Tips I learned as a Graphic Design Intern

Hi, guys! I’m Lin Yang and I interned at Platinum Brands, a small start-up agency located in City Center of Philadelphia. It’s an agency that provides full-service marketing communication for banking, law, entertainment, and professional services. I have been interning there for about a year, and before I signed up for the advertising internship class this semester. Some of my tasks as a graphic design intern include, creating business cards, flyers, brochures, and all aspects of creative design work. I’ve learned and grown so much over the past year interning/part-time working at this agency and below are some tips and advice I would like to share with you all that I developed at Platinum Brands agency.

I never knew the full understanding of the meaning behind “Less is more” in design when I first started interning at Platinum. I always thought the more the better and never wanted to minimize my graphic and elements in my work. Until one day my boss came up to me and told me “less is more,” that simplicity and clarity lead to good design. Good designs are minimal, but deliver that right messages to the right target audiences.

Since I started as a sophomore at Platinum, I didn’t have much experience and skills at the time to create modern work. I didn’t even know what exactly modern work consisted of and how to start developing modern designs. So, I did much research on examples of modern design and reached out to my supervisor on tips to creating modern work. Which gave me a better understanding that modern works are a strict format of balance, clean lines, and minimal design. From what I learned over the year is that clients always prefer modern  design in today’s industry.

Always research on your clients before starting anything for them. Get the full understanding of the brand and their imagery. Always check out their websites and brand guidelines, if they have established brand guidelines. Get the vision of what the client wants and needs, so you can produce work that is on brand.