My name is Lily Clark and this summer I heard about an internship at Kelly Wearstler through the chair of the Graphic Design department, Brockett Horne. I am currently a junior Graphic Design major and transfer student. This summer I worked as a social media intern for Kelly Wearster, an interior designer based in West Hollywood, CA. With Brockett’s recommendation, I was quickly hired to work five days a week on the company’s online presence. With her clout as an interior designer, Kelly has expanded to design and sell fine jewelry, ready-to-wear clothing, and vintage pieces online and at her boutique store on Melrose Ave.
My duties as an intern included updating the company’s tumblr, pinterest, twitter, instagram, and polyvore. Each week, Kelly would announce her “vibe” for all social media posts: themes ranging anywhere from Italian Futurism to repetition to the color yellow. It was my job, then, to collect imagery anywhere online that fit within that week’s theme and present it to Kelly for her approval. Additionally, I branched out from my position as a social media intern to help realize home accessories through hand illustrations. This part of the internship proved to be my favorite aspect and I was able to work off- screen, utilizing my love of drawing. Often, I would be given a loose description of an object or accessory such as a mirror or picture frame and it was my task to draw this object from multiple vantage points as realistically as possible.
As my internship came to an end, I was asked if I would be interested in working at the boutique store for pay. I transitioned from 8 hours a day sitting in front of a computer to 8 hours standing and running around helping customers and processing orders. This opportunity allowed me to clarify my interest in working off-screen, through hand drawn illustration work, hand lettering, etc. I now know that I can get somewhat frustrated working on the computer for hours at a time, and that I want a career that melds my two passions.
