My
name is Sara Bannon, and I am a junior Graphic Design major, with a
concentration in Book Arts and Design. During the summer of 2017, I was given
the opportunity of an internship in the Art and Design Department of Marie Claire Magazine, a women’s life and culture magazine within Hearst Publishers’ print
division. Being drawn to fast paced, rapidly evolving content-based workplaces
as a good fit for myself and my professional goals. Print magazines have always
been a source of inspiration for me, as I find them excellent sources for both
old and new material that I use to supplement my work often.
After
speaking to the head of my department, Brockett Horne, I emailed several
companies of this kind in search for internships. I was lucky enough to be put
in contact with a past intern of the magazine. It was through her that I connected
with the Art Assistant, Katrina Machado. I sent in my resume and cover letter
to her, along with my portfolio website, and was lucky enough to be granted the
position three days later.
I
started my internship at the end of May and was a part of the excellent team at
Marie Claire until mid-August. My core commitment while at the magazine was to
update and maintain “The Wall,” which is used by all departments to keep track
of the progress of the magazine. Being in charge of this every day was a
learning experience, as it put me right in the middle of the process of
developing and publishing a monthly cycle editorial. I communicated daily with
different sections of the magazine and managed the uploading and processing of
images. It was with the Photo Research department that I was also given the
duty of processing imagery for the publication, as well as coordinated the
editing and organization of content. This was an excellent exercise in the
large involvement of media servers and necessary organizational systems that
run and support large publications.
In
between the carrying out of these daily tasks, my supervisors would give me
mock layouts to design. We would then go over them as a group, and they would
give me advice on the practice of creating quickly and efficiently in the style
of Marie Claire. This exercise was extremely beneficial.
My
summer helped me figure out the direction that I wish to go with my practice,
as well as figure out what kind of team and organization I would like to be a
part of while doing so. These are things that I have brought to my work, and my
classroom environment back at MICA.
