent Movement, in which all Societies

have equal status and share equal

responsibilities and duties in helping each

other, is worldwide.

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As an intern in the graphic design team

you’ll be working closely with the senior in-

house designer and the brand manager.

You’ll also be working with other graphic

designer interns and communicating with

our clients (who are mainly Red Cross

employees and volunteers). You’ll also be

liaising with supplier professionals, such as

printers and other external designers.

The work of our small graphic design team

is to produce the visual communication

products of Red Cross; these frequently

cover both print and digital projects.

You’ll be work in the Sydney officeWe are located in St. Andrews on level 4,

464 Clarence Street, Sydney CBD.

St. Andrews House is centrally located

directly behind St. Andrews Cathedral and

next to the Sydney Town Hall on George

Street, Sydney CBD.

What you’ll need to be able to doYou’ll need to commit to a minimum of

at least three months. Red Cross uses a

formal induction to the function of the

organisation and our humanitarian work.

You should have a thorough knowledge

of design principles and a good eye for

grid structure in the day-to-day work you’ll

encounter.

We work with both PC and Mac desktops

using the Adobe Creative Cloud applications

and some MS Office apps. A working

understanding of the basics of these

platforms and applications is important.

You’ll need to feel confident in using all

the basic functions with Adobe InDesign,

Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat. You

should be actively looking to improve your

skills level with these applications.

You love of design, right?It probably goes without saying that

you love design and collaborative

engthaagement. The experience you’ll gain

from Red Cross will provide additions to

your portfolio.

You will be working collaboratively

with the senior designer and other

graphic designer interns. You’ll need to

feel comfortable with asking questions

whenever you get stuck. You should be

able to communicate freely both within

the design team and with clients on their

projects. You’ll need to be able to give

What you’ll be doing

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things a go in furthering the development

of your design skills and in problem solving

design challenges.

Who you’ll be working withThe design team has one in-house senior

designer, as well as using a number of

external designers and agencies. You will

need to develop your understanding of

print and web jargon, and of the technical

requirements, in order to communicate

clearly with other professionals.

We have a simple, but important structure

for the backup of all work, using a file

naming convention that assists in returning

to design jobs many months down the track.

Having a designer’s eyeYou’ll need a sense of style, placement

and proportion of text and images starting

with a properly formed grid. Having a good

knowledge of typography, and its use in

page layout hierarchy is important for the

story-telling function of design.

Applying typographic principles to the

body of the text can make all the difference

between reading pleasure and an eye-

straining experience. Cropping photographic

images correctly and clever use of

white-space is important in overall

viewing aesthetics.

Brand guardiansA large range of Red Cross graphic devices

(such as logos, icons, etc) are used in

layouts for print and electronic media.

These adhere to brand guidelines (such as

minimum size, placement, etc) that you’ll

be the ‘guardian’ of, to help us maintain

consistency wherever the Red Cross brand

is seen.

The overall range of design work is

broad and is used in creating newsletters

and magazines, brochures, EDMs and

advertisements for both print and the web.

Finished artwork and designs are produced

for both inward-facing clients as well as for

the general public. In addition, we prepare

image designs for corporate identity ,

exhibitions and advertising.

Some of your tasks:• Talking to clients and helping them

to fill out the Creative Brief to get a

clear understanding of their visual

communication requirements;

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• Developing designs based on the clients’

requests in the Creative Brief;

• Drafting conceptual designs or ‘roughs’

that might be used as a starting point;

• Designs need to be prepared using

comprehensive layout elements; this

means creating properly labeled style-

sheets, layers, and adhering to the job file

naming convention used by the design

team members;

• Using techniques to colour correct and

manipulate photography, edit vector

objects, and create other computer-

generated imagery;

• Identify communication problems and

develop visual solutions;

• present design concepts to clients;

• being flexible on design concepts;

• prepare designs for print or digital

publication and signage;

• design exhibition banners for advertising

or educational purposes;

• follow through on production stages,

including arranging printing.

Getting involvedThe graphic design team is involved with

brand and identity strategy; digital and web-

based design; preparing graphic elements

for television, film and computer graphics;

exhibition design; booklets, brochure

and magazine/newsletter design; and

advertising and illustration.

Other personal requirements include:• being creative and imaginative;

• understanding colour and form;

• being able to work to deadlines;

• being able to communicate clearly;

• having a general appreciation of marketing

goals and effective design;

• an ability to work as part of a team.

www.redcross.org.au

Contact:Timothy Hartridge

Senior Graphic Designer

St Andrews House, Level 4, 464 Kent St SYDNEY NSW 2000

Tel +61 2 9229 4172 | Email thartridge@redcross.org.au