2019 was a phenomenal year for us at VIA Studio. We are rolling into 2020 with excitement about what we have accomplished as a team and a company, and optimism for what’s on our plate for this year. Let’s take a look back at some of our highlights from 2019.

Marketing Campaigns

2019 VIA Studio Highlight Reel

Most people know that typography is an essential part of design; but 

? Type can convey emotion, professionalism, and even the trustworthiness of the brand. Because of this, we must be very mindful of which typeface we choose to best suit the design. With this comes treatment. Creating hierarchy and knowing when to choose a bolder type will let the readers know what they should pay attention to. Here are some important things to consider when designing with typography:

Typography, like paint or clay, is a medium. This medium allows you to convey messages not only through written language, but also through the type’s personality.The addition of color takes this medium to another level. We know that colors have their own personality and psychological effects, so we must be cognizant of both type and color and how they work with one another.

When working with multiple fonts in a design, we must treat them as puzzle pieces. They’re not necessarily the same, but they need to fit together to work. Each font brings something different to the table that is a necessary part of the design. Here are a few 

Each website, advertisement, heavy metal band t-shirt, bank statement, etc. has its own mood, personality, and voice. A main way of communicating those (along with color and imagery) is through typography. For example, a metal band will tend to stray away from a frilly script font. Script gives the feel of elegance, formality, with a hint of whimsy. Not the typical mood of metal.

If I’m designing a t-shirt for said band, I’m more likely to go with a bold, slab font or a pointy, rugged display font. These fonts are in-your-face, loud, and edgy to mimic the band’s sound. For whatever design you’re creating, there’s a font (or ten) that will suit the mood. To start your journey, there are four main type styles to explore.

Serifs are arguably the most widely-used type style. They are categorized by their little marks on the edges of the letters. Serifs are formal, traditional, and give a classic feel to the content. They are best used as headings on a website or body copy in print.

Sans-serif literally means “without serif”. These typefaces are minimal, clean, and modern. They’re very versatile and best for web-use as either a heading or body copy. However, you won’t find a sans-serif often used in the body copy of printed text.

Script fonts are either in cursive or appear to be handwritten. Depending on the style, these typefaces can either be playful and casual or formal and elegant. Often used as a header or in short-form like a wedding invitation, these fonts should not be used as body copy because they can be quite difficult to read.

Slabs are characterized by their thick strokes. These bold fonts add visual weight, grab attention, and often “yell” at the reader. Often reserved for headings and short-form like a flyer or advertisement.

Organizing the layout of a page is imperative to good design and ensuring viewers will read through your page. Have you ever gone to a website where this is happening?

The standard for comfortable reading is between 45-75 characters per line (both letters and spaces). Our eyes (and brain) get tired very easily, so we need to help them out. We do this with hierarchy, smaller blocks of text, and breathing room. This example provides us with no headings for hierarchy, long blocks of text, and no spacing between paragraphs. Resulting in an overwhelmed reader who probably won’t finish the article. If you’ve put much of your time and effort into designing something, you want the reader to be interested and not glance at it for a millisecond and move on.

Attention is best kept when a reader experiences effective hierarchy in a design. Hierarchy is created through type scale, placement, color, and/or style. This signals the importance of the message while also leaving you an “information scent”. Quickly and easily, the reader knows what the content is about and if they are interested in delving in further. This saves time for the reader, which we all know is precious.

. On the Internet, we hunt for facts. In earlier days, when switching between sites was time-consuming, we tended to stay in one place and dig. Now we assess a site quickly, looking for an “

.” We move on if there doesn’t seem to be any food around.”

As designers, we want to give our readers plenty of (delicious) food to visually ingest. They aren’t able to visually eat this food if the organization is whack and the typefaces are overwhelming or confusing. We want our readers to experience joy when viewing our design and leave feeling satisfied and informed.

With numerous award-winning designers and creatives on staff and a president dubbed a “visionary” by the AIGA at the helm, we are leaders in the Design community. Our design philosophy: create beautiful work that solves problems and achieves results.

Graphic Design

Typography in Design

To keep our creative juices flowing, we like to do personal projects outside of work. This allows us to explore new techniques, be a bit more creative, and get messy. Honing your skills and working those creative muscles is 

 important to do constantly throughout your career. This is a little sneak peak into our personal projects that keep us excited and sharp.



I’ve been working on custom letters for a collaborative alphabet with some buddies from my college design program. We wanted to come up with a fun project to all be able to work on together that would let each of us assert our own styles but come together as a cohesive piece. We decided to each take a portion of the alphabet, use the same color scheme, but have zero other guidelines. We had a few check-ins where we realized some of us we’re using different shades of the 2 colors, varying opacities, some we’re including white as an additional color, etc. We had to reign it in and refine the guidelines a bit more. This is still a work in progress but here are a couple of my letters so far:



Shirt design for a buddy of mines bachelor party. I was the best man so I wanted to do something a little extra. Decided to draw up (quite literally) a little badge design for shirts and koozies. These were printed and I gave out to everyone at the cabin. I wanted to get across that rustic, outdoorsy vibe. With much trial and error, I realized this was best done with a good old fashioned, sharpened pencil. I then vectorized and cleaned up in illustrator. This let me revert back to the basics while also discovering the beauty of Adobe Capture (download this right now!) – AC allows you to create an image trace of anything directly from your iphone. You can then adjust fidelity, smoothness, amounts of paths, etc. directly from your phone, then export the final result to your Adobe library in Illustrator. Good stuff.

I’m working with my cousin and his startup company caller Forecastr. It’s essentially an online tool helping founders manage their cash flows & raise money. It’s been quite a trip converting Microsoft Excel spreadsheet financial models into something usable and pretty. So far I have worked with his team to make a landing page and a few dashboard designs. Very UX/UI heavy. It’s been a unique side challenge that has helped me learn about various tools, specifically methods of dev collab outside of our internal workflow at VIA, while also exercising my UX muscles and keeping that side of the mind sharp. This is still a WIP, but going well.

I’ve been working on small things but honestly not too much recently since client work has really picked up! But I made a cookbook for my grandma for Christmas, revised a travel poster animation, and worked on some hand lettering in my down time.

My grandma (aka Mama) loves to cook and bake, and we would always cook together when I was little. For Christmas this past year, I made her a cookbook of some of my favorite of her recipes, and included memories I had with each dish. I also added in some old photos of us, hand lettering, and some food illustrations.

This was a great exercise in layout design and flexing those good ole’ paragraph style muscles (somewhere, Leslie Friesen is smiling). I uploaded the file to 

, which is an online service where you can print all kinds of custom books and magazines. The hard back book came back in plenty of time for Christmas, and I made my grandma cry when she was reading through it! It was so special to have been able to design something like that for her.


When I was a senior in college, I dove into animation with After Effects. I had no idea what I was doing, but I somehow ended up making some really bad animations of London. I recently went back and worked on my Tower Bridge project, which included revising the illustration, overall layout, and of course the animation. I made sure the shapes and colors were consistent, and pulled new layout inspiration from vintage travel posters. I made the boat more smoothly run under the bridge, and made sure the bridge raised up more naturally. I’m so much happier with this animation now.

I’ve always wanted to get better at hand lettering. Through some skillshares and tips from some of my design friends, I’ve been able to refine my skills. I made a hand lettered logo for one of my friends, and I made the hand lettering used in the cookbook above. I still have quite a ways to go, but it’s fun to be able to work on it anywhere!

Custom illustration creates a unique, ownable look and feel to your brand - and helps to tell stories and express values that a photograph or block of copy just can’t.  We’re highly capable of creating styles and concepts that engage your audience. We have a number of highly talented artists on our staff that can draw out the best in your brand with inspired illustration.

Illustration

Personal Projects

Over the years we’ve been tasked to help our clients name their organization, or a product or service line. Names, arguably more than logos, carry quite a bit of emotional weight, and are difficult in many ways to achieve consensus.

Here are a few tips and tricks on your journey to find a perfect name.

Your target audience has different needs and motivations than you do. Our go-to exercise in understanding audience is to develop Personas. Most Personas are influenced by emotion first, pragmatism second, so appeal to those psychological motivations. Personas are named caricactures of your target audience, designed to develop empathy for a particular type of person that is your audience. In our Branding program, we typically develop 4-6 Personas for a brand.

Especially when your name must pass through a board, committee, or other business partners, it’s much easier for that team to buy into a concept first.

A good concept consists of appropriate research and branding exercises that culminate in a Concept name, a few headlines or positioning statements, and moodboards that support the Concept. When you love a Concept, it’s much easier to develop names that support the concept.

If you’re brainstorming solo, or with a team, let everything flow onto the whiteboard. Don’t judge any ideas when you’re in the zone. After you’ve exhausted your ideas, you’ll see patterns and themes emerge, and can use a little wordplay to combine them. Understanding what doesn’t work is just as important as what does work.

Imagine you know nothing about coffee and walked into a store with a mermaid logo named Starbucks.

Imagine knowing nothing about computers and walking into a store whose logo is a piece of fruit with a bite taken out.

Do you know what “Adidas” even means?

Brands evolve to appeal to a sense of lifestyle and personal motivation. A good brand name rarely corresponds directly to the product. Don’t overthink it!

Obtaining a trademark for any name can be even more frustrating than the process for developing a name, which is why I’m putting this first. If you’re in the United States, bookmark the Trademark Electronic Search System database immediately, and use it after any brainstorming session. Most obvious names are trademarked, and I’m going to guess the first few names you develop will be a conflict.

Just go ahead and expect that your first choices are taken.

There is rarely a “magic name” that solves all problems and makes everyone happy. There are too many egos involved, and it’s easy to tear down what you don’t like, rather than riff on a direction you do like. In our naming projects, we typically develop dozens (or hundreds) of names, and in no case has everyone at the table loved only one. Like anything rewarding, it’s hard work to get to the finish line. A name that sounds simple and natural could have taken months.

Have fun with the process. Have empathy for your audience. Develop a concept, and support the concept. You’ll get there eventually, I promise!

 at VIA Studio is two components: Brand Strategy and Brand Identity. 

 is a process that helps you find the unique values of your organization and your value to your audience, and defines how you can best communicate that value. 

 is the outward expression of your company, and is crafted from your logo, colors, typography, as well as the rules that govern how they are implemented. A great identity reinforces confidence in and awareness of your brand.

Branding

When You Need to Name Your Company

Collaboration is essential in design. It’s important to inherit, in some form or fashion, an adaptive, and collective attitude if you want to reach the best possible end product. Our holiday gift every year is the perfect reminder for being able to eliminate ego and work as a team. For this project specifically, we wanted an equally-inclusive outlet for everyone on the design team to create one shared vision. We went through a plethora of potential ideas including plant-holders and Kris Jenner socks. However, once we nailed down our concept of fate and change, we landed on playing cards – with each member designing their own unique, yet cohesive face card. Sound simple? … Nah.

We wanted these cards to be a truly collaborative piece, but we also wanted them to look cohesive. We chose a design direction that made use of geometric shapes, to keep things simple. What wasn’t so simple: trying to encourage creativity while keeping the look and feel visually unified.

We created an underlying grid for everyone to use when creating the face cards. We also created a color palette and a couple of patterns to use throughout. All of this grid, color palette, and pattern creation required at least a few rounds of revisions before we could even start on the illustrations. We’d meet in our conference room and project our work on the screen, or at our standing table and hammer out any nuances. Once we had the system and our face cards designed, we each tackled different pieces to help pull everything together.

. This consists of a group of mythical creatures that have their own year-association and persona, much like Chinese Astrology. We each designed a face card with a creature based on our birth year. Our Marketing Strategist chimed in as well to write some killer copy that connected the cards back to our concept.

There are a lot of things you can do when you’re writing clever copy for a deck of cards that is mythical creature/constellation themed. I mean a LOT of things.

Face cards.
Royalty.
Stars.
Constellations.
Gambling.
Fantasy.
Shuffling the deck.

We wanted to tell a very short story about VIA Studio. A three sentence story about change, consistency, and spirit. So I worked up a lot of variations using the themes above.

If you look long enough, you can always see new things in them, but the essence remains the same.

VIA Studio is new. VIA Studio is steadfast.


Things change. Even when you look up at the stars, you can always see new shapes, designs, and imagine new worlds, but the spirit of them, remains the same. The constellations will always be there, steadfast. VIA Studio is new. VIA Studio is steadfast.



Outside of card box: Play your cards right.


You have to play to win, and partnering with VIA Studio is the right play. There is no secret message here. ?

Deck of cards: Your future is in good hands.


VIA Studio views working with our clients as a partnership. We do not work in a silo. As our partners hold this deck of cards, they will see that their future is in good hands: both literally and metaphorically. We will work together to build a bright and fantastical future.

My first task was researching and deciding on a style that we could all follow as inspiration. The trick here was not to design for novelty’s sake, but to find a flexible style that everyone could use as a tweakable recipe for their design.

Once we landed on a style we wanted to follow, it was time to lay the foundation. We needed an underlying grid (thanks Em!) with rules and guidelines around it so that all of our designs came together as one cohesive unit. This is much easier said than done. We learned that through trial and error (not using the same angles, border radius, stroke weight, rounded corners … the list goes on)


See, this wasn’t one person taking the lead or putting down every one else’s work. We came together as a team and subjected our concepts and selves to multiple perspectives and opinions in order to reach an improved final result. That improved result wasn’t the first go-round, or second or even third. And that’s okay. I loved this project because we we’re all open to criticism and change in order to get this guy to be the best it could be.


It’s instinctual to feel uncomfortable about sharing work before you are 100% satisfied with it (RIP thriller werewolf). It’s common to want your design to shine and be “the chosen one”. But these traits hinder true collaboration. Overcoming that mindset is being willing to subject your work to critical feedback or identifying, accepting and embracing that someone else’s idea is a better fit than your own. AND AGAIN, THAT. IS. OKAY. It’s an essential part of growing in our field. And this project was a perfect reminder of We > Me.

Being the baby and having my birth year in 1995, my violent imaginary animal was the cerberus. (You’re also a cerberus if you’re born in the years 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, or 2007.)

Along with the illustration creation of the cerberus, I wanted to step up and take on more of a leadership role. I worked with our creative director to nail down anything we’d need to tackle, and I wrote up a creative brief. I got us all together for those many collab sessions, and we were able to make decisions quickly and efficiently. I helped create the patterns and suit icons, and made sure all the assets were accessible for the team.

This holiday gift really showed me how incredible our work can be when we collaborate. No egos were involved; we wanted to make the best work we possibly could, and that meant compromise but also boosting each other’s work needed to go into these. All the good vibes were exchanged throughout these card creations.

My card was the Ace, and my V.I.A. was the Unicorn!


(You are a Unicorn if you were born in: 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, or 2014.)

Along with the super-fun project of designing a unicorn, I also got to handle the box and poly-mailer design. After sketching out a few ideas, the team agreed on a minimal approach to the packaging. Here, we wanted to focus on the cosmos aspect of our theme, so we decided on this deconstructed planetary alignment design.

My main hurdle in this process was the printing. Since I have a background in designing-for-print, I was in charge of the final setup of creating our beautiful deck. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever set up 54 different cards and a box to be printed hundreds of times, but it’s pretty scary. The collective team must have proofed the contents and positioning at 

 fifty times. Once everyone approved after those fifty look-overs, I sent them off to print.

About two weeks later, the mailman delivered our cards. We all rushed to the door jumping around and chomping at the bit for the first reveal. Our CD opened one, and my goodness. They. Were. Gorgeous! The colors were vibrant, the alignment was great, and everything was right in the world! What more could you ask for? Our vision of this deck came to life in the most awesome way, and now we have a permanent reminder that:

Art Direction runs the gamut from concepting a campaign to directing a photo or video shoot. We can help guide a brand vision through any media.

Art Direction

2019 Holiday Gift

VIA Studio is proud to host two events in May featuring renowned design heavyweight Mike Monteiro!


Mike is the co-founder and design director of Mule Design. He prefers that designers have strong spines. Mike writes and speaks frequently about the craft, ethics, and business of design.

He loves design so much he wrote two books on the topic, 

. He loves society so much he’s working on a book on how to protect it from designers. It’ll be out mid-year.

We encourage you to sign up and attend his events. I highly doubt you’ll be disappointed.

For the past couple of decades, the tech companies of Silicon Valley (and beyond) have run unchecked, causing havoc, destroying civil discourse, democracy, ruining personal relationships, running marketplaces of harassment and abuse, all to line their pockets. The very worst part is that they did it with our labor.

This isn’t a talk, this is a union meeting.

Profits from this evening’s event will be donated to 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mike-monteiro-lets-destroy-silicon-valley-tickets-58278195652

Of course you have good ideas. But it takes more than a good idea to command attention. You need to package your message and project confidence. Mike Monteiro will show you how.

The ability to turn a list of recommendations into a compelling story is the most critical skill that rarely gets taughtâand never across disciplines. Designers learn to speak to designers, engineers to engineers, business leaders to each other, etc.

During this all-day workshop, we’ll cover effective presentation techniques including:

Confronting the terror of standing up in front of people

Turning information and recommendations of any type into a good story for any audience

Mapping your work to shared goals and objectives

Asking for the right kind of feedback, and avoiding opening yourself up to stuff you don’t need

In a single day, Mike Monteiro will turn you into the most confident and prepared version of yourself you can imagine

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/presenting-work-with-confidence-louisville-tickets-58194609644

Watch the most popular Creative Mornings talk of all time by Mike, “Fuck You Pay Me”

VIA Events

Mike Monteiro - May 16 & 17 at VIA Studio

Recommendations for Industry Podcasts and Audiobooks

VIA Studio is full of folks who love podcasts and audiobooks, especially industry-related ones. So, we thought we’d share the love! Everyone can always use a little bit of knowledge, inspiration, and motivation in this ever-expanding, ever-changing field. We’ve comprised a small list of some audio gold a few of us have been listening to in hopes of your enjoyment.

 Gold standard of the rationale that goes into design problem solving. Design & Architecture are discussed along with a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and limitations taken into account to make a concept a reality.

 Micheal Beirut. Do ya really need anything else? No other professional designer/icon talks about design in such a relatable way.

The audio production on Radiolab is outstanding and really helps create an impact with the storytelling. It gives me a new perspective on a range of topics.

What is talent anyway? Repetition, practice, progress, and a little thing called myelin. What is Myelin? According to the dictionary: a mixture of proteins that form a sheath around many nerve fibers, increasing the speed at which impulses are conducted. Myelin is to the brain what muscles are to the body. Building quick response through struggle and consistency will train your brain. Fascinating dissection of talent and the factors that create top athletes, artists, and thinkers.

 What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

Pollan has always been on the cutting edge of food. The conversation of how what you eat affects yourself and the world around you. He’s expanded that concept into the chemicals you ingest and how that changes your inner world. Now that the hysteria of the 70’s is long-gone, there is a thriving culture of psychedelic therapy happening, both in academic research and underground settings. I’ve always been fascinated with inner and outer exploration, and this book should set a hopeful tone for the next generation of explorers.

As a workaholic and small business owner, I purchased “The Four-Hour Workweek” years ago when it was published, hoping to gain insight into efficiencies and work/life balance. The book doesn’t solve all problems, but introduced me to Ferriss. Now he spends a good portion of his time on this podcast, which is a very long-form (sometimes 3 hours!) format, interviewing personalities from all walks of life. Design, business, research, etc… he always asks great questions and lets the guest lead the conversation where it may. In a world of sound bytes, this format digs deep. If you find you enjoy it, check out Joe Rogan as well!

 High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way

This book is a must-listen if you are serious about your career (and life). Brendon Burchard breaks down years of research into 6 habits that create well-rounded, happy, high-performing people. This book is an easy listen with narration by the expressive Burchard, and provides you with prompts to put these practices into action!

Culture

Recommended | Industry Podcasts & Audiobooks

“Cool, well, learn because you’re going to design the user interface for our plugin site.”

I don’t know if you know this, but the internet is a magical place with all the information in the world. When you’re in charge of doing something you’ve never done before in a program you’ve never used before, the internet’s got your back. Plugins.viastudio.com will be a new site where you can purchase a plugin that allows you to map data from Gravity Forms back to your salesforce account. And I am the person who was tasked with creating the user interface (UI) for it!

Now, I was super honored and excited to do this project. However, I didn’t know what a UI kit was or how to operate Sketch. So, off I went to submerge myself in the internet’s overwhelming amount of information. Fortunately, sites like Udemy exist. They have a great course that teaches you to use Sketch to build interfaces. I was able to pick up on how to navigate Sketch pretty quickly thanks to this class and how super intuitive it is to use- as it should be.

For those who don’t know: a UI kit contains all of the visual elements of a website in one place so the dev team can reference it and build the site accordingly. Elements such as button styles, patterns, colors, typography, navigation styles, imagery, etc. are stored here so everyone can get a clear idea of what the site should look and feel like. This is the good stuff.

Natalie, our senior front-end developer gave me all of the wireframing (the skeleton) for the website and a list of all the elements I needed to create. I had total freedom with how I wanted to design the interface, which is simultaneously rad and overwhelming. Onto brainstorming!

â¢ I want it to be interesting and engaging enough that people are excited about getting this awesome plugin.

â¢ But remember: it’s a plugin site, so I must consider who will be visiting the site and purchasing it. So, I don’t want it to be too playful or gaudy. It needs to be to-the-point.

â¢ Colors – minimal yet bold, reminiscent of VIA’s colors with a focus on blue. Blue makes one think of authority, relaxation, and cool as in temperature, as in metal, as in technology. The pop of yellow draws the eye to CTAs and adds a little kiki to the bouba. It also makes one feel happy, which they will feel once this plugin is in their life.

â¢ Type is sans serif – easy to read quickly, no-nonsense, modern, and doesn’t take itself too seriously – Everything has a personality.

â¢Design a little icon or pattern that represented connection and linking of things.

After a lot of research and pulling inspiration from people who are well-versed in UI, I designed my very first UI kit. I’m not sure if it was entirely necessary, but I laid out the design of each page of the website, as well as the mobile version. I mean, why not do the full shebang? Especially if you have a little bit of Type-A in you. And although it was rather time-consuming (being a newbie doesn’t help), it was kind-of a breeze using Sketch to create all of it. Which I’m forever grateful for.

I’ve seen what the development team has created so far, and they’ve done an amazing job making it look exactly as I envisioned. They’ve also added some really cool animation in places that make it so much more engaging. It’s like my first webchild being birthed before my eyes. I’m proud to say I am now a webmother, and I hope to continue to grow into the webmother I always dreamt I’d be.

 a cohesive, mobile-friendly website takes a talented team with diverse skill sets. Our team delivers the strategy, design, and development talent needed to execute outstanding work. We build from the ground up with a focus on accessibility and mobile devices.

Web Design

User-focused design is at the core of what we do. User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) design are two of our most critical specialities. Designing thoughtful experiences and intuitive website, app and content interfaces for your potential customers is always job number one for us.

UX / UI

Designing UI - plugins.via

Historically, icons and images were the most effective way to communicate to the masses, but times are changing. Earlier this week I was working within a CMS (which will not be named, alright, I’ll call it Voldemort), and attempting to edit text, add pictures, etc. etc. Like most text editing software there were a lot of formatting options. For this reason, icons are used in order to fit more options into one space.

However, the thing that makes icons work (at least, in a narrow scope of a certain culture), is that we use the same icons to mean the same things in all places. When you decide to make up new icons, as Voldemort did, or use the same icon to do different things (lookin’ at you, Adobe), it can be really confusing.

The fallback when icons fail is text. In Google Docs, for example, hovering over an icon will quickly display text to let you know what the icon does. In the case of Voldemort, it took upwards of three seconds to display this help text, which slowed me down quite a bit.

More and more I’m seeing a plethora of unexplained icons. In a mobile experience, when you don’t have the luxury of hovering, this can be even more confusing. I recently ran across a site that had two hamburger menus, one on each side, that opened completely different menus.

I’ll go ahead and pose this question: why icons instead of words? In the case of a text editor, or design software, I get it, there’s just too much to be done. But in the case of a complex set of menus, I’d rather just strap on my readin’ boots and know what I’m getting into before I click on all of your hamburgers and then throw my phone through a window.

Sometimes designers may opt for icons for aesthetic reasons, but it is vital to consider the user experience. Yes, a nice illustration may provide some delight, but if it comes at the expense of ease of use it may not be the way to go. As a general rule of thumb, use icons when they’re common knowledge. This might be specific to your specific user, so be careful of assumptions. When in doubt, just remember to do some user testing!

Vendetta Against Words

I’ve had many experiences in my short life, but being an intern at a design agency was not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I have spent many-a-hour in the Cloud. I’ve done print design for three years, created ads for the salon at which I work, and designed a brand for my tea shop, Wild Dog Rose. But actually working at an agency is a whole new ballgame! About six months ago, I was fortunate enough to be liked, accepted, and hired as a marketing/social media intern at VIA Studio. Even though I aspire to be a UX designer, I have no formal training in marketing, and little experience in managing social media accounts.

My view is one must understand (or at least grasp) the general concept of every facet of design. It’s even better if you can bring those skills to the table. This includes, but is not limited to: business, marketing, user experience, web development, psychology, branding, and so on. Today’s designer must be able to dip their fingers in everything, wear four different hats in a day, and hopefully have the ability to self-soothe. I think deep down I knew this, but I didn’t really 

“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable” is the my go-to mantra when I’m in a flurry of uncertainty. And this is often. Yet, this uncertainty is exciting, refreshing, and challenging in the best possible way. Without it, life gets a bit boring, no? In the last 6 months, I’ve gotten the opportunity to engage and learn from so many awesomely talented people. I’m positive I’ve learned something new each day, even if it’s just about myself. Surviving an internship is not easy, but it’s worth it and oh-so rewarding.

I’d love to share with you some tips and tricks I’ve learned for surviving an internship:

Even if you have no idea what you’re doing, give it a dang shot. Be 

 to dive in. You’ll definitely learn something valuable in the process.

It’s tough, I know. I always feel like, “I should know this already”, “I don’t want to bother anyone”, “I’m being annoying”, etc. But, it’s better to ask and learn the right way to do something than to screw up something major, yeah?

Focus is imperative. One must be alert and be able to be creative on-the-spot. Also, there is a 98% chance that there will be a never-ending supply of coffee in your office, so the temptation is strong. *Pro-tip: try to not drink it after 3PM, otherwise you may not sleep that night and have to drink twice as much coffee the next morning.

This industry is ever-changing, so there will literally never come a time when you know everything. You may feel like you’re at the top of your game – and maybe you are pretty high up there – but there’s 

Everyone around you is a creative person. And likely super fly. One must fit in. Buy some crop pants and a fancy patterned shirt. A super cool long coat if funds allow. Fake it âtil you make it.

Little did I know that everyone is witty af! It might be helpful to be quick-on-your-feet when you’re breaking in as the new kid. Brush up on your stand-up comedy game. (I’m saying this to myself, too.)

Don’t really understand what the back-end web developers are doing? Do some research. Ask a co-worker (if they’re free and willing to talk about it). It will only make you a better employee, a better designer, and a better co-worker to understand what other peeps are doing and to understand their perspective.

Best practice is to go home after you get off work and study. Play around, watch YouTube videos, invest in Udemy classes or Coursera classes (these are free!), and research the industry. One must hustle while an intern, but preferably always. This way, you’ll learn much quicker than just figuring it out at work, and you can excel in your craft faster than the average Joe.

The world is full of whimsy and opportunity, especially in the design world. Whether it’s an impromptu coffee break and walk around the block, a sudden shift in game plan with this huge client, or a group trip to a conference in Cali, be open to any and all things. Spontaneity is what makes life beautiful, and each “yes” you utter will open doors you didn’t think were possible. So, I beg you, stop taking yourself so seriously – and say “yes”.

How to Survive: Internship

It’s time again for our annual Holiday Gift Guide! For 

, all of the savvy folks at VIA Studio have hand-crafted this list of totally awesome gifts. So, strap in because we are taking you on a journey to be awarded as the best gift-giver possibly ever.

Pins are making a full-on comeback, and I absolutely need to show off my love of color with this cute little pin. Even though, most of the time my Pantone color would be Jet Black.

I actually own these, but I will be buying them for a couple other people. They look like a 3D brain when stacked, and a Dexter trophy when used separately.

This simple black mug is made for the 21C Hotel by Louisville Stoneware and is part of my weekend morning coffee ritual.

For when you've procrastinated <em>so</em> long that it turns into analysis paralysis and you can’t think of literally anything to draw ever again.” linktext=”8 years now” link=”https://viastudio.com/tag/gift-guide/” image=”http://viastudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/24161_1_640px.jpg” alt=”” imageplacement=”Left”></giftcard><br /> <giftcard title=

Minimalist wallet and survival tool in one. Great for everyday-carry.

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Wallet

There's no better drink for the winter than a steaming cup of tea, and what better way to make it than in a monkey?

Literally every way to make coffee, in one super beautiful device.

Want to take your ocean kayaking game to the next level? Safety comes first with this waterproof marine radio.

Even if I could afford this, I wouldn't buy it. That's why I'm asking you to buy it for me.

This beautifully wrapped set from ILIA includes my all-time favorite mascara. Plus, all of their products are sourced from natural and organic ingredients.

We focus a lot of our beauty regimens on our face, but I say let's focus on our lady lumps! This is a facial for your booty.

Beauty bloggers have pushed the hype for this thing so hard it is sold out. Curiosity piqued. Dying to find out what justifies paying $500 for a beauty tool.

I can personally attest to this magical duo. When I need to rush out of the house without doing too much to my face, this little dewy highlighter accompanied with a natural looking brow pomade is all I need. And you need it, too.

Classy AF and ready for the next Kentucky ice storm.

Can you tell I have a thing for minimalism?

Not only does it look magical, it is also science - which is magic.

Give the gift that grows! A monthly subscription box for all of the plant lovers out there. There's even a 

I guess turntables are a theme this year, but I've always loved vinyl, so deal with it. What a great concept!

This set of spoons is carved from beech with a small axe and knives. I love the facets and tool marks left behind by the knives.

Adam Savage is the king of both practicality and innovation. I'm a little worried about what color this will end up, but let's find out.

Minimal Swiss design AND a beautifully organized calendar? My life feels calmer already.

Electric vehicles will eventually be the norm, so get ahead of the curve... while driving over it at 100mph.

A healthy fear of crashing (and budget) has kept a personal helicopter out of my reach... but maybe this year it could happen! A helicopter re-designed after drones that is supposed to be easy to fly... and affordable at $200k! Prep for the oncoming apocalypse like a winner, high above the competition in a personal helicopter.

For when I keep forgetting to have better posture when I'm working, and for post bootcamp!

Jason Clark

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