My Internship with:
Terence Gelo May 9th - August 20th, 2012
During the summer of 2012, I had the pleasure of interning with Elaine Turner Designs in Rice Village, Houston, TX. A fashion design company specializing in shoes, handbags, and small leather goods, ETD is Texas-born and Texas-proud. I was one of fourteen people working in the national office, working alongside Elaine herself at every step of the process.
Working in a small office, I worked as a sort of “jack of all trades�. I worked with Samantha Mongan on photography, graphic, print, and web design, and with Erin Dula and Estrella Rivas on product design. My responsibilities included a bit of everything, and it proved to be one of the most influencial work experiences I have ever been a part of. Organizing my tasks chronologically would be too difficult to follow, since I often wore 4 or 5 hats in a typical work day. Alternatively, I have organized it categorically.
Table of Contents Graphic Design Web Design Photography Product Design Packaging Design Press Placements
Graphic Design
Graphic Design Responsibilities: Working on seasonal “LookBooks�
Creating Print Graphics for distribution Proofing test prints at Printing Company
Graphic Design:
Seasonal Lookbooks
I worked on seasonal lookbooks which put the season’s products on display. I photographed products, edited them and arranged them.
Graphic Design:
Seasonal Lookbooks
Graphic Design:
Print Graphics
I designed a series of postcard mailers promoting a semiannual sale. 3,000 of these were printed to generate sales. I personally approved the proofs, working closely with Jita Printing. SEMI-ANNUAL
SHOE + HANDBAG SALE
Up To 70% OFF
After finding custom matching envelopes, 500 were handaddressed to the most loyal customers. I delivered another 2,500 to our PR Boutique for labeling and mail distribution around the Houston area.
SEMI-ANNUAL SHOE + HANDBAG SALE
Elaine Turner 2439 University Blvd. Houston. TX 77005
Up To 70% OFF
SEMI-ANNUAL SHOE + HANDBAG SALE up To 70% OFF Shoe Sale Begins June 12th
Handbag Sale Begins June 22nd Rice Village 2439 University Blvd. Houston, TX 77005 713.255.0052
CITYCENTRE 800 Town & Country Blvd. Houston, TX 77024 713.255.9095
ElaineTurner.com
Graphic Design:
Proof-Testing Prints
I often made trips to Jita Printing to personally approve sample prints for postcards, mailers, business cards, promotional prints, and more.
I directly communicated with Jeff Offutt and Bobby Colombo at Jita Printing to fix any issues that either side may have had.
Web Design
Web Design Responsibilities: Creating E-mail Blasts
Creating HomePage Image Sliders Creating website Banners
Web Design:
E-mail Blasts
Using ConstantContact, I worked on creating, linking, HTML coding, and sending out weekly e-mail blasts. This meant everything from photography and using slices in Photoshop, to working in Dreamweaver and creating tag lines.
Web Design:
E-mail Blasts
Many test emails were sent between Heather McLeskey and myself until each email blast was perfected.
Web Design:
E-mail Blasts
Many email blasts used rotating gif images, uploaded and accessed via Volusion’s hosting service. These rotating images tended to provide the best results according to Google Analytics.
Web Design:
E-mail Blasts
Web Design:
Maintaining Homepage
The main homepage is the most important page of a website. This needed to be updated frequently to reflect email blasts, special events, and new arrivals. This was done using Volusion, InDesign, and Photoshop.
Web Design:
Maintaining Homepage
Web Design:
Banners
I created and added banner images for each section of the website, which are updated seasonally.
Photography
Photography Responsibilities: Documenting incoming Prototypes
Photographing new products for website Homogenizing online Product Images Taking Lifestyle shots of products Generating images for Email Blasts
Photography:
Documenting Prototypes
I was in charge of photographing prototypes as they came in from the manufacturers, and figuring out mistakes before they were sent to the showroom in New York.
Photography:
Product Images
I was in charge of photographing new products, and re-shooting old products. As of August 1st, at least 75% of the products on the website were either photographed or edited by me.
Correction Process:
Photography:
Homogenizing Web Content
When I got to Elaine Turner, Samantha and I began to completely revamp the website. Product images of similar materials did not look congruent, image angles were askew, and photographs misrepresented products. I catalogued all of the items on the site and was in charge of re-photographing or editing all of the images.
Using Volusion, I then re-uploaded all of the product images.
Before:
Final Appearance:
Before:
Final Appearance:
Before:
Final Appearance:
Before:
Final Appearance:
Before:
Final Appearance:
Photography:
Lifestyle Shots Lifestyle shots were often required for use on the website or in publications, and were all done in-house
Photography:
E-mail Blast Image Generation
E-mail blasts typically required new images based on current events, and I was encouraged to get creative.
Product Design
Product Design Responsibilities: Creating conceptual Illustrator files
Designing Hardware Communicating graphically with Manufacturers
Product Design:
Conceptualization
I was asked to create Illustrator files for shoe concepts. At first my interpretations were very literal, but I was told that speed was the name of the game, so I switched my style. Swatches were then dropped in to test materials and to convey what we wanted to manufacturers.
First Attempt: (too detailed):
Revision (much faster):
Product Design:
Designing Hardware
I worked with Caitlyn to come up with a way to attach this piece of hardware to a woven shoe. This shows how detailed the approval and design process was.
1
2
Please match this color and finish.
Note original tortoise finish is more transclucent.
Resin color is too opaque and milky.
3
The resin color is still opaque. The finish is completely different than original finish.
Second Development of Tortoise Button Back
JVR sales sample using 2nd development tortoise button.
Top Diamond Texture
Product Design:
Communicating with Manufacturers
There was a disconnect between the dimensions that were requested and the samples we recieved, so I made more detailed technical drawings for Caitlyn to help demonstrate our issues.
In this instance, there was trouble with the manufacturer because the dimensions didn’t add up, which made the part too large.
Packaging Design
Packaging Design Responsibilities: Box Corrections
Packing Slips Care Cards Inserts Gift Set Packaging Tissue Paper
Packaging Design: Box Specifications Getting boxes made at different manufacturing plants to look the same was a challenge. Ensuring color and pattern standards was crucial.
Packaging Design: Packing Slips
Prior to my working with Elaine Turner, returned items were sent back without a packing slip. Heather McLeskey asked me to design one that could be sent with each order in case the customer needed to return what they bought.
Packaging Design: Care Cards Since we had multiple manufacturers producing identical items to send with the shoes or bags they were making, it was quite a task getting all of these care cards to match. I designed them and communicated problems to manufacturers to get them perfect. 3.25”
This product is as unique as each woman who wears it.
3”
Due to the sensitive nature of light colored nubuck leathers, this item is easily stained. Please take extra care around jeans, and other richly dyed materials as they may transfer color onto your product.
This product is as unique as each woman who wears it. Due to the sensitive nature of light 3”colored nubuck leathers, this item is
easily stained. Please take extra care around jeans, and other richly dyed materials as they may transfer color onto your product.
ElaineTurner.com
ElaineTurner.com
3.25” This product is as unique as each woman who wears it.
This product is as unique as each woman who wears it.
Due to the sensitive nature of this leather, slight discoloration or color rub off may occur throughout the life of your product. Please take extra care around lighter items.
Due to the sensitive nature of this leather, slight discoloration or color rub off may occur throughout the life of your product. Please take extra care around lighter items.
ElaineTurner.com
ElaineTurner.com
Elaine Turner Signature Pink Pantone 213PC Elaine Turner Cool Grey 8PC
Bleed Line Trim Line
For suede + nubuck leathers Incorrect:
Front
Back
Print is dark.
Logo + Text are stretched vertically.
Maze is stretched vertically.
Please see below: Pantone Standards.
Please see below for visual reference.
Please see below for visual reference.
Correct: This product is as unique as each woman who wears it.
3�
Due to the sensitive nature of light colored nubuck leathers, this item is easily stained. Please take extra care around jeans, and other richly dyed materials as they may transfer color onto your product.
ElaineTurner.com Pantone Standards:
Elaine Turner Signature Pink Pantone 213PC Elaine Turner Cool Grey 8PC
3.25�
Packaging Design: Inserts
Little touches and attention to detail are what give extra value to Elain Turner products. This is an insert made for shoe boxes to provide that extra experience upon opening the box.
Packaging Design: Gift Set Packaging Working with Samantha extensively, we came up with a packaging system for a gift set of well-paired items for the holiday shopper.
Packaging Design: Gift Set Packaging
Without Bracelet Support:
Bracelet sticks out of the top.
What we need:
Inserted support piece keeps the bracelet’s shape and keeps it from moving around freely. 2.5” 63.5mm
Possible Solution:
1.25” 31.75mm
Bracelet is free to move around and shakes loosely inside of vaccuum-formed casing.
Top
Front
1.25” 31.75mm
Packaging Design: Tissue Paper What people often don’t realize is that every part of a product is designed by someone. This is a design for the tissue paper used in shoe boxes.
.5625” .3125” .625” .375” 2.75”
Packaging Design: Communicating Issues Many issues were tricky to convey to manufacturers, especially considering the language barrier. It was my job to effectively communicate these problems.
Press Placements
Press Placement Responsibilities: Picking up and scanning media sources
Graphically laying out product placements
Press Placements I was asked to pick up magazines with product placements from Issues magazine store, and create a graphic layout for online use and for our Pressbook.
My time at Elaine Turner Designs was an enlightening experience, that showed me how design is applied to the real world. What I learned there has been applied to my personal design abilities, and what I took in during my internship will stay with me through my designs in the future. I am greatful to everyone that I had the pleasure of working with, and look forward to passing my knowledge on to others in the future.
Special Thanks:
Samantha Mongan Estrella Rivas Heather McLeskey Elaine Turner Jim Turner Erin Dula Caitlin Cortez Liz Clark Bryan Krieger Bobby Colombo Jeff Offuit