Design interns assist experienced designers and staff in tasks such as office work, sourcing materials, customer relations, and coordinating work. Interior design interns organize workspaces, coordinate with clients and subcontractors, and keep invoices. Graphic or web design interns double-check completed work to ensure it meets aesthetic and technical requirements.
A design intern performs numerous tasks in the course of a workday, often as an assistant intern or entry-level in a design firm. The type of work varies according to the type of design the company performs. For example, a company that does interior design often requires a design intern to run errands, do office work, and learn the basics of sourcing materials and customer relations. A graphic or web design business will require tasks beyond errands and office work, including checking and generating code or Web site design, as well as performing basic pre-press operations prior to printing. A design trainee’s responsibilities in both fields often involve providing assistant-level work to experienced designers and staff.
For an interior design intern, day-to-day tasks often include keeping all of the company’s workspaces organized and free of clutter. The design trainee makes calls to vendors and suppliers to find all the materials needed for a project, including paints, moldings, fixtures, flooring, and any tools or other materials needed. The intern will usually act as a coordinator and liaison between the design firm and the client, setting meeting times and other planning activities. Design interns are also responsible for coordinating work and scheduling any necessary subcontractors to complete a project.
Some interior design interns run general ledgers, keeping an invoice creation for services provided by the company. Furthermore, the intern may be asked to perform basic tasks such as coffee, lunch and other tasks, leaving experienced designers free to complete their own tasks. Often, the design intern at an interior design firm doesn’t require any special skills other than being able to organize and coordinate the elements of a complex project.
A graphic or web design trainee, in addition to performing administrative and organizational tasks, is usually required to provide backup for those companies with experience in graphic or web designers. This means that the trainee frequently double-checks all completed work to ensure it meets aesthetic standards as well as technical requirements for print or web publishing. For example, a graphic design trainee will check an InDesign or QuarkXPress document to ensure that all images are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK), that all fonts are packaged, and that all elements, including, can be packaged when the document is sent to the printer.
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