Intern Stories
x Hunter Simpson
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Modern
MODER SPECIE
A sustainable brand design
Modern Species is a sustainable brand design studio located a few blocks up from Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. They are a values driven group of individuals that collaborate with brands and clients producing natural and organic products. Mod is a small team of two designers, one project manager, and the creative director and owner of the business, all together in a cluster of desks working hard and sending each other pictures of cute dogs. Sustainability is at the forefront of Modern Species’ mission, pushing the internal team and clients to be thoughtful and responsible with our actions. Sustainability can often be misunderstood as solely ecological. Modern Species takes a more intersectional approach, understanding that sustainability,
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in addition to ecology, is intertwined with human health, social equity, and economic vitality. They are considering best practices in all steps that they can, with ethical working conditions in manufacturing, optimizing packaging for less waste, to options for composting at end of the products use. This also applies to sustainability within the team, who are all encouraged and supported to grow, evolve, and stay inspired by attending events, volunteering, reading and researching. Their Slack channels are full of learning events, activism opportunities, and articles; consistently supporting one another’s personal and professional development.
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team
Gage
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Principal
Design Intern
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Chloe
Kellie
Junior Designer
Brand Designer
After happy hour on the last day of my internship
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Brand Designer My mentor
Kellie
Office Admin
Daniel
Project Manager
Josh
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Hunter
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Me, intern
Junior Designer
Setup
Chloe Principal
Gage
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My time at Modern Species started early, too early, when I showed up 45 minutes before my interview was scheduled. When I arrived at what I thought was a prompt 15 minutes early, the junior designer, Chloe, asked “do you happen to know if your interview was at 3 or 3:30?” to which I responded, “I’m pretty sure it’s at 3.” Then I turned to the project manager, Josh, who I had been emailing to set it up and he silently mouthed “3:30.” In hindsight, at least my most embarrassing moment happened as soon as possible. The first week at Modern Species felt awkward and uncomfortable because I was still learning the ropes, and it happened to be a slow week. It felt like everyone was contributing except for me, which was the hardest part. In the coming weeks things started to pick up and I asked lots of questions and was always met with reassurance that as an intern, this was my time to ask as
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many questions as I needed. One of the best parts of working at mod was that I knew the least out of everyone, and had so many bits of knowledge to gather. I learned everyday from talking to people everyday in the office, and continuing to ask questions. By the end of the second week I, for the most part, had settled in. I was often the first one in the office, so I found a nice routine of setting my stuff down, making some tea, and applying Glossier mango balm dot com (that I bought specifically as my comfort item for my desk) while my computer booted up. Then I would open up Slack, my email, calendar, and Mavenlink (the project management software they use). Then I would check for feedback and what was due that day and get started on what I could until someone else came in and started me on something that needed more direction.
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Daily commu communte length ~30 mins
modern species
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ute Seattle my house
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In the beginning of my internship the projects introduced were very straightforward in order to ease into the work and get familiar with their clients’ brands. As time progressed there were more opportunities to contribute to concept and design, rather than edits from clients on existing designs. A favorite project was conceptualizing packaging for a new line of Alter Eco chocolate bars that remained on-brand. This was just a mockup for grocery stores to get an idea of what they would be selling so this design would never actually go to print. It was a great exercise to conceptualize and create something new, understand how to work within a brand, and have relatively low pressure on the whole thing. Another favorite project was branding for the Greater Los Angeles Realtors Association, which upon first hearing that they were a new client, it didn’t seem so interesting. It became a quick favorite
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because it was a project with involvement in the early stages of the design process. After Gage, the creative director, had the initial meeting with the client, there was an opportunity to sit in on the call to go over the brand direction and see how a firm interacts with a client. That meeting brought a better understanding of the clients desired direction and Gage distilled it down into their brand brief. From that point the task was to create four moodboards to present to the client the next week. It was so much fun collaborating and sorting images out into four design directions. To make it even better, the clients were so happy with what was put together! After the presentation from Gage, several of them said they were happy with the options. The next week we received feedback on which direction they liked best and moved forward with producing two to three concepts each for internal review.
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WOrk 1 Two Branding Concepts for Greater LA Realtors
2 Print Materials for Alter Eco
3 Packaging Concepts for Farmer Direct Organic
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1 Greater Los Angeles Realtors
Greater Los Angeles Realtors Greater Los Angeles Realtors Santa Monica
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2
72ct
bar shipper
2020 chocolate bar shipper Whole Ingredients, No Compromises
72 UNIT SHIPPER
• 223% SALES GROWTH on Super Blackout Bar in Natural.* • 21% SALES GROWTH on Burnt Caramel Bar in Natural.* UPC 817670011881
Alter Eco Foods, 1663 Mission St. Ste 520, San Francisco, CA | alterecofoods.com | sales @ alterecofoods.com |
@alterecosf
organic
Fair Trade
NEW
gluten free
I’m a 45ct Display!
Holiday CHeer tHat gives baCK Protecting 70,000 trees over the holidays Smooth, dark chocolate truffles crafted with only organic, whole ingredients. No compromises.
organic
fair trade
nothing artificial
@alterecosf
gluten free
no gmo’s
no soy
no refined sugars
alterecofoods.com
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When I first heard the pro say during my training,
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oject manager Josh
I was very concerned. 19
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One of my biggest and most consistent lessons throughout my internship was time and priority management. While in school I struggled through ideas and often felt creative block, which would usually resolve itself with only a few days until a project was due. It happened so consistently my brain was used to the pattern and I was under the impression that was my most creative under pressure. I knew going into this experience that time management was one of my weakest skills. I was worried when I got to mod that these habits would come to haunt me, as I knew they wouldn’t slide in a professional environment with specific working hours and real clients. At the office they use a tool called Mavenlink where you time and categorize your work. When I first heard the project manager Josh say during my training, “this project might only take our designers two hours,” I was very concerned. Soon after using
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the tool I found that making a round of edits really didn’t take me long when I knew I had to log the time and stay focused. I got quicker, learned shortcuts, and started to feel more confident with every project. I learned so much while at Mod, many skills and perspective that I will take with me the rest of my career. Every week I always looked forward to my one on one with my mod’s brand designer and my mentor, Kellie. I loved having time that we could go to a cafe and I would try to absorb as much advice and knowledge from her as I could. I am constantly seeking the advice of my professors, but the usual career mentorship I received was gathered from a lecture, panel discussion, or tidbit from a networking event. I had never had a consistent mentor in the industry before Kellie, we would talk about any questions I had about design, career, transitioning out of college, or
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whatever else I was curious to know. We both shared early on that we are very open about ourselves which made me feel comfortable to treat our time together like on open forum. These were always a highlight of my week, and was one of the first times I’ve been able to go to someone repeatedly for advice. With Kellie, we were able to build a relationship that I could not only learn about her experience but share my own experiences and ideas and get her feedback and support. Overall, I am so grateful for my time at Modern Species and to the team for making me feel welcome and valued. I always understood the character of an intern as someone who did the worst of the work but from the very beginning I felt supported at Mod. It was clear they wanted this to be a valuable learning experience for me, while also having me be value added to the office. While I miss the team at Mod, I absorbed as much as I could and will always take with me the knowledge I gained from my ten weeks there, into the next chapter of my life.
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surprising growth One thing I was definitely not prepared for was using photoshop almost everyday of my internship. Going into it, photoshop was my worst software and in the beginning I struggled as I worked on lots of packaging mockups. By the end of my internship I knew my around photoshop, shortcuts and all, and was even able to work on drafting a mockup.
best advice My mentor Kellie and I had a discussion about how to deal with people you don’t care for in your workplace I learned a lot from that conversation and one thing I remember most was she told me to remember that they are also a person and have complex reasons for why they are who they are, just like me, and that understanding them as a person first, rather than the sum of their unsavory actions it will be easier to find empathy.
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Now After my internship ended at Mod, I went straight back to Bellingham to continue my BFA and working as a designer for the on-campus office of sustainability. I was often reminded of Mod because my phone kept informing me of how long it would take to get to Pike Place from my apartment. Kellie and Chloe had shown me how to use Procreate on the office ipad so once I was done, it didn’t take me long to start browsing for one used online. I never felt like illustration was a skill I could utilize, but after learning at my internship I’ve been able to work it into several of my projects. I even completed a one minute, entirely illustrated frame by frame animation for class which I never would have thought possible for me before. I use the skills I learned at Mod constantly. I came in with some under-developed software skills, and now I use all of the shortcuts and tricks when working in design programs all the time. I think more about the sustainability of my projects because of the conversations and readings I was exposed to over the summer. As a small example, this booklet was printed entirely on excess paper
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discarded from former students, and I was able to optimize my printing to minimize paper trimming waste. I now work more effectively with clients at my on-campus graphic design job and have better streamlined my design process and presentation, which I learned from preparing presentation slides and sitting in on client meetings. I also still point out every Mod client that I see in the grocery store and check to see if it was the version I worked on, even if I just changed the ingredients list or added a certification logo. I certainly didn’t realize at the time everything I was absorbing, but now I tap into it everyday and take pieces of my experience this summer with me everyday.
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other Events Professional Developement:
AIGA Women’s Lead Panel Amy Auscherman Lecture Office Enhancement:
The two days Josh’s pugs were at Mod
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fun things I did Beyond client and in-house work, Mod supported me to take time to learn more and stay inspired as a designer
Education Classes:
Skillshare Illustration Books read:
Green Graphic Design Design to Renourish The Politics of Design 27
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Thank you to Gage, Chloe, Kellie, Josh, and Daniel for your kindness, patience, and for the invalauble learning expereince you all have given to me.