This summer 2013 I worked at a design firm in Colombia. A friend of my mother mentioned that
she knew of a design firm that did very well gave me their website. I got in contact with the
director Jorge Zambrano, I sent him my portfolio and resume and I was accepted to intern. It was
very important for me that I intern in another country in a different language so that I could apply
everything I’ve learned at MICA in a completley different setting. Surreal is a design firm in
Bogota that focuses on branding, spacial design, web, and everything in between. At first it was
difficult to get used to, as I have never been formally educated in graphic design in Spanish.
However just a few days in I started adjusting to the terminologies and client interactions. I worked
everyday from 9-6 and during my stay I met several clients, some of which came to the office and
others which my director and I went to visit. From day one I definatly felt like part of the team and
I was introduced and put to work on many cool projects. Clients ranged from museums needing
logos and design for exhibition spaces, Panela (raw sugar) export companies needing identity
and packaging, to government social improvment campaigns needing an identity.
Apart from learning a lot about client relationships and professional skills, one of the most memorable experiences I had was to go behind the scenes of a well known museum here in
Colombia to see anchient pre-Colombian artifacts that were carefully being kept and prepared for exhibition. Some of the pieces were so old they probably wont get to see the light of day, I felt so fortunate! From this we were able to get ideas and inspiration for the design direction for the exhibition.
My director pushed me to be as creative as possible. He lent me several books, showed me cool artists, websites and videos daily. I was given a lot of creative liberty to be as imaginative and abstract as I wanted to. Everyone on the team was wonderful and happy to explain any questions I had. I’ll be leaving Colombia with a much better understanding of what it's like to work in a professional environment handling several projects (and clients! ) at a time. This experience truly increased my confidence as a designer and I cannot wait to start my senior year with all this new inspiration!
