Design Assistant for Museum Exhibits on History and Environment

Friends of Five Creeks, a 30-year-old nonprofit watershed restoration group, could use immediate short-term help, mostly online, preparing exhibits for a Berkeley Historical Society & Museum show on the history of the Berkeley waterfront.  This might or might not continue to other intern-type work closer to our usual mission.

We hope to get help creating  a variety of printed displays, some fairly large, using your own computer and software. Some may be fairly large, including perhaps large-format slideshows or very short videos. 

Here are skills you need to have or learn very quickly on your own time:

• You should have skills and experience improving reproduction of imperfect online materials such as aerial photos, old maps, and fuzzy photos or clippings. 
• You don't need fancy design skills, but should have a good basic sense of design, including balance and proportion, use of white space, type characteristics and readability, and color, including accessibility.
• You should be able to change backgrounds, resize, align, and accurately add small amounts of text, including using correct spelling and grammar. 
• If you work on a Mac, you must be able to easily transfer materials to others using PC, and vice versa. 

Basic familiarity with environmental issues, the natural world, local geography and history, and how to engage a non-academic audience are all valuable.  You will enjoy this work and get more out of it if you are interested in those things. The work could be helpful in many fields, including communications, design, history, and many environmental subjects including public policy. 

Pay and conditions:  Pay is Berkeley minimum wage, $19.18/hour, with no benefits.  As an independent contractor, you set your own hours and use  your own tools. Your responsibilities are to communicate as you go along to make sure things are clear and on track, and meet the deadline(s).  If materials are required, we will reimburse you. We can start by agreeing ahead of time on deadlines and how long something  is likely to take. We will pay promptly after you send an invoice that meets IRS requirements. 

If this interests you, please contact Susan Schwartz ata f5creeks@gmail.com or 510 599 4709.