This internship is not only expanding my knowledge of graphic design but also helping me gain the necessary industry economy and business experience. From four years of communication design study in college, I learned about graphic design but have never been able to do work for real clients since all the work I did was for the classes and requirements. I’m using what I learned from my major in my internship, which honestly allows me to see how much I actually learned and where I need to improve. Before this, I didn’t really have a way to find out if the type of work I do will help the industry and meet the client’s needs, I measured my skills based on the grades I got on projects.
My major was significant for me to learn software such as Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. I use these every single day at work to produce designs. From my supervisor, I learned that different people use different methods when using software to make designs. For example, in college, most professors would tell me to use layers for every work I do since it allows me to be organized and navigate everything with comfort. However, my supervisor never uses layers when she is working and in fact, she told me to not use layers when I’m handing in the work to her for making changes. Instead, she works on a single layer and locks things when it gets in her way by making a selection. I was amazed at how fast she could work like that, and maybe it was also because of the experience she had working in the field for such a long time. Even though I think that using one layer is a hassle, surprisingly I got used to how she works in a few days and it really did help me produce work much faster.
I’m also gaining business and industry experience from my internship which was not possible in college. In my major, I mostly learned about these but never really had a chance to exactly experience them. During different work days, my supervisor would talk to clients and put the phone on speaker for me to listen and take notes, and she forwards client emails to me which helps in clearing out any confusion. I get a fixed amount of hours to work on each project which sometimes can be a little difficult, but by doing these I’m learning to adapt to tight situations and meet deadlines which is extremely important to maintain professionalism. My supervisor also shows me websites that are best for doing printing, and talks about how different sites have different rates and benefits, this is beneficial because it allows us to stay within the budget. Overall both my experience and knowledge are improving in this job, I’m learning new things almost every day.
