The name of the company I intern for is called All in the Cards, it’s located in the financial district in Manhattan, New York. We are a packaging design company that customize products and their packaging specific to the retailer and their consumers. We design different items and packaging based on season and holidays. Everything is done one year in advance so right now we are working on things for next year Valentines etc. Some of our clients are Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Party City and much more.

In more detail, the company goes through rounds with each client that’s why everything is done a year in advance. Before each big holiday based on the client we are given a pdf of instructions and guidelines that we need to follow. Depending on the company some are more specific than the others, but basically they give you a list of items that MUST be done for this holiday (like wrapping paper, boxes, cups, things to hang, etc. but you can still do other items as long as those are there) they also give you what typefaces you should incorporate (due to licensing) and also the specific Pantone color they chose for that time of year. Some companies even give you specific characters (like Santa) that were designed in house that they want you to incorporate.

Round 1- Presentation- Using the guidelines we come up with different ideas for our agenda. Our agenda is a spread sheet that we send to our clients with thousands of potential items we are going to create with which material and what patterns etc. its basically the rough sketches designed. We put items from our previous years as well as new trends which will be redesigned. We explain what materials we will be using for each and a potential price range that the product will be sold for and what category it will be in, like Christmas bakeware, or Easter party wear or Valentines gifting etc. Once this is sent to the client by our head designer we give them 2 business days and the client will call us with which items they are thinking of choosing.

Round 2- Post Presentation- Once they chose which items they want from us we start designing them but we start by designing by the holidays are coming sooner. So we make cads for each item on illustrator which is basically a neater sketch of the designs we are using mocked up for each item. There’s usually 4-10 options for each item. Which we end up sending bundled in a pdf catalog for the client to let us know which number they liked. Each catalog is separated by season so the client knows which season they are looking at and which items are for that season and category. Like Christmas Wrapping, Christmas Bakeware, Christmas Ornaments, Christmas Bags & Boxes, Christmas Cards, Christmas Tags…. Each one has so many options. Because at the end of the day that’s what the clients want to see they want to see what designs you can do by following the trends and you’re not the only ones in the game they have other clients so you really want to wow them.

Round 3- Pre-Production- Once they have chosen which items they want to potentially buy that’s when we start mocking them up. We do this to make sure we have all the right measurements for production. This part is really important to see if things actually work and if they would look better with glitter or flocking or if it needs a thicker this or that. While the mockup team is building these and trying to look for potential setbacks with the products, the designers are creating the packaging for the items, will it be a sticker, a tag, an OPP Bag with a header etc. We also have shelves in our conference room that has the shelves from our clients with the same exact measurements where we put the items how they are supposed to be displayed and photograph it to give the visual to the client. Once those items are fully mocked up we send them to the client with our head designer and we show them how they work and how they would look on the shelf.

Round 4- Posting Artwork- this is after the meeting with the client they tell you which items they officially want form you. But nothing is set in stone, they still want to know how much everything costs. So while this meeting is going on the designers create these documents that we send to the factories explaining specifically how things need to be billed and with what material so they can tell you how much it will cost to produce. We also do this step in the beginning stages when we create a new item to see what they recommend so that its cost efficient. We have 5 different factories that we send these to and they will tell us how much they will cost to produce and sometimes when requested they will send us a sample because even though production might be cheaper at one factory the other one might do a better job with a specific material like sequence or something.

Round 5- Finalization- Once everything is agreed upon we have to finalize our agenda and also work with a company called benchmark which basically is the packaging police. There are specific barcodes and things that need to be placed on the packaging so it goes through them and they tell you if it’s the proper way or not if It doesn’t go through them your clients will not take the items.

Round 6- Production- Once all of this is done that’s when we officially send the files to the factories for them to build with the quantity, the specific materials, the size, the barcode from benchmark with specific instructions on how they should be placed etc.

Then once those are done they are sold to the buyers to put out on their shelves and then this cycle begins again.

I got this job through a family friend, there was a dinner party for my mother’s friend and we all went and my mom was talking to this woman and she asked how I was doing and my mom told her she’s studying graphic design. The lady told her that she was a manager at a design company and if I ever wanted an internship I can come for an interview. I called her for an interview last year around March and she told me to come on a Wednesday after school for my interview and to bring some print outs of my work. That day I had a packaging design project due for my vector art editing class and so I had my project with me when I went but I didn’t even know that they did packaging design. When I went for my interview there were three designers who were asking me questions about my work and they saw something hanging from the bag I was carrying my project in and they asked what’s in the bag. I showed them my project and they loved it and told me that’s what they do here and told me I was hired on the spot and that the manager will call me and let me know when to come in. She reached out and told me that they don’t need anyone right now but if I could come when she calls me like around the times it gets busy. Over the summer she called me like 6 times to come in and I would just help out with whatever they needed. Then around Christmas time she asked if I could come twice a week which is what I’ve been doing since then.

Part of my job working there is basically a little bit of everything except designing the actual products. There’s 2 head designers that do that but they always ask my opinion which they seem to value because they change somethings around after they ask me. Mostly my job is to create the posting artwork for the factories and to send them out to them and make sure that they reach out to our staff who deals with the pricing and production. Another job of mine is to create the mockup files so that we can build them properly I have to make sure that everything is perfectly measured and that the pattern that the designers created are not stretched and are placed exactly the right size. I also create the packaging based on the guidelines of the production if it should get a sticker or and OPP bag with a header or a tag… and sometimes I just help with Mockups building the items and putting glitter etc.

When I first started I didn’t think it was difficult I said wow this is easy stuff and it’s kind of fun but then these past few weeks got really intense. I’m there long hours and its non-stop work and we are jumping from one thing to the next really quickly but I’m able to keep up, even one of the designers told me yesterday I’m shocked you didn’t run out crying we’ve had that before. I still enjoy working there I’m learning so much about tricks on illustrator and how to use the printer to print certain things like hot stamp which is like a metallic look to our stuff. I also learned so much about materials which is also really cool since we use so many different ones. When we create new objects and I have to create the mockup files for them, one of the designers showed me how to take it apart and measure each thing and how to build it on the computer and how to show the factories how to print and build it. We have different teams there we have 3 managers, 4 people working on PR, 2 head designers, and 2 interns in the designing section, we have 6 people who just deal with the factories alone, and there’s 1 person whose job is to just go out and hunt for new stuff and check out the competition. Overall, I think I’m still learning but I’m adjusting much better then when I first started. I still ask questions but the staff is really nice and helpful.

http://www.allinthecards.com is the website for the company I work for.