Michaela at Sara Campbell
Michaela and the Mannequins
Notes from Michaela: Sara Campbell Ltd. is a small dressmaking company in the South End. We’re in a five-story brick building on Plympton Street. The first floor has the store in the front, and the sample shop in the back. On the second floor is the office. That’s where all the fabric buying, web design, clothing design, and accounting go on. The fourth floor is used for storage and shipping. Because Sara Campbell Ltd. is such a small company, I get to help everyone out. I get to do something different every day. Some days, I man the store and make sales, others I assist in the design room upstairs, and some days I make little bows that get sewn onto coats. I also got to write descriptions for the clothing on the website, like “Nicknamed ‘The Magic Dress’ by our staff, this sleek shift does wonders for anyone’s figure! Comes in wisteria, mustard, pumpkin, and brown.” I’m learning a lot about what it takes to make a business work, especially one that sells clothing. And I’m definitely coming back to buy some clothes!
Emily at Continuum
Emily Discussing her Time to Design Entry
Notes from Emily: I have been at Continuum for seven weeks now, and the wisdom and grace with which everyone here acts do not cease to amaze me. Continuum is a global design consultancy, meaning it works with businesses and organizations to develop strategies, products, and environments that connect with people on a human level. Through my experience here, I have grown to understand and appreciate the sundry aspects of design and design thinking.
My (awesome) mentor, Emily Elwell, and the other Continuum mentor, Jeremy Zietz, schedule meetings and expertise sessions for Dimitri Duboisson, the other Youth Design intern at Continuum, and me with folks who work in all sectors of the design business. I’ve also been in meetings where financial and functional details of Continuum were discussed, and here I recognized that it takes more than just great designers to keep a business like Continuum running – a great design firm requires entrepreneurial and structural solidity to sustain any enterprise. Emily also has me sitting in on project meetings, and I’ve learned so much about ethnography, interviewing, and the technical aspects of design just through osmosis.
Yet my tenure here at Continuum has not been purely observational. I’ve learned much through first-hand experience. For example, I am getting very familiar with Adobe InDesign and Macs in general. Also, working with Emily, Peter Strutt (another Continuum designer with ties to Youth Design), and a few other folks at Continuum, I am using design thinking to prototype a solution to a problem we’ve identified with the National Junior Classical League Convention. I’ll finish the prototype by the end of this week, and perhaps I’ll even send my idea in to the NJCL Committee – who knows, maybe they’ll use it to improve next year’s convention experience!
However, the values that designers hold close to their hearts are vastly more important than any technical trick. The people here are incredibly committed to designing products and services that actually help people. Emily, Peter, Tara Whitla (who once worked with Denise at Korn Design), Jeremy, and everyone else at Continuum have made me understand that one can design something totally cool that nobody uses, simply because the item does not resonate with their core values, or because it serves no purpose. Yet aesthetics are also important, and design is that happy marriage of the two elements: a person’s needs with his or her wants.
I have learned that design is not simply a profession. It is not even just an art form. It is, I think, in its marvelous entirety, a philosophy, a very way of life. Design is that uniquely human ability to transform a problem into a solution, and to do so beautifully, in a way that evokes the human heart – nothing more, nothing less. The industries, enterprises, and institutions that have arisen surrounding design are cognizant of its true nature. So are the designers themselves (or at least the good ones.) Design has the power to unite a nation, to decimate a people, and to enchant a child; I think it is rather like magic.
To Emily Elwell, to Tara Whitla, to Peter Strutt, to Jeremy Zietz, to Denise Korn, to Amy Draybuck, to Michael Estabrook, to Ms. Esteve, and to the other folks at Youth Design and Continuum, I owe my understanding and appreciation of design. Thank you so much for guiding me through this process. I hope to one day claim my slice of the cake whose crust you allowed me to sample.
Teisha at Merida
Lynne from Kirkwood and Teisha
Notes from Teisha: My Name is Teisha Hills and this summer I had the privilege of interning at Merida Meridian through Youth Design Boston. I recently graduated from Boston Latin School and this fall I will be attending Boston Architectural College. This internship has been a perfect fit for me especially since I will be majoring in Interior Design, and Merida Meridian‘s prime vision is “to become the sustainable design leader in the home interior space.”
Working at Merida, I gained a lot of skills and knowledge that I am sure will be useful during my time in college and beyond. Throughout the summer I did a lot of photo editing for the website, putting together and sending out samples of rugs and flooring to different interior companies, created spread sheets with important information, worked at the front desk for the company, and even designed the front waiting area. Each day I learned something new and also got to contribute my own personal skills to the team.
This summer has by far been the best summer I have had, thanks to Youth Design. Being apart of this program has been an ultimate great experience and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. One of the things that I find the most moving for me from this summer is visiting the different organizations in Boston on our Professional Development days. Each site that we visited was very inspirational and really opened my eyes to what Boston has to offer. I am really thankful for the experience and the internship was amazing!
Join us for the Youth Design Graduation 8/19/10 at the ICA Boston!
Join us for Youth Design Boston’s 2010 Graduation! This event will be held at the ICA Boston on Thursday, August 19th from 10am to 12pm. RSVP to amy@youthdesign.org
Dimitri at Continuum
Dimitri getting feedback on his "Time to Design" Competition Entry
Notes from Dimitri: During the past 4 years in high school I’ve been really into art. As I have matured artistically, I have been focusing more specifically on graphic design. This summer I’ve been given the opportunity to intern at one of the most influential design firms, Continuum. In my time working there I’ve learned so much about product design, graphic design and industrial design. Youth Design has been such a great experience that I believe will benefit me in the future and its a stepping stone to my future. I’ve been included on a number of projects for many different clients and I’ve also been working on a special design to teach children to eat more healthily and also enable them to take the initiative to learn more on what they eat and how they can eat better dietary foods. A lot of the designers such as Peter Strut, Delroy Dennisur, Emily Elwell, and especially my mentor Jeremy Zietz as well as many others who have inspired me to become a designer. Interning at Continuum is definitely the highlight of my summer and I am grateful for everything that I’ve learned.
Angela’s Experience at the Boston Ballet
Angela at the Boston Ballet
Notes from Angela: Before this summer the only ballet productions I had been familiar with were The Nutcracker and a few others from “Great Performances” on PBS. I had always noticed the ads for the Boston Ballet on passing buses from Giselle to Cinderella and heard the announcements on the radio, but to be able to see and be of help during the design process has been amazing. There is so much more to designing than the obvious; so many jobs from marketing to advertising are intertwined to promote and produce unique productions. I’ve been to so many fascinating meetings thanks to my mentor, Kristin, on topics ranging from the quantity of posters to produce to outdoing the competition.
This summer I’ve helped in the costume shop recording measurements and organizing fabric swatches, worked at the retail shop and researched potential merchandise, photographed merchandise to make ready for the web and even took a stab at designing a shirt. I’m also pretty sure that I have seen every Boston Ballet design for countless productions and mail dating back to the 80s while helping to organize for the move during the ongoing renovation. I’ve been immersed into such a creative environment for the past weeks and loved it: seeing so many potential jobs related to design, dancers on each floor and music playing all day long. I feel like I have a better understanding of all the work that goes into Boston Ballet from its productions to advertisements to marketing and an even better understanding of what it’s like to be a designer. Best internship ever!
Clinton at IDEO
Clinton with the team at IDEO
Notes from Clinton: Things happen in this two-story office complex in Central Square. At IDEO, awesome happens in ways that are different from what people would expect—we think outside of the box. In fact, we could probably even transcend the space outside of the box. Yes, outside of the outside of the box.
My experience at IDEO has been extremely helpful—I’ve grown to be familiar with some programs I haven’t ever really used and I’ve gained experience in using Illustrator, a bit of Flash, After Effects, and InDesign. People have been really welcoming and there were plenty of resources, which I’m definitely thankful for having, knowing how hard resources are to come by working alone outside of the office. I found myself grouping along with many other interns who are all looking to gain experience in the design scene while in graduate school. While working with all sorts of people I’ve seen the painstaking efforts that go into the finalization of a client design and saw how projects went from the planning process to finished model in a matter of about two months, the back-and-forth of the client to designer conversation. I found that the process of going through the options to suit the clients’ needs but also fuel one’s creative drive and the viewer’s interest is perhaps the most daunting thing to do without a good team of thinkers. I found that it all has to connect. Good thing we’ve got a team of extremely qualified forward thinkers.
I feel extremely fortunate to be given such an opportunity before I even enter college! I’ll definitely miss working here when I head back to senior year at school–I don’t get as many designers to talk to, office space to roam, critiques to get, or as much free food (YES). But really, my most enjoyed moments were when after the rush was over—I could just sit at my desk, toss on the headphones for a few hours, bask in the workflow and show the fruits of my experience. Would I have known how to do any of this as well as I do now two months ago? I’d think not.
Linda at Northeastern’s Marketing and Communications Office
Linda with the Northeastern sign
Notes from Linda: As the summer is winding down, I’m finally getting to write this blog entry. It’s hard to believe that seven weeks have flown by so quickly. This summer at Northeastern has been pretty cool. Literally. The AC is turned on high, and I’m shivering as we speak. I’ve learned a lot working in Northeastern’s Marketing and Communications office. There are a large variety of projects that this department works on: Northeastern magazines, holiday cards for the president, brochures, logos, advertisements, signage, and web design. It seems as though the designers contribute to almost everything on campus. The atmosphere is great. Everyone is very hardworking but pretty relaxed. There is a lot of collaboration and teamwork between different staff members and departments.
I’ve been working mainly on print materials. I learned the basics of how to layout an article, which was a very detail oriented process. And I’ve learned the basics of InDesign and Photoshop. I’ve researched photos for the other active projects but my main projects this summer have been the New York Time’s Magazine advertisement, and (of course) my design for the YDB Competition (which is due in 2 days D:). I’ve had a lot of creative freedom with these projects. It has been confirmed that my design for the New York Time’s Magazine advertisement will be used, whether or not in the New York Time’s Magazine is still to be determined. I’m still really pumped that I’m might have something published!
Reed’s Youth Design Experience
Reed at Children's Hospial
Notes from Reed: I’ve been doing layout for my school’s literary magazine (The Register) for the past two years, and I’ve always wanted a chance to do more in the area of graphic design. I’m also a photography geek, so I was incredibly excited to have a chance to work with the graphic design department of Children’s Hospital this summer, as the graphic designers here do photo-shoots and photo-editing in addition to graphic design. I’ve had a chance to design a bookmark, .html emails, a t-shirt, and more, and I also got to take a photograph and have it published in Children’s News, a Children’s Hospital publication. I’ve learned my way around (or in some cases, have improved in) several design programs, such as InDesign, DreamWeaver, Photoshop, and Lightroom. Lightroom is a relatively new program that is incredibly useful in organizing, exporting, and editing photographs quickly and effectively. I’ve been using Lightroom a great deal, as Children’s is in the process of transferring all of their photo archives and organization into Lightroom. I’ve become the sort of go-to person if someone needs a photo, and it’s really cool! I’ve also been archiving photos from this past year onto discs. Everyone I’ve worked with has been awesome, and I can’t believe that I only have a week left! I’ll definitely miss this place.
Junioris at Suffolk University
Junioris and one of his supervisors at Suffolk
Notes from Junioris: So far this summer my internship in the Office of University Communications at Suffolk University has been great. I have learned more about the world of design than I thought I would. My mentor Donald along with Denise and Maria, two other graphic designers at the OUC, have pushed me out of my safe zone by giving me tasks that I had never done before. I have enjoyed the challenge of projects such as laying out information in a way that the picture is still the main focus, while determining the best layout. This was new for me because this was the first time I worked strictly with laying out type on a blank canvas instead of around a visual. It also feels great to know that my work will be used at Suffolk University, and if any of my friends come to the SU campus they will see some of the pieces that I created this summer.