INTERNSHIP STORIES

My work is done in the studio with Fahimeh Vahdat, who  is an artist, activist, feminist, professor, and mother. For my internship I handled a plethora of different tasks. I worked with archival, managing, website redesigning, and editorial matters.   To stay on track, we use a task manager and Google Drive for smooth  collaboration.  One of our early projects involved creating a plan to reorganize her workspace,  allowing us to catalog her extensive art collection. Additionally, we worked on developing a  tailored internship program specifically for her studio that would also benefit me.  The internship covers everything needed to help the artist reestablish herself in the  industry. Together, we outlined her needs to identify areas for improvement and determine the  additional support required.  I cataloged artwork that had not been documented or photographed,  as well as new and incomplete pieces. I examined each piece individual...

I found my internship opportunity with IndieCade through LinkedIn! I spent a lot of time preparing for applying to summer internships in the fall and spent the summer and fall revising and adding to my resume and my portfolio. After applying through the site, I got reached out during winter break for an interview with my supervisor. I prepared for my interview and secured my internship through this. I was honest about my capabilities, what skills I wanted to learn and how this internship aligned with them. I then started working under IndieCade and HEVGA for their collaboration called Horizons! The two organizations work together to highlight exceptional student work to the public and being the connection between students and people in the industry. The organization hosts events such as conferences, showcases and game jams to succeed in this. My responsibilities included project management tasks, organizing meeting notes and documentation. I was involved in providing student perspectiv...

  This summer I had the privilege of working with Around the World in 80 Fabrics. ATW80F is a non-profit organization centered around connecting people back to the planet through the fabrics we wear. While with ATW80F, I worked under the team Outreach Director who was also my connection for securing the internship. I had first met her at a previous internship and I was really excited when she told me about ATW80F.  My role with the organization consisted of research, project management and assistance, and graphic design work. When I started the internship, I began with natural dye research that went towards a TED Talk and pop-up event that the founders of the organization were holding. Later I was able to work with my supervisor partially in person on various small projects. Because of my prior natural dye research, I became the home base connection while the team went on a trip to Morocco to work with a small community of weavers and help them transition from synthetic dyes t...

I learned about this Creative Capital Shanghai (CC) from a MICA alum.  CC is a brand advertising company and now it is collaborating with Altavia, a  French advertising firm. My direct supervisor was the creative department manager. I participated in design idea generating, presentation designing and even designed a project  independently. I learned how to present my work more professionally. When I was in school, I only  needed to think about my own feelings about the design, but when I work, I have to think about how  everyone feels about the design, not just from the designer's point of view. I am most proud of my time management and multi-stream working schedule. I learned  about managing my time with various projects going on, and I think designing culturally is the most  important thing I have learned. I am also more familiar with Adobe Suites. This internship experience has given me a better understanding of what people at a b...

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-...

I applied to Google’s UX design internship online through their application portal . My New York office offer was finalized in early April.  Although the hiring process is quite opaque, I assume that I stood out in the candidate pool  because of the diverse design projects I worked on outside of class and my in-depth progress  for my design challenge. During my interviews, I also spoke confidently and engagingly about  my designs. I lead the development of two UX projects for Google Docs and proposed new solutions that  make it easier for users to work in Docs.  Being the first to work on a new  problem space at Google, I wasn’t given specific design instructions . Instead, I took it into my own hands to research the problem area and  discover useful data to identify previously unthoughtful design directions. I also actively  prepared and set up user studies to test my ideas and learn more about user behavior. ...

During my internship this summer at Hyperakt, a design studio in Brooklyn, I got the  amazing opportunity to work with a passionate group of designers, strategists and  developers. The great part about Hyperakt is that they believe in the power of design for good. All  the work that is done was for clients who are working towards social justice. The  highlight of my internship was working on developing a brand identity for Donors  Choose, a crowdfunding platform for public school teachers. My concept went onto  become the final option and the entire team worked together to build a whole world  around that identity. It was a huge learning experience for me to see the trajectory of  the idea grow from a simple sketch through multiple renditions to the final shape it  took. Other than that, I worked on developing options for other brands like MTV Social  Impact Squad, WeWork Veterans in Residence. I also worked on creating illu...