from FSU Art BA ’21 Dimitar Kehayov:
When I began this internship with the football team, my first responsibilities included creating personal graphics for prospective players and attending weekly meetings via Zoom. Typically, I was given the task to create 2-3 custom graphics per week. As well as creating specific, individual graphics, I also have the responsibility of creating graphic templates that will be sent to +100 different recruits. This consists of creating a template, making changes for a specific player, and moving on the next. All while communicating with the other graphic staff members that everything is moving in the right direction. I have also been involved in a couple of social media series posted by the football team. This involved me independently picking and editing game photos for player highlights, creating stats and quote graphics, and even NFL draft content.
Throughout this experience I have learned a tremendous amount about Lightroom and photo editing, I have expanded my skills with photoshop, and have begun to grow an understanding of the industry in sports graphics.
The challenges that come from this internship stem from both Covid-19, and the competitive nature of graphic design. With all the uncertainty and restrictions caused by Covid, future recruits are not allowed to visit our campus, which means we cannot schedule photoshoots. Without photoshoots, we must resort to other creative methods for making personalized graphics. Another challenge that comes with this internship is being the best that you can be. The amount of talent and skill demonstrated by the graphics staff is remarkable. Each week you strive to make a better graphic than last week, because of that sometimes you find yourself hitting a dead end in terms of creativity. This competition also exists on a larger scale with other major schools making amazing graphics all over twitter and Instagram.
My most memorable moment from this internship was working on NFL draft graphics and seeing them posted on the main FSU football account. Being able to see your work on such a large platform and how many people interact with it gave me pride in doing what I do. I would recommend this type of internship to other students comfortable with working in the sports industry. The workflow is not as linear as most corporate jobs, its more dynamic and unpredictable at times, but it’s a great learning environment and the staff are kind, fun people to work with.
