BYU-Pathway Worldwide

As an intern for BYU-Pathway, I was hired on as a graphic designer as well as the liaison between the design department and the communications team (and occasionally working with marketing to redesign and rebrand different social media aspects). I was primarily responsible for the research, development, and creation of successful designs for users around the world. This included, but not limited to, students, parents, teachers, religious advisors, area presidents, and the head of BYU-Pathway Worldwide

If you would like to see some of the projects I worked on during my internship and the different tasks that I was assigned, you can view them here!

Key Takeaways

TAKEAWAY 1

Don't Always Jump at the First Idea

When working under a strict timeline, it often feels easier to move forward with the first idea that comes to mind. During my internship, I found it valuable to brainstorm and sketch EVERY idea before beginning the digital drafts. After coming up with ideas, talk about the pros & cons of each and then determine your next steps. On one of my first days, I learned the hard way that not only should you not instantly pick your first idea, but that even if it is the best one, you'll need to go back many times to make it "just right".

TAKEAWAY 2

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Keeping your head down and mouth shut as a designer will ultimately hurt you in the end. To gather feedback from developers, PMs, and other team members, you need to design in the open by constantly sharing design concepts as you create them. My department chose to use Microsoft Teams and iMeet to collaborate, hold meetings, and share ideas with each other. In the beginning, I tried to learn what was expected of me on my own but quickly caught on to the value of asking questions as well both giving and receiving critique.

TAKEAWAY 3

You Don't Have to Have All the Answers

You often won't have all the answers but spoiler alert... neither does anyone else! Admitting "I don't know" shows both humility as well as a willingness and desire to learn. As an intern, it can be tempting to act like you know everything (or just afraid to admit you don't) but in reality, no one has all the answers. Create a mindset of "I don't know, but I'm ready and willing to discover the answer with my team." This mindset can bring trust and curiosity to your team as well as expand your skills more than you would be able to do on your own.

Challenges

A few of the things I struggled with was learning the best ways to communicate and share my designs with my team. Due to Covid-19, each member of our design team worked remotely for the majority of the internship and learning to adjust to being a remote intern was a little tricky.

Another challenge that I faced and learned to overcome was learning to be flexible and open to change. With Covid as well as the nature of design, there were always changes happening within my team and the organization as a whole. I had to learn to be patient when asked to readjust a project or design after it had been finalized or pick up additional tasks that may have been outside of my responsibilities.

Successes

On the flip side of the struggles that I encountered while doing my internship, most of the problems that were thrown my way became great learning opportunities and a chance to develop new skills. There were many different elements of design that I didn't know how to do or where to even start such as data merging or motion graphics and by being willing to conquer unique challenges I was able to learn a lot more than if I had just stayed in my comfort zone.

My team was moved around and changed quite a bit throughout the course of my internship period due to internships ending for other team members, different roles being assigned and changed, and spontaneous projects popping up. When I started my internship, I was the only graphic designer at the time and was also the direct contact between the communications team and design. This meant that I was often responsible for several tasks at the same time that would normally be divided out amongst multiple team members and needed to be willing to take on smaller projects on top of any large tasks I was working on.