I'm Fine Internship

I found the internship through my supervisor, someone who I have been involved with since I was in the sixth grade, and she has been helping me find new opportunities in the local art scene. I’m fine. is a non-profit art community that organizes workshops where people are invited to create clay masks, while also promoting the discussion of mental health. 

I did a little bit of anything that was needed, from creating masks, helping with demos, helping set up the gallery... etc. I am most proud of getting to connect with a handful of people and getting to hear their stories about why they are creating their masks. I got a taste of what it is like to work/run a nonprofit, community art group, which was very important to me. I learned to help a person with little to no art experience channel their thoughts and ideas into the thing that they were
creating. 

The main thing that I’ve gained from this internship was the various methods of how I could create a space that both invites people to talk about difficult subjects and use that to create something/interact with my own work. And I’ll be taking all of this and putting it towards my thesis (To Die In The Woods).

Studio Assistant for Tony Shore

Last semester, I was in Tony Shore's narrative painting class. I enjoyed his class and liked him as a person and artist. In January, he offered some gig work to help him move his then-current studio into his new one. I accepted and helped him for a few days while being paid for the time and effort. After working with him, he offered me a role as his studio assistant, which is how I got the internship.

Tony is a faculty member here at MICA as well as a practicing studio painter. While interning as his assistant, I worked in his studio. I made sure his studio environment ran smoothly. I continued to help him move his past studio into his current. I was organizing, inventorying, cleaning, and arranging his art supplies and objects in his studio. After the move was complete, I continued to assist with the organization and arrangement of the studio. Through this, I learned what it means to have a functional and organized studio while also being an artist who tends to take up a lot of space when working--a trait that Tony and I share.

Part of my role as Tony's assistant is to act as a sounding board and feedback source for project ideas and planning. This has been valuable to me as it includes me in the artistic process of a working studio artist. It allows me a look inside the world of art as a profession via gallery sales and commissions. This was inspiring to me as I aim to be an artist, supporting myself through my studio practice.

MICA RCCE E/Studio Internship

I was thrilled when my advisor introduced me to the RCCE E/Studio Internship that aligned perfectly with my interests in business and entrepreneurship. I quickly began preparing my application and polishing my portfolio to showcase my skills and passion for the field. This internship is eligible for credit which was another aspect that made it an ideal fit for my academic goals. It also provides hands-on experience and knowledge that will undoubtedly shape my future career in the business world, and I was eager to seize this opportunity to learn and grow. 

The Executive Creative Director at Andre Bean Brand served as our internship director at the RCCE E/Studio Internship. Throughout my time under his guidance, I gained insights into the world of marketing, drawing from his wealth of real-life experiences. The knowledge and personal stories he shared with us proved to be incredibly valuable resources, as they are not typically accessible within the confines of a traditional school setting. I deeply appreciated our director’s adept leadership skills, as he skillfully directed our team, fostering a collaborative and productive environment. Thanks to his mentorship, we were able to successfully tackle tasks for our clients and I am grateful for the opportunity to have learned from such a seasoned professional. I will carry the lessons I learned from him throughout my career in business and entrepreneurship. 

During my internship, I had the opportunity to take on significant responsibilities for both Oopsduck and ORA the Brand website deliveries. As a lead, I devoted much of my time to crafting engaging and user-friendly UI/UX designs for both projects, ensuring a seamless online experience for their audiences. Additionally, I contributed my photography skills to enhance ORA the Brand's visual appeal. Moreover, I collaborated closely with others, offering my insights and ideas for the motion graphics used in Oopsduck's captivating intro video. Being involved in these diverse aspects of the projects allowed me to gain hands-on experience and strengthen my skill set, making this internship an incredibly fulfilling and enriching experience. I am grateful for having had the chance to begin my professional journey at RCCE E/Studio and am enthusiastic about continuing to grow and thrive in the business and entrepreneurship realm.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO)

My experience as a Photography and Videography intern at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) was one I will never forget. The BSO is a non-profit organization that organizes orchestra concerts primarily in Baltimore. I found out about this opportunity through MICA’s photography department. More specifically, the former chair recommended I apply and connected me with the MICA Photo alumni who is the Art Director at the BSO.

My time as an intern at BSO was centered around working closely with the art director  as my supervisor and her colleagues within the marketing and communications departments. As an intern, I was able to learn about the passion and commitment that goes into managing the art direction of a large organization. This showed me how important it is to market as an entrepreneur as marketing is crucial in getting an audience to engage with created works.

Some of the projects I worked on included producing content that was used for the BSO’s social media. This included things like filming BTS videos of musicians unboxing a marimba, taking photographs of the orchestra rehearsing, and administrative tasks like organizing archival photo files. With these projects, my supervisor was able to show me how to utilize Adobe softwares, technical photo skills to edit photos, edit videos, and create storyboards.

I am most proud of how much I was able to push myself to try new things. Trying new skills often scares me but knowing I had the support of my supervisor and others in the department allowed me to trust trying new things. With this experience, I learned the importance of connecting with individuals and how it takes a team to achieve goals.

It has been a life-changing experience that has given me more clarity on what my life can look like post-graduation. I now have more insight into being a freelance photographer and filmmaker working with organizations. This experience has reminded me that my imagination can become reality and that with determination and patience I will thrive in my career.

ArtTable Fellowship at the Studio Museum in Harlem

I had the honor of being the ArtTable fellow at the Studio Museum in Harlem. The opportunity was presented to me by my program director. ArtTable is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the leadership of women in the visual arts. Through this organization, I applied to the Studio Museum in Harlem. The Studio Museum is the nexus for artists of African descent, locally, nationally, and internationally, and for work that has been inspired and influenced by Black culture. It is a site for the dynamic exchange of ideas about art and society.

The selection process was competitive and long. I had to submit a written application, and from there the committee at ArtTable decided whether to send my application through to the Studio Museum. Once my application was selected, I began the interview process. This entire process took 2 months.

When working at the museum I worked on two major projects. My first project was supporting the Curatorial collections team in the ongoing maintenance of digital records related to the Museum’s archive and collections. I worked primarily in the Museum’s two collections databases, NetX (digital asset management) and TMS (collection management), I researched, uploaded, and cataloged an assortment of digital material related to past programs, education events, and collections. 

My second project was more research-focused. I supported various ongoing projects at the Museum. I conducted research in the Museum Archives to support the Museum Archivist with internal and external reference requests, contributed to a historical timeline of the Museum's history in preparation for a major web development project, and researched early images related to the Museum so that they can be further cataloged.

My biggest takeaway from during this time is to be flexible, and it is okay to be upset when things don't go the way you wanted them to. There were a lot of obstacles I faced, like dealing with the housing crisis in New York and commuting issues. Regardless, I was able to work with and learn from the amazing curatorial staff at the museum. Unfortunately, the relationship with ArtTable did not pan out the way I wanted it to. However, I am still extremely grateful for this opportunity and the support I had along the way.

Miami Swim Week Shows (MSWS)

The DCSW (parent company of MSWS) is a leading luxury fashion show production company that specializes in innovative fashion concepts, production, and execution. Independent fashion designers present their collections to an international audience of press, retailers, stylists, industry influencers, and buyers at MSWS. 

The Director of Creative Affairs for Miami Swim Week Shows (MSWS) reached out to me through LinkedIn after seeing that I directed the Benefit Fashion Show at MICA. She was my direct supervisor throughout my internship. Leading up to the show I was in charge of design and social media such as editing graphics for brands, designing booklets to be printed for the show, and planning / editing social media content.

MSWS covered my flight and stay during the week of the show, where I was lead photographer for the sponsors and event. It was my first time doing commercial photography such as food, product, and events. My days were very long, every hour I would be moving to a different location, shooting a different model, celebrity, or product. I would end the night very late to ensure all the images shot throughout the day were delivered by the morning. Because commercial photography wants to have an impact, I had to adjust my editing style to be more punchy: sharper contrast, saturated colors, and overall defined details. Overall I am proud of how quickly I was able to adapt to the environment I was in.

This internship taught me how important it is to be punctual, consistent, and have open communication. It was vital for my supervisor to state what exact shots are needed for the videographer and photographer. I also learned when to be loud because during the chaos of large events, I needed to make my voice heard to get the shots I needed. I learned how to socialize and network with other designers and guests that I documented, which gave me the confidence to step outside my shy bubble. 

Working with a real fashion show production helped me realize the fast paced environment was not for me. I prefer the editorial photography space, where the artistic vision / editing is solely within the hands of the photographer. However, this fast paced experience was still an amazing experience.The creative team became my close group of friends and the designers I met were so beyond talented and inspired me with their visions. The show as a whole was a surreal experience that allowed me to experience Miami for the first time.

Submersive Productions

Submersive Productions is an immersive experience company based in Baltimore. Artists, writers, dancers, and musicians collaborate to make site-specific immersive experience productions. In their work, audience participation is centered as an important role in unfolding the narrative of a show. I found this internship through a professor of mine who introduced Submersive Productions’ work in her class and helped me get connected. When I had an opportunity for an interview with Submersive, then after I secured the internship.

I was able to experience various parts of Submersive Productions’ work—from idea devising, concept research, venue-searching, fabricating samples and props for an upcoming show, and material researching. I assisted in an idea for one of their projects, The Boundary, which is an immersive experience piece that deals with death and grief.

My direct supervisor was one of the co-artistic directors. They participate in collaborative devising works for immersive experiences and supporting artists in their production with administrative matters and more. My supervisor and I both had a great experience working together and I am proud that I got an offer to work with them for an additional month after my internship ended.

I was able to work with such a supportive, talented, generous, and creative group of people throughout my internship. The most important lesson I learned is that we should always proactively seek ways to build a healthy community where the artists collaborate in equal positions and can support each other when feeling vulnerable during the production process. I am grateful to experience a community where everyone is invested in what they create and genuinely cares about each other.

I had more chances to meet, talk, and collaborate with many people through this internship, and I feel less intimidated by networking and meeting new people. Also, I now have a better understanding of how to manage and plan a project in an organized manner. This skill is especially valuable because I will be able to apply this skill in various projects that require many people’s collaboration.

Through this experience, I have realized that I value a sense of community more than I thought. I value genuine and collaborative connections with people and it is important that I feel this connection in my workplace. I want to continue to find ways to pursue my interest in immersive experience art because I enjoy working as a team.

Athletics LLC

Athletics is a mid-size independent creative studio based out of Brooklyn, NY. Their clients range from large companies, such as IBM and Square, to smaller companies like Turf, Galileo, and Tia. The Athletics teams work on everything from strategy to design to create incredible products for their clients. My supervisor was a Design Director who has been at the company for many years.

I found out about this internship opportunity through one of my instructors at MICA. I asked him if he knew of any companies hiring summer interns, and he presented me to a colleague at Athletics. I went through the interview process in January and was hired.

The main project I was involved in this summer was designing a website for 826NYC, a nonprofit in New York City that helps underprivileged students improve their writing skills. My job was to take the wireframes designed by the team and figure out the best way to organize all their information clearly, keeping in mind that their main audience is low-income families who oftentimes don’t speak English. This involved clarifying the system in which programs and workshops are displayed/filtered, figuring out how best to apply the brand’s visual identity, and organizing huge chunks of information to help the site communicate clearly.

My supervisor guided me through every step of the project yet gave me a lot of responsibility as time progressed. I was also involved in other projects, such as designing a booklet for Catskill Art Space, or assisting in creating brand guidelines for their clients Trace and XQ.

I’m proud of how much responsibility I was given as my internship progressed, as well as how quickly I learned a variety of new skills. I learned so much about how a real agency works, how projects are organized, and how much thought and work goes into a high-level design project. Most importantly, I created valuable connections with my co-workers and learned so much from them in terms of communication and presenting ideas.

At the midpoint of my internship, I was offered a full-time opportunity after my graduation. In the meantime, I was promoted to Associate Designer in a part-time, 24 hour/week capacity. I did a lot of UX work this summer, which solidified how much I love creating digital products. I hope to continue down this path, but what this internship has taught me is that new experiences will show me what path I need to go down.

SpliceToday

I found out about this opportunity through a friend of a friend. I was asked to provide live visuals for a local musician. After their set, a friend recommended I talk to this one person who works at Splice because he was looking for a camera operator. I later met that person when that same friend’s car broke down near my house. We hit it off and the rest is history. 

This person who became my supervisor works for his father at Splice as a managing editor. He writes regular reviews for a few different platforms (The Spectator, Counterpunch) and makes his own films independently. He has a strong work ethic and occupies himself completely with his work and, when he’s not working, he’s watching more movies. I’ve never met anyone so well-watched.

My main responsibilities ended up being a camera operator and editor, with some content aggregation for Splice on slow days. I helped shoot and sort footage for You’re Going to Live and did some fine-tuning on Hasn’t Been Grounded (My supervisor’s first two features). Under his direction, I had a lot of freedom to experiment with lighting and camera angles that I never got the chance to in my MICA cinematography class. I felt capable and confident, especially when my supervisor would tell me how happy he was with the shot. It made me very proud of my work and myself.

My biggest takeaway is that collaborative relationships can be extremely fulfilling when you find the right fit. I felt challenged and supported at the same time, as my growth was beneficial to his work. He pushed me to watch more, study more, suggest more. I feel that I have developed my on-set communication skills as well as my camera and lighting skills. I know now more than ever what I will be doing after college and where I fit best.

J4D

The place where I conducted the internship was a small company called J4D. Like other advertising companies, J4D was a company that designed advertisements for clients' specific needs or requests. We worked together as a team with one set of values called “We make big waves.” This means that the advertisements we make cause big waves and make a difference in the world.

My direct supervisor was the CEO of J4D. He provided me with enough opportunities to learn the overall company flow and work so that I could adapt well to the company, and those efforts made me able to complete a successful internship thanks to him. During the internship, as a member of the design team, I participated in the process of designing and producing advertisements for various domestic and foreign client companies such as Nike, Porsche, Yuserin, Goose Island, and Innisfree. The company was separated into a planning team and a production team but often the work was carried out as one team. I worked on the production team, and I participated in everything from the idea process to filming and editing the finished advertisement.

The proudest time during the internship was when my ideas and the videos I edited were shown to the public through various media such as TV, YouTube, and movie theaters. No matter how good the idea was while producing the advertisement, there were times when the idea had to be re-invented according to the client's requirements, and many modifications had to be made during the production process and even after the production. These processes were endless and painful, but the satisfaction of seeing them in various media after production made me forget those times.

Through this internship, I learned that communication is very important. And of course, I've learned that you have to have creative thinking, you have to have the ability to handle the tools that can create it, but communication has to take precedence over all of this. The process of creating advertisements is a cycle of communicating with clients, team members, and supervisors. If one of these doesn't work out well, a project won't be completed. I thought creative ideas were the most important thing for designers, but this internship gave me a new perspective on my job as a designer.

The Highlights Foundation

I found out about this opportunity through an info session and through one of my professors at MICA. I sent in my resume and cover letter through their application form and a couple weeks later I was contacted by them for an interview, where we discussed the required roles and responsibilities of the intern in more detail, as well as confirming eligibility requirements and scheduling. About a week later I got an email confirming that they would like to hire me and my schedule.

The Highlights Foundation is an organization under the Highlights children’s magazine, which runs a retreat and workshop center in Boyds Mills, PA. At this center and virtually, they organize workshops, talks, and retreats for both newcomers and professionals in the field of children’s literature, particularly writers and illustrators.

There was another intern along with myself and our major responsibility was to oversee the day to day running of the workshops on campus. As part of this, we would assist guests with general procedures and provide information. We would also set up and assist in presentations, put up relevant book displays for each workshop, communicate with the faculty about their needs for the workshops and provide it to them, or otherwise communicate them to our supervisors. We were able to sit in on most presentations for troubleshooting purposes, but by getting to attend them we learned a lot of great info. 

I was most proud of how much I opened myself up and improved my people skills. I learned to talk about myself and my work in a professional manner, and networked as much as I could. I’ve also learnt a lot about the children’s book industry in general from this experience- about both the creative process and the publishing/production process. I learned how opportunities come about for illustrators and how manuscripts become fully-fleshed, published books. Through talking to a huge variety of writers, illustrators, editors and agents, and educators, and attending so many presentations and talks with them, I have been able to get an incredible insight into the industry. This has really helped guide me and give me a more clear idea that I do want to pursue work in the kid's literature market.

SS Architecture and Texture SRL - SSAT+

This summer, I held a position as the design intern of an architecture and interior design firm called SSAT+. The firm is based in Bucharest, Romania and they work on various types of projects, both commercial and residential. They work on projects that involve creating buildings from scratch as well as ones that involve renovating existing structures. I learned about this internship through connection an acquaintance of mine had with one of the heads of SSAT+.

During my internship, my direct supervisors were one of the heads of SSAT+, as well as an interior designer with whom I worked more closely with. Her and I met on a daily basis to discuss furniture design for an interior design project. We also participated in team meetings less frequently to discuss the project as a whole.

The project that I worked on with my supervisors involved the renovation of an old historical building that is being adapted into mostly office spaces. The other part of the project was the creation of a new apartment building adjacent to the old structure. I worked on designs for both the renovated building as well as the apartment building. For the renovated building, I worked on designs for lighting fixtures, shelving units, a secretary desk, the entrance of the office space, and several other objects/interior spaces. For the apartment building, I worked on designs for mailboxes, apartment numbers, and doorbells. It was a really amazing experience to be able to work on designs for both commercial and residential spaces.

Throughout the duration of my internship, I gained a lot of new skills. I learned how to use the computer programs SketchUp and AutoCAD, and I also significantly improved my product sketching and 3D modeling (Fusion 360) skills. I also believe that my design communication skills (presenting, researching, etc.) significantly improved as well. 

The most significant takeaway from this whole experience was being able to see how adaptable design skills truly are. I was able to easily transfer my product design skills to an interior design/architecture project and still make thoughtful design decisions. I found this to be really encouraging because I have always been interested in working in different design fields. I feel really accomplished for trying something new and proving to myself that I do have the skills necessary to do great design work.

LAIKA, Inc.

I found LAIKA's internship opportunity through LinkedIn. I had a Zoom interview with three supervisors in the camera team and they shared a little about the practices of LAIKA and the expectations of me as an intern, and that was to learn as much as I can during the time that I am there. My direct supervisor was in charge of all things that happened on stage. There was another camera intern along with myself. 

LAIKA specializes in stop motion feature films, and as a Camera Intern, my position was to assist the animators in getting the shots they needed. The program used the majority of the time was DragonFrame, a stop-motion animation program, and Kuper, a software that controls rigs for motion control. We helped in assisting animators in their testing units, taking images for puppets, props, and other landscape or miscellaneous items that were needed to be submitted for approval. 

As the internship progressed, they also spent time teaching us how to use the software Kuper, which was the main responsibility of an AC as they programmed motion control moves for the animators. We were also given the opportunity to be involved in a lighting exercise, where the other Camera intern and I had to match the lighting of a specific frame in one of their previously released movies. The DP of that film happened to be on this current film set, and he was able to come and give us notes and tips on how to improve our lighting.

One of the things I really appreciated about the team was that everyone really valued and uplifted each other's learning, never making one feel smaller for not knowing something. I found that really special, and being given this opportunity to be able to be in an environment like this really changed my perspective on work and how a healthy and uplifting work environment should be.

This internship has definitely opened more opportunities to pursue various other camera position roles that don’t just exist in the film and video industry, and I’m so grateful for that. I truly enjoyed being a part of the team in LAIKA for the time I was in and I am so excited to see what is in store next.

Washingtonian Magazine

After connecting with a fellow GDMFA colleague at MICA, he offered me an internship opportunity at Washingtonian Magazine. Publication and Editorial design were something I was interested in, so I decided to pursue this internship

Washingtonian Magazine publishes monthly magazines highlighting information and events about and in D.C. My GDMFA colleague was my supervisor and is also the Creative Director at Washingtonian Magazine. As an art fellow/intern, I would report to him during our morning and end-of-day meetings, and he would give me feedback and critique the assignments and current projects. My responsibilities were to assist with design projects by creating and preparing mood boards, collecting swipes or images for research, researching typefaces, illustrations, and logo designs, and designing iterations and series of spread designs about the topics. I also had the opportunity to create spot illustrations for a project. 

I am proud that I learned something new every day at my internship like new terminology and design skills. Most of all, I am proud that I was able to make new connections and meet other designers in the industry. I also wanted to gain more confidence and not be afraid to make mistakes. Even after a challenging task that I wasn’t great at, my supervisor still gave me a second chance to help me improve. During the second time, I understood the assignment and knew what I needed to do to improve or not make the same mistake.

New skills I have learned are things specifically in the editorial design world, for instance, photo essays. During the end-of-day meetings with the creative director, I learned a lot from the lectures and detailed explanations of the design assignments. He explained in detail what to do with photos and captions, what not to do with professionally taken photos, such as cropping or resizing them, how to work with a whole body of text on two spreads and how to balance images throughout the pages.

This internship has helped me understand my skill sets and showed me where I need to improve and what, and also encouraged me to pursue deeper into publication and editorial design. I was also able to make more connections and learn about the difference between a studio and a company/agency. I better understand what type of working environment I wish to look for and work in in the future. 

Wray Ward

When searching for a summer internship in the United States, I knew I was going to be staying in North Carolina. I was looking to work for a marketing agency, so I found one in the area and applied to Wray Ward’s FORM internship. FORM is a paid, 10-week, full-time summer internship where you’ll work on real projects with eight other interns. I was accepted into the program and I had a great host family let me stay with them for the duration of the internship. 

Wray Ward is a full-service agency creating inspired marketing solutions for brands in the home and building categories based in Charlotte, NC. My direct supervisor during my time there was a motion and design director at the agency.

My responsibilities at the agency were to help with my assigned department’s projects. I created short logo animations and primarily created promotional videos for a non-profit visual arts organization called Charlotte Art League. For our campaign with Charlotte Art League, we created a marketing communications plan and a visual campaign to increase awareness in the Charlotte area and effectively communicate everything Charlotte Art League does and offers. We also created videos for this campaign. As a videography intern, I was mainly in charge of these.

I am proud that I was able to work on real client projects for this internship. My biggest takeaway would be how to work in a team. We had a total of nine interns, and we often had to collaborate. I learned how to better communicate within the group and manage my time. Additionally, I learned how to set up lighting and use Premiere Pro at the internship.

Through this internship, I have become more confident but also realize that I need more experience in marketing agencies and design studios to achieve my long-term goal. One day, I want to create my own successful design company in Korea.

 

A—Company

The company I interned for is called A—Company. It is a fashion brand based in New York City. My direct supervisor was the founder of the company and the creative supervisor. I found out about this internship through a professor at MICA and the company’s Instagram page where they were searching for interns. I secured the internship by speaking to the founder about the position and what I would be interested in learning from her and helping her do. 

My responsibilities at A—Company varied. I mainly did digital work that revolved around fashion. In my first couple weeks at A—Company, I was editing and retouching eCommerce photos for the new season’s clothing items. After that, many of my weeks at A—Company I spent looking through footage and editing them into short video collages for the website's home page. I also did standard intern things like running errands and updating the email newsletter format. I occasionally created gifs out of the runway footage to add to the new season’s shopping page on the website. I did a substantial amount of research to inspire and help me create proposals for potential video projects. 

My biggest takeaway is that trying something new is very worth it. Through this experience, I was able to gain insight into the moving image aspect of the fashion world which is something I don’t think I would have been able to see so soon if it wasn’t for this internship. This internship also taught me how to make professional proposals. My major and minor both rely heavily on pitch decks and proposals, so this is a skill that will be useful as I will likely have to make many of these in my career.

My favorite new learned skill is set etiquette. I understand better how working on set works and how to engage with other professionals in the heat of creating. The internship allowed me to try something that I have always been curious about, like video in the fashion industry, while clarifying my interest to be involved with producing and directing fictional feature films. I am forever grateful for the opportunity to experience something new in art and meet very kind and patient people while doing so.

Marine Lane

Marine Lane is a NYC design+branding studio founded in 2012. It is a place composed of highly inspired women, bonded by a shared love of design and belief in the power it has to connect, inspire, sell and amuse. To secure this internship, I went on the company's website, found their email and wrote them a cover letter expressing my interest in the position and introducing myself.

My supervisor was the Creative Director and responsible for giving me tasks as well as revising and troubleshooting them with me. Her role within the company is to coordinate all the design related things, making sure they are perfect to be sent to the client. My involvement in the projects depended on the demand that was needed that day. On Fridays, we had an overview meeting of what the next week would look like, but sometimes we had to play it by ear and change the plans a little. I worked on branding projects, social media, animations, website design, presentation decks, packaging, etc.

I am proud of going through the interview process with so many candidates and getting the job of my dreams in NYC. They liked my work so much that they invited me to work with them in the future, after graduating. I'm also proud for scoring the entrepreneurship scholarship, which made it possible for me to achieve all of this. 

I have learned that not always things are going to go as planned and what designers deem as perfect might not always be what the client wants in the end, and that is okay. During this experience, I believe I have definitely developed my communication skills – from presenting projects to clients, to explaining concepts/ideas to coworkers.

Since Marine Lane is women owned, it is very inspirational to see females thriving in the biggest city in the world, making amazing design products and getting recognition for it. It was incredible to see their business model and understand how they make it all work. 

Illumination Mac Guff

Illumination Studios is an animation studio which specializes in kid-friendly feature films. Illumination Studios has two locations: Los Angeles and Paris. The Los Angeles studio does the script, voice acting, and marketing. The Paris office focuses on the creation of the film’s visuals.

When exchanging emails with a previous teacher, I let her know my family was moving to Paris. She then offered to speak to her connection at Illumination Studios Mac Guff about securing me an interview for an internship. I agreed and after a phone call, a Zoom interview, and an in-person interview, I was all set to help out in the Art Department.

Although I can’t say which movie I was involved in because of NDA, I can say that my role was to pitch prop designs, receive edits, and enact them effectively. Essentially, my supervisor would tell me that a villain needs a cane. I would look over the existing character design sheets and color schemes for the character, then research canes. I would draw several draft designs, then make them into Photoshop finals, getting edits for my supervisor all the while. Once she approved, I would pitch the design to the head of the art department for the movie.

I am proud of the fact that the studio is using several of my prop designs in an upcoming film. However, the most important thing I learned was not to get too invested in a design because they often needed to be changed. By the end I learned to pitch loose sketches instead of final products with several at a time so my supervisor had options to choose from. 

I also learned a lot of new Photoshop skills, but most importantly I learned to be confident in my work. What my supervisor and the head of the art department thought about my designs would sometimes differ. What my supervisor thought wouldn't work would be something the head thought would. I learned to navigate these opposing comments.

I was previously set on becoming a children’s book illustrator, but my time at Illumination Studios has made me consider a career in the animation industry. For now, I will just learn what I can and take advantage of every opportunity I get in either field.