Today is the 4th. September 7th is my last day at the Internship. My supervisor asked me to make a list of my tasks I have performed as their intern. I have listed them below.
This has been a fruitful experience for me. Other than being in an air conditioned office through the hotter months of the year, this position has given me many interesting work experiences. One of my favorite aspects is working with a project manager. He has been very clear about expectations and deadlines. He’s been in a good mood and very communicative, answering my concerns and questions in a timely manner through email.
In a lot of ways, Interning is easier than being in school because I don’t have to go through the process of inventing my product or brand that I am designing. Having real clients allows me to focus my creativity on the design aspects and being able to create a system using existing elements.
However, a plus to school is unlike the real world, none of your stuff ends up being used for anything outside the school. Whereas, in my experience, there is a weird sense of accomplishment after creating something with the assumption that I’ve just created a piece of an existing, living brand, but then later the client decides not to use it and then I have to deflate my ego.
Working at a company with a small staff and a slow intake of work during summer allowed me to pursue my side projects with more dedication than I ever have before. As well as exploring “discovery” engines (used by people who want to find content on the internet, but don’t know exactly what), I had more time to devote to my Web Design Bootcamp assignments, as well as continue practicing my coding with the design of Mike’s Tutoring Website.
In many ways, I wish I could have directed this energy towards the company I was interning for. I gathered that a down side to being an intern is that they hired me with the knowledge that I would be leaving after a short while and that to integrate my skills into any long term project would not be advisable. They said that one of the reasons that they hired me was that I had a good deal of experience with WordPress. But, since I got here, I haven’t received one assignment that used WordPress. Unlike their previous intern, who didn’t know any WordPress and it seems like that’s the assignments she got. It was a simple luck of the draw. Timing of workflow.
Advice I would give to the next intern at this company and interns in general: Find ways to learn. Come to work with projects in mind, to-do lists and organizational tools. I certainly had slow days, but I’ve always had some book to read or some idea floating in my head on what I could do with my resources at hand. They give you a computer, make computer-ade.
Internship tasks
Logo
brainstorming, research, sketching, font choices, presenting logo versions to Terry, several rounds of refining designs, color options
Stationery Update Pitch—created 3 versions of new layout for business card, envelope and letterhead
layout, creating a brand system using existing logo, presenting versions to Matt, refining design, a second presentation to Matt
Business Card information update
Used InDesign to create a template of business card, created 10 business cards with unique information
Map for Brochure
Used existing map as a guide to create a vector file of street map of a part of downtown Seattle
Building Artwork
Using photograph (lo-res) provided, created a 300 dpi image using Photoshop filters and adjustments to match original artwork
Test Print
Looking at the printed comp of the brochure and adjusting colors and filters to better match original, created a document with three different versions of building to see which one prints closest to original
Organization of Receipts
Attached receipts to corresponding invoices
Social Media Research (PowerPoint Presentation)
Research of Social Media, including Facebook pages, Twitter and LinkedIn, created a PowerPoint document with diagrams (Ultimately redundant information with Matt and Kevin’s current working knowledge.) This lead to the consolidation of my knowledge into a small “e-book.”
Facebook Pages Research (Screenshots and links)
Research of specifically Facebook pages, gathering screenshots of advertising peers in Seattle, finding internet articles reporting on creative uses of Facebook pages.
Training Completion Certificate Design
Design research, layout, created an InDesign document with 4 versions, designed with Style Guide considerations, refined designs with Matt’s suggestions
Interior Design Suggestions for improving the Character of the Atrium in the form of Mood Boards
Color palate, picking styles of chairs, art direction, materials, 2 versions
Modified Image of Light Fixture
Rotated image and created new shadows for object using Photoshop
Post sticker
Created a vector version of a faded antique decal using Illustrator
Report on Visit to Square Tomato
Attended a book talk at a local advertising agency, wrote a report of the information shared there regarding the affect of social media on internet advertising business models and possible solutions
Phone Answering
