Alright, lets do this thing. First of all, my name is McKay Mattingly; nice to meet you. I’m a senior at the University of Utah, finishing up my design degree this Spring. My one and only class this semester is portfolio, which I am taking from our very own Kevin Perry. Kevin, if you’re reading this I wanted to let you know why I’m a little behind in class, you see I started this new internship…
In researching agencies for a possible internship, Struck quickly rose to the top of the list. A creative agency with clients like Nickelodeon, Utah Office of Tourism, Snowbird, Universal Studios, McDonalds, Lagoon, Uinta Brewing, Deer Valley, the list goes on and on. Who wouldn’t want to intern here? Sexy design clients aside, that isn’t what sold me on this place. You see, several months ago I went on a reconnaissance mission. I helped setup a studio tour with the AIGA student group and we came for a visit. The second I heard Tosh’s sweet tunes I was sold. The people and the work environment was something I had only ever seen in San Francisco. The embodiment of an idea I had built up in my head as the ‘you’ve made it when you work at a place like that.’ Something I thought I would need to move away to get; but here it was, in my own snowy, mountain lined backyard, ten minutes from my front door.
It took a few tries to get right, like all good things, but when I finally stepped through those doors as an intern I felt right at home. Right now I’m in the phase of ‘holy shit I still can’t believe this is happening, stay calm and try to pump out good work.’ Slowly but surely moving into the ‘Damn, you got this’ phase. I am so incredibly excited to be able to learn from the most passionate people I’ve ever met.
One of my favorite quotes is from a Mr. Saul Bass, ever heard of ‘em? He said ‘I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares.’ Words to live by. Coming right out of school I always worried about how I was going to convince people that they should care about design. Convince them that design is worth their time and money. I’ve only been here 2 weeks so far and Struck has shown me the people that care. Shown me the clients that care; and I’m so pumped. Being here has given me a glimpse of what the rest of my life will be like and I’ll be honest, it’s completely validating. I can’t believe I will be able to do this work for as long as people continue to care.
Love. Fight. Adapt.
-M
