Posts Tagged ‘Internships’

Lately my inbox has been filling up with questions and comments, no doubt a result of Positive Space’s continued rise in popularity. I love reading all the great comments the readers have given, however a common trend amongst the emails has developed. These have been questions from design students in regards to starting their careers or finding internships. Rather than just email the responses individually I thought that it would be worthwhile to share my answers in greater detail here. Because of this I have created this new series “Graphic Design Curriculum” which will seek to answer these questions and foster further communication and opinions from the readers.

If you have a question you would like to see answered in this series please ask it via the contact form. Without further introduction, here is the Graphic Design Curriculum’s first question.

I read a great article today by Jeremy Adam David on his blog entitled “What I Hate About Becoming a Designer” and it really had me thinking. Would my life or the life of other designers have been easier if I had selected another profession? In college I debated for some time whether I should go through with being a designer. I even decided to take a sales internship at one point because I though it would be easier and the pay was better. Jeremy points out some things in his article that designers often joke about, such as not being able to enjoy a movie because you hated the opening credits, but is what he playfully references the truth?

Well after the initial scare I received that internships may be considered unethical, I have come to the conclusion that this may be the concerns of a vocal few. For the most part I have received some rather positive responses to the question “were your internship experiences valuable to you?” In additional pretty much every person that I asked said that they would do it again if afforded the chance. However the main reason I am writing another article on the subject is to share the information I received about how to have a great internship experience. In fact the information I received along with my personal experiences have helped to create a list not only for the employer but the student as well.

My recent website CreativeInternships.com has sparked some great conversations along the subject of whether they really are a good experience. As a student I was required to do three full-time internships for an entire semester each. In my situation I can say that each of the positions offered me something that positively influenced my career. I definitely learned aspects of the design industry and printing that I would have otherwise never learned in the classroom. On top of the things I learned, the experience gained was one of the largest factors that set me apart from other applicants when I ultimately went looking for a job after school.

If you follow this blog at all then you have no doubt read one of my articles speaking out against the evils of speculative work. In addition to my hatred for spec, I have also used this blog to provide advice to design students. The result of these combined efforts is CreativeInternships.com. Spec work finds the majority of its victims from those who are inexperienced and lack the knowledge to see past the false claims being made. Designs students are typically a large part of this group of victims because they are desperately seeking experience to break into what is a very competitive field. Creative Internships hopes to avoid this by making access to Internship positions more available.

Late last week at work, we decided that it would be a good idea to take on an intern. I believe this to be a great opportunity for a designer looking to get started, so I am sharing it with you the Positive Space readers first. Anyone who is selected to fill the role will learn a ton and be fairly compensated as well. So if you are a young designer looking to get some solid experience and have fun at the same time why not send us your portfolio so we can talk.