Third Year Creative Industries Student, Christy Chan, Takes Over Yonge Dundas Square
We asked Christy Chan to give us a recap on her summer internship experience. Here's what she had to say:
As a Creative Industries student concentrating in graphics communications and media business, I was fortunate to join Universal Music Canada as their Graphic Design Intern this past summer. I didn’t realize how much of an impact and growth I would see within my skills, but reflecting back on it I believe that it was a lot more than I thought it would be — in the best way possible.
From working on billboards, web banners, album covers, e-newsletters, social media promotion and printed posters, I was able to dabble in a little bit of everything. I first entered the internship with the mindset that I only wanted to focus on designing social media content, but I've explored other marketing components as well. I went from creating personal projects for Behance to creating marketing collateral for rising well-known artists which was something I would never expect. Since graphic designers need to be creative thinkers, this placement has helped to boost my creativity to convey ideas through text and image. It also helped me practice my skills to generate solutions for “clients'; for example, promoting an artist’s music concept through a website or designing a banner that generates streams for their album.
While my Photoshop and Illustrator skills have significantly advanced throughout the summer, I also was able to develop my knowledge of a company’s creative process. One of my favourite projects this summer was designing outdoor billboard display takeovers in the Yonge Dundas Square. I was able to learn the process of interpreting designs for the general public which allowed me to expand my knowledge in ad design by combining my existing perspectives of aesthetics with accessibility.
Since we were in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many things I was not able to do. However, the creative team at UMC has been extremely helpful and also very welcoming since I started. I am grateful to have met other talents and interns throughout the summer. I was able to pair with the two graphic designers as well as the Creative Director on the team, receiving guidance and advice to help me move forward. I sat in on meetings and experienced a lot of the creative process before it was visual. The whole experience was exactly what I was looking for before entering my last year. Needless to say, this experience has opened my eyes to the possibilities of my passion for design. I was able to dip my toes in the water, feel out my strengths, weaknesses, and also explore new avenues.