Kevin @ Wunderman NY
Hi everyone! I’m Kevin, a rising senior in the communications track. This summer I interned at Wunderman NY, an advertising agency that focuses on design driven by creativity and data.
Check out their website: www.wunderman.com
Their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wunderman_ny/
After finishing my junior year at CMU, I knew I wanted to intern at an advertising agency because I was interested in the variety of projects they worked on. Ad agencies tend to have many clients that vary from one another and I thought this experience would give me a better idea on possible future careers.
The Story:
This was my first professional internship experience. I had heard from my older friends about what they went through and what to expect, but I also had an agenda of my own that I wanted to accomplish over this short summer. Beyond learning more about design, I wanted to polish my work ethic as well as build social capital. Coming from Los Angeles, I was fortunate that I would be in the New York Wunderman office, the perfect environment to truly have a taste of the professional design world before the fall semester would quickly approach.
However, my excitement to begin was quickly crushed as I was overwhelmed by the fast paced life style of the New Yorkers and the strict 40+ hour weeks. The sticky summer humidity would have been more bearable if my “affordable summer housing” had functioning A/C.
I wish I could say it was easy transitioning from a school schedule where you could take naps and skip classes into a deadline-based work schedule that leaves little room for relaxation. I thought I was going to enjoy the city of New York on weekends and enjoy all the tourist locations, but I quickly realized my exhaustion from work overcame my sense of adventure.
It may have sounded pretty miserable , but I quickly adapted and soon learned to enjoy this grind. I worked in a team of thirteen interns. Five of us were creatives and the rest were strategy and project manager roles. One of Wunderman’s strengths was the interdisciplinary team. We were put in a setting where all of us were doing the research for our brief and collaborating together even though we all came from varying backgrounds and had different disciplines. This helped the team gain a stronger perspective on our brief/projects and led us to many unique solutions for our tasks.
The Work:
I was the visual design intern for our group. The other 4 “creatives” included the graphic designer, copywriter, art director, and UX designer. Although I may have been given the role “visual designer,” I worked as if I was all 5 roles combined.
All 13 of us interns worked on one client brief for the whole summer. It was process where we came up with different campaign ideas to solve a central problem that the client would introduce. In the ad world, we present data and research that supports our solution, show the solution in real world scenarios, and explain why this solution is useful for the target audience. Throughout each of these steps, we met with mentors and executives who would critique our ideas and challenge us to think in different directions.
I learned a lot about advertising agencies and how they treat design. I have mixed feelings about this but basically their highest priority is what sells, not necessarily what may be the best design option. 50% of what I presented at the final client presentation was the content itself (concepts, reasonings, data) and the other 50% was how I delivered that message (public speaking). I developed a lot as an individual because this forced me to overcome one of my biggest fears: presenting in front of people. We had to present every other day to many designers and clients, who were spending real money to either buy our idea or ditch it. I learned very quickly how to answer questions under pressure and how to remain calm and composed.
Confidence comes from preparation. The more I practiced and the more I was familiar with our concept, the less concerned I was with my stage fright, and the more excited I was to present our ideas.
There were many late nights in the office where all five of us creative interns were frustrated beyond belief thinking of clever taglines, the purpose behind our design, and other things that just question your sanity as a designer. But it was all worth it because we all felt so accomplished and proud of what we created. While the exact details of what we worked on need to remain confidential, I can proudly say that our client bought our idea and will implement it in the near future!
The People:
Not only is the work you are doing important, but the people you surround yourself with are just as vital. You spend most of your weekdays with the people you work with and you want to be around those who are just as passionate as you are and friendly in the working environment. I really enjoyed working with such a large group of interns because we all got along and we solved a lot of our issues through honest and real communication. I think a healthy work environment consists of a combination of hard work, collaboration, and a few laughs.
The Conclusion:
Ultimately, this summer was my hardest summer ever. However, it was also definitely my most rewarding and an experience incomparable to anything else. I learned so much about advertising, the professional world, and even about myself as an individual. I know I’ve grown for the better after this summer and it has given me a completely new perspective on the world of design.
The most important thing I am taking from this is a better work ethic. I can honestly say I took school for granted and didn’t work as hard as I could have these past 3 years. My love for design prevailed during this summer and helped me develop a new found appreciation for what I study. After this experience, I am so much more thankful for being in such an amazing design program at CMU and will apply this new profound work ethic into my last year here.
Thank you and I hope you guys enjoyed reading about my experience this summer!
Feel free to message me if you have questions or just want to talk about anything design related, advertising related, personal growth related!!
Email: kevingao@andrew.cmu.edu
