With such a short time left here, we’re still going strong towards our final projects. It’s unfortunate that we can’t stick around longer- When it’s time to leave it’s almost like walking away from your summer goal, but then you remember your initial goal was to make it ten weeks without falling in front of the whole agency on the spiral staircase (I’ve avoided this…but I still have a few days left). After a few weeks of practice, I can get up and down the staircase, for the most part, with ease and grace. Although, I still wonder who thought heels were a good idea for business wear.

Once I got the walking part down, I started to think about what my real goals would be. I knew that my initial goal was to learn and create. Though all program clues, keyboard shortcuts and creative briefs can help a lot, it’s what you don’t expect that teaches you the most. I’ve learned the most through observations and interactions with other people in the agency. I watch as Wes chats with Nathaniel about the best way to make a brochure “cool.” I watch Mark and Paul sit around a table, bouncing ideas off one another about some paint product. Ben just popped over to my cubicle with the “What do you think of this?” look on. We collaborate. Then we create.

Currently, Ben and I are working together on a concept for a Case History video for the LS website. It’s an interesting thing to work on a project after it has already concluded- you get to see the work as a whole from initial ideas to final product. Knowing the steps it took to get there is a little insight to how the creative process works. The backbone to any good final piece derives from a lot of thinking, sketching, and meetings. When you get an idea it’s like it was right there all along- then you sketch it out and it becomes a visual communicator. When the whole group gets together, additional insights and ideas create the whole.

School has sort of blinded the truth behind the creative process. These simple observations have opened the door for me. Instead of being afraid of what others might think or what they might try to do to “my” designs, I welcome their input and ideas. Now that I have learned, I shall create.

Summer goal: Complete

Sasha Thueringer

Creative Intern