FSU Art BA '14 Cathy Charles Interning with Seminole Boosters

Here in the workroom for Seminole Booster interns.

FSU Art BA ’14 Cathy Charles Interning with Seminole Boosters
Cathy reports on her experience so far with her Fall ’13 internship.
Howdy all! I am a graphic design intern for Seminole Boosters Inc. Seminole Boosters is a non-for-profit organization that strives to be the financial backbone of the Florida State Athletics Program.
What’s interesting about being a graphic design intern at Seminole Boosters is that there is no specific branch of the organization that handles all of the graphics. When I arrive, I usually have to walk the hall of about 15 offices and ask each representative if they have any assignments. It is then, if they have any assignments, that they map out exactly what it is they are looking for and hand it over to me. Some of the things I made for Seminole Boosters include tailgating flyers, Coaches Club buck slips, dinner invitations, and advertisements for the Unconquered Magazine. Graphic designing guidelines are pretty much open ended at Seminole Boosters. The only thing that they really stress when creating work is that the content/text is accurate. If you have that down you pretty much have creative freedom with all your work. Another interesting thing that I notice while working with this type of organization is that as a designer I never have to worry about picking a color palette. Everything thing I make is pretty much garnet and gold. It can get a little old but it’s a huge stress reliever not having to worry about color.
The reason I joined Seminole Boosters was because I wanted to gain real world experience of making graphics for clients or a company. I wanted to overcome the obstacle of receiving assignments and translating them into exactly what it is that the client wants rather than what I want. I also wanted to see how I dealt with time management and the balancing of multiple projects at one time. I can honestly say that Seminole Boosters has given me a glimpse into the life of freelance designer. I say that because there are days at my internship where there are a lot of assignments, and there are days that I barely have anything to do. This really helps me consider what kind of working environment I may be comfortable with in the near future, whether it be working with a creative group or on my own.