My name is Bailey Watro and I am a rising Senior Illustration and Humanistic Studies double major. During the summer of 2016 I was a design intern for a publishing house called Running Press based in Philadelphia. They are a small publishing house that has recently merged with Hachette Book Group. Their work centers primarily around lifestyle and cooking books along with their Kids book imprint and mini kits. I originally heard about Running Press through the MICA internship blog, and once I looked more into the company and their work I was impressed by the level of design and the variety of projects Running Press was producing. I found a listing for design interns on their website and sent them my resume and cover letter. After an interview at their offices I was offered the position.
My internship
supervisor was senior designer Amanda Richmond, but throughout each week I
worked with and received projects from all the designers there. The work I did
at Running Press ranged from copy editing and creating layouts for products to
creating full cover designs. I spent most days creating potential cover designs
and type work, and then receiving feedback from the designer I was working
with on that project. Sometimes
my designs would be
passed on to our weekly cover meetings, where they were reviewed by the entire
team along with work from the other designers.
My
two biggest projects were illustrating the cover for a gift book and designing
the layout for the product packaging of a Harry Potter licensed kit. Among the
designs I contributed to I worked with these most extensively, and
I will continue to work on the interior of the
gift book as a freelance illustrator for Running Press. Working as an illustrator on design projects allowed me to sharpen skills like type work and layout that I don’t use as often in
my class or personal assignments. I sat in
on many meetings that discussed potential freelance illustrators Running Press was looking to hire, and I gained a lot of insight on what art directors are looking for in illustrators and what the freelance process is like from the client perspective. The time I spent at Running Press was creatively and professionally fulfilling, and I left with new career opportunities, connections in the design world, and a wealth of new knowledge about the book publishing industry.
I will continue to work on the interior of the
gift book as a freelance illustrator for Running Press. Working as an illustrator on design projects allowed me to sharpen skills like type work and layout that I don’t use as often in
my class or personal assignments. I sat in
on many meetings that discussed potential freelance illustrators Running Press was looking to hire, and I gained a lot of insight on what art directors are looking for in illustrators and what the freelance process is like from the client perspective. The time I spent at Running Press was creatively and professionally fulfilling, and I left with new career opportunities, connections in the design world, and a wealth of new knowledge about the book publishing industry.
