Gretel

I had an amazing summer at Gretel, a design studio in New York City. As I prepare for a career in graphic design, I am dedicated to gaining practical experience to complement my academics. I had always hoped to immerse myself in a studio culture and collaborate with creative people from different disciplines. After the spring break, I found Gretel on imageofthestudio.com and looked through the works on their website. I loved the use of bold typography in their visual designs and their creative motion works. I emailed them immediately and inquired about summer internship opportunity.

The production coordinator emailed back within one week and asked me for an interview. I decided to visit their studio in NYC and meet them in person. I took the train on a Friday morning and made it to Union Square, where Gretel located. I met the coordinator and one of their designers, introduced some of my works on my portfolio website, and had a small studio tour. I got the offer next Tuesday. I knew that it would be a valuable opportunity for me, so I accepted the offer without hesitation. Gretel has a lot of experiences working for channels and medias like Viceland, Channel 5, and National Geography. Their work for Viceland wins top awards from the Clio Awards, D&AD Awards, ADC Awards, and TDC. My direct supervisor was the production coordination. She takes managerial responsibility in the studio and helped me fit in the working environment.

I became one of their design interns for three months, and worked on five different projects which were at different stages of production. I worked for a branding project and experimented with the font pairing, monogram design, and illustrations. I worked on the advertising project for The Daily, New York Time’s broadcast program, for over a month, finding and organizing tons of photography and video references. I read through articles about immigration, ISIS, North Korea, Trade War, and became familiar with names of NYT photographers. It was absolutely a great experience for me and was what I’m most proud of during my internship. I also worked on final files for a bakery shop they branded. I created printing files for coffee cups, takeaway bags, Tshirts, and tapes. I experienced what is it like to work in a creative studio in NYC, work on long-term projects, and work for big clients. I learned technical skill of building final files for packaging designs; I studied design and branding strategy from their projects; I also learned how to work with others efficiently. My intern experience has helped me clarified my career goals. I want to work in a medium size creative agency like Gretel, who does influencing and inspiring projects.

I’m so lucky to spent my three months at Gretel and met a bunch of amazing people. Thanks to the help from MICA career development and my internship supervisor, I had a memorable summer and a valuable experience.