I had my first internship in the US this summer, and it turned out to be one of the best experiences in my design learning. Instead of being like an internship, Wix Design Playground is more like an academy of website design and project management. It is affiliated to Wix.com, who attribute their expertise and powers to help and educate the young designers.
I learned the information about this program through the MICA Career Fair. Vuong, the head of Wix Design Playground, visited MICA and had a brief interview with me. Afterward, I had one more online interview with another program leader before I was accepted. This 7-hour a day, 5-day a week for 3 months program is actually a little bit
heavy for the summer, however, I enjoy the intensity and am very satisfied with what I
acquired.
During the 3-month program, we are given diverse resources to develop our own interests and careers such as lectures, workshops, and one-on-one instruction. In the meantime, we have gained a lot of professional knowledge and experiences through real-world projects, for example, making a marketing landing page for One World Book, and designing the front-to-end website for non-profit organizations. In the end, we are also re-building our own portfolio in an online space under the mentorship of the Wix team.
I learned by practicing every aspect of a high-end website design project including
UI/UX, production, styling, content writing, code & content management, and
client & project management. More importantly, the people I met in the program are the most valuable takeaway for me. Both my fellow group members and mentors are passionate about what we do, which creates a positive and supportive environment to learn and to improve. It further facilitates us to explore our potential and more possibilities for creative performances.
I feel more confident in my abilities as a designer as well as getting clearer ideas about my future career path. It reminds me of what I stepped into the design industry for and provides me a very good reference for my career development.