I spent this summer interning full time at , a small digital agency in Baltimore that specializes in websites and iOS applications. Friends of the Web was founded by four longtime friends, two of them MICA Alumni, and over 5 years has grown to 8 full-time employees, one freelancer/chef, and at least one intern at any given time. I found out about Friends of the Web from my partner, who interned there last summer and had a great time. I met the team at their company holiday party and when I applied for their summer internship a few months later, I hoped they thought I was as cool as I thought they were. And I got hired!
Last summer I interned at a startup working as an in-house designer, so this summer I knew I wanted to intern at an agency in order to better understand the designer/client relationship and decide whether I wanted to work at an agency or in-house after graduation. After spending a summer with FOTW, I feel my diverse skill set is well suited for an agency setting, and the small team size was a perfect fit for an introvert like me.
My main supervisor was Andy Mangold, a 2011 MICA alumni and one of the founders of Friends of the Web. The other senior designer is Mary Mohler, and the three of us made up the design team. This summer, FOTW’s main design client happened to be MICA Communications, who commissioned FOTW to design and build a custom content management system so each department to create and manage their own website. I was extremely excited to work on this project because when I graduate I hope to work for an agency whose focus is experience design for cultural institutions and nonprofits.
The project began by interviewing as many department chairs as possible about their current websites and what they would want in a better system. From there, I helped the team develop a concise list of features. We started by laying out the admin panel, and while Andy and Mary worked on the admin panel and the navigation structure, my responsibility was designing each of the unique content pages (announcements, events, etc), as well as developing a system for how site administrators can customize the visual aspects of their website. Friends of the Web is unique because the design team is small enough that interns are treated more like mid-level designers, and my opinion and designs were incredibly valued. I had a direct hand in almost every aspect of the project, which was absolutely invaluable real-world experience. I deeply admire and appreciate FOTW’s eagerness to let me take the reins on whole aspects of this project, as well as offering feedback and guidance when I got stuck.
The sites will launch sometimes this semester and I couldn’t be more excited to use them as a student. It feels great to have had a very direct hand in making department communications more interactive and efficient. However, the project that made me super proud of myself this summer was something I only worked on for a week, when there was a lull in the MICA project. FOTW has been working for over a year with a client on a strategy-based iOS game (imagine something like abstract chess), and this summer the client suddenly decided they were unsatisfied with the visual aesthetics of the game. The designers working on the project asked me for a fresh perspective, and I spent a week completely redesigning the interface from 2D to isometric perspective, which added the dynamic element we thought the client was looking for. The client didn’t end up liking what I designed, but for the week I was working on the project, the team was super impressed with my ideas and it made me feel quite smart and valued as a designer. Besides having an engaging and challenging project to work on this summer, Friends of the Web had a great office culture and team mentality. Friend and freelance type designer Dai Foles gets paid to cook lunch for the team every day, and the lunches are seriously delicious. It’s been great working with people who share my affinity for Star Trek The Next Generation and I can’t wait to remain part time with them during the school year.
