The IEI Experience

Hey! My name’s Taylor Mertz and I’m a senior advertising major with a concentration in art direction.  I am currently working as the Graphic Design Intern at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI) here at Temple University.  For those of you who, like me prior to applying, have not heard of IEI, its primary focus is on helping the Temple University student body further their entrepreneurial endeavors through classes, workshops, and pitch competitions.

I started at IEI the first day of the Fall Semester hoping that it would provide me with some professional experience before graduating the following spring.  I work directly with the Associate Director of Student Engagement so that everything created has the overall goal of bolstering student involvement with IEI.  In these few short months I’ve worked on marketing materials for tons of different events, the biggest one being the Be Your Own Boss Bowl.  This pitch competition is widely marketed across campus, which allowed me to design things I normally would not get the chance to create (along with the usual poster and flyer).  I designed a large banner, promoting the event, which hung outside of Paley Library for a few weeks.  I also created a postcard size advertisement that was placed in the napkin holders at the Student Center.  As much as I love seeing my standard work in Alter Hall or 1810, those buildings only reach so many students.  That being said, it was very cool knowing how accessible these larger, unconventional pieces were and how many students they were able to reach.

On top of this wonderful professional experience, this position also gave me one last chance to connect with campus before I leave.  The past four years, I have attended classes full time while commuting and working multiple part time jobs, which doesn’t leave much time for extracurriculars.  Working a position on campus allowed me to cut back my hours outside of the internship and get to know more about what Temple has to offer. I’ve been able to work alongside some great student workers from other colleges at Temple, get to know some of the faculty and staff, and actually get involved in some of the events.  While this may not seem like much, I never thought that I would have time for anything more than just classes at Temple.

I’m excited to spend the rest of my time at IEI learning as much as I can before heading out into the “real world.”