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1 | Design Interns Club | |||||||||||||||||||||
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3 | ➡️ SUBMIT HERE: tiny.cc/DesigninternsForm | |||||||||||||||||||||
4 | Share your internship experiance with others! All experiences welcomed 🌱🌱 | |||||||||||||||||||||
5 | All questions are OPTIONAL and ANONYMOUS. Please try to be civil, truthful and objective. | |||||||||||||||||||||
6 | Name of the place of your current or recent internship (you can add a link to the website as well) | City of your current or recent internship | Country of your current or recent internship | How much did you get paid for this internship? (monthly or in total) | Did you get benefits with the internship eg. healthcare, travel funds etc? | How many hours per week you've usually worked? | Approx. how much were you paying in total in monthly bills (rent, food, travel, etc) | Did you have clearly defined tasks that were educational and helped you learn by doing? | What would you point out that was good on your internship? | Do you have any bad experiences or something that you aren't/weren't ok with at your internship? | If you could ask for change around design internships in the future, what would this be? What specific steps do you suggest? | Any other notes, questions, or thoughts? | In which sector the place of your internship operate? | Year of your internship (This can make you easier identifiable, skip if you want) | Duration (months) of your internship (This can make you easier identifiable, skip if you want) | Contact (Here you can leave your email or Instagram so the other interns or those seeking for one can reach you. If you don't feel safe and comfortable doing that, just skip it :)) | Studio's comment (If your studio was reviewed and you want to comment please send it to designinternsclub@gmail.com) | |||||
8 | NODE Berlin | Berlin | Germany | 400€/Month | reduced public transport | 40 hours (10.00-19:00, 1hr break) | around 500€/month | mostly | I learned a lot, got insight into studio processes and applied projects in the cultural field which is crucial during studies. They have interesting clients. I had nice coworkers I could ask about anything and who supervised my work. We cooked lunch together most of the days which was nice. I had a contract and got a letter of recommendation. All in all I had a good intern experience. | There were moments I had bigger responsibilities then I thought I could manage, out of necessity more than trust, but I managed and I guess thats how you learn. In moments of high stress levels things got taken out of my hands, I understand why, but it's not a great learning experience. I mostly worked with set key visuals and templates. | If interns are a planned constant of the business and their work is profitable, at least minimum wage should be paid (as german law says). If small studios can't afford that, there are other perks like intensive mentoring, off days etc that may make up for it. Credit names where credit is due, this also goes for freelancers and staff. | |||||||||||
9 | Studio Manuel Raeder | Berlin | Germany | 250 EUR / month | As an intern in city of Berlin I had reduced price for public transport monthy ticket | +/- 32 (4 days a week, but often staying in studio later) | 800 EUR | sometimes | – Studio Manuel Raeder works on lot of interesting projects which is nice to see from inside, as well as it was nice to see how the publishing house BOM DIA of Manuel is running. Studio works with/for many contemporary artists and galleries, so you can also learn a lot about the art, poetry, literature and architecture while working on the projects. Manuel and people around him are knowledgeble and intellectual people, you can learn a lot from. – Also I appreciate the multidisciplinary approach – 4 days working week – very human and understanding about being sick, or taking a day off for family or study reasons – good location of the studio – nice coffee | The ratio between interesting tasks and very boring tasks was sometimes not too good. Very boring tasks are not only about retouch and cuting-out in photoshop (which are sometimes neccesery) but also jobs like packing books, sending packages, wraping objects to bubble wrap, going to hardware shops and carrying (heavy!) material, going to post office, moving (heavy!)stuff from the storages etc. Sometimes it was really too much. Interns are not cheap workers who are there when you want to save money on moving services or handcraft people. Working place is not too comfortable, chairs are extremly bad, no screens, not enoug space. communication was not always good. Manuel is often traveling for his international work and interns are supervised mostly by his freelancers. Feedback was often not very clear. | –don't expect interns to do all the shit jobs just because they are around –be patient with your interns, they are there to learn | |||||||||||
10 | MARINE SERRE | Paris | France | 560 EUR | no | 40 | 1100 EUR | NO | - Possibility to live in the city of Fashion - Paris - Being part of the biggest event in Paris - FASHION WEEK - Forcefully learning french, which might be useful in the future - Being able to separate personal life from the professional one | - given tasks were not specified and mostly designed by the supervisor himself using me as a graphic design tool. - non-creative environment with a team with no graphic design or printing knowledge, that made some of the tasks hardly manageable and therefore delayed. - In Fashion, time equals money - Taking too many responsibilities as an Intern - Being more of a Social Media Manager than Graphic Designer - Stressful meetings at late hours - non-friendly, french-only colleagues - communications with colleagues mostly went into gossiping and hating on the job itself. - Late night URGENT calls and messages about instagram posting. - Constant stress and endless tasks from every possible department of the company - Being part of a disrespected cheap labour - Direct and negative feedbacks mostly received because of bad communication with the supervisor that never really stood up for me. | In terms of not having any respect as a graphic designer in a different creative field I would change the awareness about the role of graphic design, e. g.: - Graphic design has to go through a Clarification in other creative fields. - Graphic design is comparable to any other design industry - Graphic designer DOESN'T equal marketing strategist or social media manager. - Don't benefit from cheap labour - Internship shouldn't be used as a form of labour | |||||||||||
11 | Koehorst In'T Veld | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 150 euro monthly | does lunch everyday count? | 40 | 700 euros | Not always, sometimes. | I got to look inside interesting projects and got a chance to participate in it. I learned about the big difference between designer-client relationship in CZ and in The Netherlands. | I did a lot of maintenance and uninteresting work and the communication was sometimes uneasy. | My internship wasn't bad. The ratio between interesting and uninteresting work was still bearable cause I felt a lot like learning new things all the time. They wouldn't accept me as an intern if I hadn't got the student scholarship – living in Rotterdam was hard, but manageable. There's generally a lot of problems with internships but I consider my experience a positive one. | |||||||||||
12 | Studio Es | Vienna | Austria | 240 EUR/month | ticket to a design conference (and free coffee?) | around 35-40 hours/4 days (I asked for one day off) | 750€ | Not really. | - I had to manage the studio work and my own jobs so I've learned how to work super-efficient and fast. - At the end the most valuable thing I gained is the friendships with the other interns. - And also the posssibility to live in Vienna. | - no set working hours - no constructive feedback just orders - emails at midnight - more interns than employees - 80% of the conversations are in german - a lot of boring tasks (scanning, taking pictures for the portfolio, retouching,.. etc) | - pay and respect your interns - don't just benefit from the cheap labour - give them a chance to learn, interns should be mentored - make internship expectation clear from the beginning | 4 | ||||||||||
13 | Kolektiv Studio | Prague | Czech republic | 8000 CZK per month | no | it was very random, sometimes just few, sometimes couple of days in a row | cca 7000 CZK | no | the work was very flexible and it learned me a lot about gd real life | the last task – a catalogue for one gallery – was hell but the fault was on a client side | it should be always payed, the name of an intern should be visible and the tasks should be relevant to intern's knowledge and desire to learn something new | my internship was cool | @loners.company | |||||||||
14 | Use All Five | Los Angeles | California | 15/hr | Free lunch on Fridays | 20 | 1000 | Yes | I felt especially cared for and welcome. | They must all be paid. There should be implemented some sort of mentoring encouraged. | @dabuzon | |||||||||||
15 | floriankarsten.com | Brno | Czech republic | cca 400€ | no | 30 | cca 400€ | I have the opportunity to learn the basics of web development and watch work flow of independent studio (I been in Florian Karsten before they started to develop typefaces). I start an internship in a difficult life situation and friendly workspace in the studio helped me to cross it. | no | If the design studios and agencies can't waste sources on growing apprentices and use interns only as cheap machines, It's mean that this corner of the economy doesn't work and society doesn't know how to create a sustainable system with meaningful work opportunities for young students. | simon@loners.company | |||||||||||
16 | Koehorst in 't Veld | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 150 | Lunch | 35 | 800 | Sometimes, yes. Often tasks were not clear. Depending on the workload, the studio members took more or less time to discuss/use my work. | Getting insights into the process of exhibition design and how their studio is run. Whenever I asked for something or gave feedback, I was taken serious and the studio members reacted to it. | Too much model building. Some weeks +50%. In return I was expecting some interesting, more educative tasks, which didn’t always happen. | Either pay your interns proper or make it a good learning experience for them. | |||||||||||
17 | The Phoney Club | Rotterdam | Netherlands | 200 eur | Lunch | 20 | 800 | I had clearly defined tasks, although not all of them were educational. My bossladies tried to give me half of the tasks for things that I know well and they don’t (animations) and half for things that they are good at and I want to learn. | The people were great and the knowledge + skills was the biggest benefit that I could learn from just by watching and asking questions. | I might only say a problem that is very common in every country if there is only one person not speaking the local language, the rest has difficulties to not forget to speak english. | Any design internship has great opportunities, go for it! <3 | martinegrt1@gmail.com | ||||||||||
18 | WAF GMBH | Hamburg | Germany | 600 €/month | no | 40 h, 9.30-18.30 | 800 | Yes | I learned a lot about a holistic view of design and got an insight into project planning and strategy. There were interesting projects and clearly defined tasks. Before the internship, I didn't deal much with digital applications. It was therefore very valuable for me to be able to ask questions openly and approach new challenges in a relaxed manner. Good integration into the team. | I did not have any negative experiences, but I would like to inform you that German is spoken most of the time. Numerous projects were handled in English between the studio and the client. | Even small tasks or invisible jobs contribute to delivering really good things. Appreciate that, pay for work, pass on experience and knowledge, be transparent. | .... sometimes there is the possibility of being hired as a working student or team member. | ||||||||||
19 | Studio Ted noten | Hertogenbosh | Netherlands | 0 | Train costs | 1 or two days of presence + research at home | 800 | Yes but they have not need respected. I ask to get feedback on my artistic practice in exchange of free work ( I did concepts, research, drawings) and did not receive it | That I made the decision to leave | Non respect of the oral contract we had on knowledge exchange/ inappropriate behaviour from Ted noten asking me some extra French lesson(!!) unpaid of course, featuring a song with sexual subject. He also found funny to show porn video from his phone to me and another Intern in the middle of a meeting as we are working on his PowerPoint . | Minimum salary of 600 e per month for full time | After that experience I found that his work fits with his mysognist and patriarchal behaviour: outdated. Plus he his not honest. | ||||||||||
20 | Design & Architecture studio | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 350 in black. 6 months | nothing | I ONLY worked Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. others stayed until 8 pm or more. | 1300 minimum | yes | freedom of work, very creative. I WAS LUCKY! | other people working in the same studio. not nice. too much competition. interns needs to go and buy dutch bread for lunch. everyday. comments like " please dont buy the bread also for tomorrow" | a well paid internship, at the end is a new work. Dont buy bread or bring cofee to anybody, only if they bring at least one for you. | I did not study to buy bread or bring cofee. If I did it, was to support my collegues interns who was delivering cofee and buying dutch bread more than 2 days a week. | ||||||||||
21 | Fellini Gallery | Berlin | Germany | 100 | nothing | 40 | 800 | no | international experience, cool other interns | the employee, the tasks, the compensation | less exploitation more actually interesting work | got kicked out after a cool artist I scouted did not agree to exhibit there on the terms of giftig the gallery one of his pictures (other artists apparently agree to those terms, but he was already quite influential) and put me in cc - this was probably too much for the face saving gallerist. Another side business was renting studios and flats and was entirely run by interns, with only two regular full time employees working there. very unsustainable setup. non the less it amazed me how many interesting, international student interns gathered there majors in architecture, design, cinema, fine arts... very nice crowd which made the long days in the gallery fun. | ||||||||||
22 | Fons Hickmann M23 | Berlin | Germany | 400 Euro/Month | Not at all | 40 (10-19h) | 700/Month | no | Getting to know how people work together as an agency, nothing more, really. And at least I know how I don't want to be treated/work in the future and that I am brave enough to quit anytime. | I quit before the internship was actually over. I had a bachelors degree and got to do all the internship tasks you could ask for, including making coffee and cleaning tables. When I talked to them they just said I should see the internship as a kind of training. But I was trained. I was not In my 1st or 2nd Semester. I wish they would have noticed that more. There was no chance to work on any concept/design jobs during my stay. I just got to apply existing designs to periodicals and shoot pictures for the studio website. In between that I basically had nothing to do. Plus, as the only non-smoking person I really didn't like that they smoked in the kitchen all the time. Co-Workers were nice, but didn't make any effort to get to know you better as a person. | Appreciation for Interns, fair money and tasks. | Don't let yourself fool for internships in big and known creative studios. Ask other people who worked there first. | ||||||||||
23 | Any Studio | Berlin | Germany | 350 EURO | NO (GOT LENT A BIKE FROM MY BOSS THOUGH) | 34 (4 days a week) | 800 | YES | - Well defined tasks - Variety of clients (cultural organisations) - Having input in brainstorming of briefs - small studio-got to know everyone working there well - 4 days a week so had time to explore the city and do self lead projects - group tasks and independent task -given a reasonable amount of time to complete complex tasks - feedback session on last day about all of the work I've done (requested) - cooked together and went for super nice food nearby | - Sometimes work I submitted was amended before being sent out, would have wanted to be informed of this directly so I could improve/ take note. I understand why this probably happened - they were super busy completing various tasks. | - Wish the wage was a little higher, I do understand in a small studio its the only option to even have an intern. Is only possible because of erasmus funding I received. | @lucielemonade | ||||||||||
24 | Institute of Network Cultures | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 400 euros | Travel funds were available but I didn't need them | ~32 | 600 | Yes, I had defined tasks that left room for my own initiative, as well as theoretical and practical support for self-run project . | Autonomy, welcoming environment, flexibility on the part of the employer, trust. | No. | A tiny bit more guidance. | |||||||||||
25 | De Monsterkamer | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Nothing (€0) | Travel funds, however my travel was for free. | 24 hours | 530 | Not super clearly but I guess | Networking! And gained a lot of knowledge about the printing process | No | It would be nice if art in general would be better funded, so that studio’s can pay their interns. | |||||||||||
26 | Digital Entity | Milan | Italy | 1000 (approximately) | Healthcare and AON Flexible Benefits | 40 | 550 | Yes, my trustee assigned me several tasks | Trustee, friendly workplace, good pay | No | ||||||||||||
27 | IA Collaborative | Chicago | Illinois, US | $24 / hr | Yes | 40hr / week | $1200 + extra fees per month, for 3 month rent in a neighboring dorm | Yes | ||||||||||||||
28 | Giant Spoon | LA | California. US | 15$/ hour | No | 40 hours | Uber was around 20$ everyday, I'd recommend if you could find a place closer to your internship, or possibly find a convenient bus route. I payed 1200$ in total for housing for 3 months. I stayed at a university that was 30 minutes away from work. | Yes. | The creative team I was apart of allowed me to spear-head client meetings and design draft meetings. I was able to play an important role as part of the creative team. I didn't feel like an intern, I felt like an employee for the company. | No. | Payment for Overtime work. | hellohiraali@gmail.com / @thedreamingali | ||||||||||
29 | Lomography | Vienna | Austria | 400 €/ month | - Accident Insurance (compulsory in Austria but also very basic). - Discounts on Lomography products | 40 + 2-3 overwork / week | 900 € ca. | Yes, most of the time. I was also tasked with very uninteresting things like archiving material, sorting out very old things, running up and down the building between to pick up parcels and things like this. | The design team for the whole company was very small and I have found this very good for my experience. 1 art director, 1 employed designer, 2 interns designers so we had quite a "controlled" environment. Constant feedback on projects and very passionate people to work with. | - underpayment for a full-time job - no flexibility in the working hours - no overtime work payment - the way how interns work was given feedback and people were treated - being called "the intern" from the head of the company (of a 6 people design team and a 40 people company) - never getting credit for the work done or goals achieved | - fair payment (according to the responsibility given and time investment required) - more flexibility around the work hours distributions (some people have to keep freelancing aside their 40+ internships which make life miserable and work not enjoyable - on point feedbacks, designers need mentors not mean parents. | @ale_scu | ||||||||||
30 | Slavs and Tatars | Berlin | Germany | 0 | Nope | 45 | 900 | Unfortunately not | The studio space was nice | I was mostly a handyman for the studio, taking out weeds from the garden, moving furniture to their house, pumping up wheels of the baby stroller, fixing kitchen sink isolation | Clear and open communication about what type of work will be done in relation to the study program, payment options (internship is not a magical period where we don't need any money) | |||||||||||
31 | PNC Financial Services | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania, US | $22/hour | no | 40 | $1000-1100 | Yes, I was given a consistent workload and I was able to get my work critiqued multiple times a week | Good amount of feedback and work and friendly work environment | weiyinmimijiao@gmail.com | ||||||||||||
32 | HAYMAKER | Los Angeles, CA USA | California | $4,027 in total ($15/hour) | Monthly bus pass | 50 | I was mostly just thrown into tasks trial by fire. Nothing was purely educational or practice, it was all commercial work. I learned from it but it wasn’t clearly an exercise. I didn’t have any mentorship. | I enjoyed the office environment and community. I worked on a lot of different media. | The intense hours last minute and overload of work was stressful and I didn’t qualify for overtime until after 55 hours a week. I was expected to do everything from doing deck comps to UX/UI to digital ads to strategy. It was good experience but I felt overworked. | Clear mentorship, someone you can stick with to teach you strategies or techniques you are interested in. Clearer boundaries. | ||||||||||||
33 | New York City | Ney York, US | $19/hour, about $520 or so a week | Free museum access | 36-38 | Rent: $1610 a month, Lunch about $10 each working day | ||||||||||||||||
34 | Montreal | Canada | 1200/month | Nope | 22.5 | N/A, living with parents | Yes, although since the office I interned at was small scale (4 employees), the scope of tasks encompassed pretty much every step of a project. The defined tasks were more an ongoing guidance of what was to be done at every one of those steps (for example in the preliminary design phase: research, conceptualizing, mockups, building presentation). | Client interaction, file preparation and printer visits, collaboration and direction by experienced people, conceptual as well as production work | No | Put effort into giving interns creative work even if giving them mindless production work is safer monetarily speaking. Most interns are looking to hone their conceptualizing skills anyway, and should work towards that goal. It is then also much easier to feel a sense of appropriation and thus responsibility towards a project, as well as being useful in a portfolio following the internship. | Note: My internship took place 3 years ago | |||||||||||
35 | Jugendkulturhaus Dynamo | Zürich | switzerland | 1200 CHF (pre-study intern) or 1800 CHF (after-study intern). I was finished with my study but I've earned the pre-study payment. The "after-study position" was token. Then, after the first intern quit, I had the chance to raise – but I wouldn't because I preferred to work with an experienced Intern. | Lunch Check Card, Guest List and Backstage for Concerts and Partys at Dynamo, free access to the different lab's | 4 Days/Week, at somedays till 9pm or on saturdays – if you had the responsibility over the printing lab. but chill :) | 1500 CHF: rent in Zurich (500–900 CHF), swiss healthcare (280 CHF), Food (min. 600 CHF) | Two days per week I've been introducing and take care of the printing lab and had to go once a week to the lab's meeting. Next to it, I had to take full responsibility over some graphic design projects (because I and the second intern have been the only graphic designers). To fail sometimes was totally okay. | If you like creative freedom, handcraft and you're self-initiative, you will love this place – It's paradise! I had a super nice experience and exchange with the colleges all over the different departments! | I didn't learn a lot more about graphic design because there wasn't really a contact person who had the time and the up-to-date knowledge to ask. | clarify the job alert and the people who and how they are responsible for you. | – Don't be scared about the website design – you can do your own thing ;) – they prefer mostly local applications | @nad_we | |||||||||
36 | Forward Creatives | Vienna | Austria | 730/month | was always welcomed back at events and festivities with food and drinks after the internship ended, two times tickets to other design conferences, lots of goodies from partners, free tickets for friends/family to our own festivals | always about 40 in office, at peak times 60, but some of them working from home + festivals were longer hours obviously | ~750 | a lot of project management, here and there a creative design task + some festival identity related ones, a bit of newsletter, social media and curating an online gallery. some more exciting than others, but all beneficial in learning a fast efficient workflow, because of time pressure. also leading teams, the production of festivals and tips and tricks from the bosses. | building a network, working at festivals as intense, but valuable and good experience, getting in touch with international designers and scenes, my opinion was treated as equally valid in meetings and never downplayed, flexible workschedule (and days off for exams or necessary travels, even on short notice), unconventional ideas and how to pull them off, colleagues were amazingly nice and i travelled to Antwerp for a press trip. | overworked myself so much that I had to quit and start seeing a therapist, nobody knew in which projects i was actually involved in and received more and more tasks from all sides without checking capacity (also didn't know how to refuse/ say no), bosses weren't conform in communicating tasks, informations and also in their leadership | pay interns at least a living wage, integrate feedback as essential part of the internship, elevate mentorship, credit for participating in designs and possible documentation for potential portfolio projects, be more empathetic and not profit orientated when taking in interns | internship was 1,5 years ago, one of the bosses left, the team changed continously, but is still incredibly lovely. for the next season i got a part time gig there and now have more clear defined, but also free and interesting tasks | ||||||||||
37 | Selam X | Berlin | Germany | 400 per month | no | 50 | 1000 | yes | friendly atmosphere, a lot of interesting opportunities to learn something new | if something happens, we talk about it and solve it | - | - | marekbulir@gmail.com | |||||||||
38 | PolyLester | amsterdam | Netherlands | 0 | travel funds, lunch | 16-24h, 2-3 days a week | 800 eur | the tasks were clear and I gained trust to manage the projects on my own and was able to experiment. after some time it felt like unpaid work and stopped to make sense to me. felt like i am not really learning, only doing lol. since i was intern of a position that had no management or tutor it was hard to get out of this box and get involved in other projects where i could actually learn something new. | the young team and communicating with them (most of them unpaid too), nice studio in a great city | a boss that's joking about unpaid work that happens at the office is not a sign of healthy office culture. also, unpaid work makes that the "client" dont value the work as if its paid. months after the internship, the studio deleted website (probably by accident) i designed for them , with no previous communication, | we need consultants that can guide young designers to find a good place to intern and empower them with communication skills so they wont be afraid to ask, navigate, avoid getting exploited. this should be accessible to students and non-students. internships should be definitely paid. not sure if a law about minimal intern wage would help. | |||||||||||
39 | Studio Folder | Milan | Italy | 600 | No | ~45 | 800 | Yes | Tasks of great responsibility, big clients and interesting works. Also friendly coworkers | Every now and then there have been moments of great stress and tension in the studio | ||||||||||||
40 | Accept&Proceed | London | UK | £700 for 4 weeks | No | 40 | 800 | They assigned me lots of different tasks and this made me work on a variety of projects which helped me to have an understanding on the way they approached different stages of the design process. | The variety of projects I had to work on. | I was ask to do a few tasks which weren’t designs job at all. | I wish agency have a clear and strategic plan of development for the intern and would know which tasks to assign. | I felt quite overwhelmed during the whole experience, it was a very fast paced working environment and I felt like I couldn’t keep up and I was scared of failing. If I can give an advise I would say to try to not let fear of failure holding you back from making good work or speak up. Try to show what you are really capable of. | ||||||||||
41 | Christoph Knoth | Berlin | Germany | 600€ / Month | I got food. | 40 | 450€ for accommodation and 60€ basic stuff | It was usually 1 day per week for learning stuff like Git and Terminal. The other 4 days were implementing, developing and designing for the web. I learned a lot, but also worked on real projects. | The balance of total freedom and daily occupations. | Some days it was just me ini the office, but could Skype with Christoph or his (work) partner Konrad ;) | A more welcomed invitation to the scene. I'm a super shy person, because wasn't used to this kind of "lifestyle". When I was younger I was already working in different agencies during my holidays and never really felt as a part of it. But maybe its because I'm just the intern that should look up with his own eyes to these people with much more experience. | I preferred to make an internship instead of an exchange year. I don't really understand my colleagues; an internship is much more cooler than doing the same studies, but in another country. | mail@eriksachse.com | |||||||||
42 | Volume magazine | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 0 | No | 21 | 800 | No, I had freedom to pursue a research that would then be published as an article or interview (or both) | Great environment, nice people although not really there to teach you, nice office | Too much freedom that did not allowed for an experience of learning how to write or pursue research | I would ask for a minimum wage, at least to cover rent expenses, and a clear definitions of tasks and objectives (that can also come with the sharing of ideas and expectations) | |||||||||||
43 | // | New York City | New York, US | 0 | 1 lunch weekly | 36 - 40 | 800 | Yes | Experience, people, and variety of work. | Not being paid and living in NYC | Just pay your fucking interns a reasonable salary. I was fortunate enough to have people to support me when I really needed it, so I could pursue this opportunity, but many are not so fortunate. I worked another job on the weekends and it still would not have been enough money to pay my bills. | Do not expect diversity in design to change with this gateway. | ||||||||||
44 | Detekt Biomedical LLC | Austin Tx | Texas | 10$/hr, paid monthly | no | 20-30 | $800 - $1000 | yes | The CEO(and my boss) is really nice and understanding, an all around cool dude. We had office dogs. hours were super flexible with school hours. | They were not very clear in what they advertised when posting the internship. I thought I was just going to be making graphics for them but instead I did everything on the advertisement side. product photography, creating/producing product videos, all marketing, I managed sponsored advertisements on LinkedIn and struggled to update their website. Barely ever did what was originally asked for(graphic design), and when I did I had to earn even a small amount creative freedom | being transparent of what they want you to do | its a very small company of about 7 people. everyone was really nice and it was hard to leave. | paigeg.designs@gmail.com | |||||||||
45 | Argo | Austin | Texas | 20$ hour | No | 20 | 1400 | Yes | ||||||||||||||
46 | Gretel | New York City | New York, US | $105/day | No | 40 | $2000 | Yes | High-end projects. Interns are viewed as freelancers (expected to own a direction) | There's ego in everyone's mindset. Hard to have a voice. | Give interns more solid design and concept works. Less pixel-pushing jobs. | |||||||||||
47 | Macmillan | Austin | Texas | $25/hr | naaah | 40 | . | Super intimate, v nice team that are very receptive to your interests (UX,UI, User Research). Shaped my tasks upon whatever I was interested in learning / helping out with. so, yes. | I got a good taste of what working in product design for tech is like. Really excellent group of designers, all quite nice & nerdy. | nah | nataliaelizondo@utexas.edu | |||||||||||
48 | Future Fonts | Portland | Oregon, US | 18/hr | no | 20 | 1000 | Yes | Connection to type design community | Not a lot of room for professional growth in such a small environment. | Treat an intern as a student with separate projects from the projects of an studio manager or junior designer. | Never take an unpaid internship | @fun.weirdo, hi@leahmaldo.com | |||||||||
49 | Matteo Guidi | Barcelona | Spain | 0 | No | 8 or more | 600 | no | Interesting Artistic project to work about. | The boss complaints about the speed of the work, he asks you for more work hours, confusing an intern for an assistant and forgetting you’re there to learn. | It must be paid and part-time. | Do not go to him. | ||||||||||
50 | UBERMORGEN.COM | sneaky and deceitful pretenders | ||||||||||||||||||||
51 | Nonverbal Cub | Porto | Portugal | 0 (+erasmus money) | no | around 35 but i was up to me | 650 euro | Nonverbal were super fair to me. I was said they don't take interns but that I can come for a residency, which I did. From time to time I worked with them but usually, I was building my own project and had a weekly consultations with them. They were super friendly and always helpful. Also, the possibility to live in Porto was just great:) | I haven't learned so much about their working process as I wasn't working with them so much, but that was agreed already at the beginning, so I can't complain. | Be fair to your interns. | ||||||||||||
52 | EDHV | Eindhoven | Netherlands | 0 | No | 40(+) | ~600EUR | Yes. Tasks were usually clearly defined and generally educational. | The thing I gained the most was exposure to the talented group of designers that's in and around the studio, as well as seeing the ins and outs of how to put together both a project and an exhibition for Dutch Design Week. | The negatives outweighed the positives. Leadership at the studio is top-down and egotistical, resulting in all employees (and interns) feeling stressed out, unappreciated and wildly undervalued. The way the internship 'program' is managed makes you feel as though you're walking on eggshells and that there will be consequences if you cross an imaginary line set in place by management. In a country that's saturated with designers, people come here from abroad looking for a way to break into the scene and come out of it feeling like they're not good enough to work anywhere else. There was at one point 8 interns there at once, for free with no benefits other than free daily lunch. If you're interning there during Dutch Design Week, you'll most likely wind up working on the exhibition setup. This means staying until 11 or later on weeknights and getting scolded if you come in later than 9 the following morning. It's a lot of thankless work. | It's hard to say because the issues came right from the top. For starters, interns need to be paid and all employees need to be treated with respect. | If you're skeptical of this bad review, know that what I've written here is not my singular experience, but that of others who came before and after my time at the studio. There were alumni from the college I went to who interned there upwards of ten years before I went who felt similarly about their experience there. I'm not a big complainer and feel nervous putting this review out there, but I genuinely hope that someone finds this before applying and reconsiders. Unless you're a human with incredibly thick skin, impenetrable boundaries and an inhuman ability not to take anything personally, I'd stay far away from this place. | I'd be happy to talk more about my experience but I just don't feel comfortable with the idea of anyone knowing who I am! | |||||||||
53 | Design Bridge | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 750€ monthly | Travel funds | 38h minimum | 1500 | Yes | Everyone was welcoming and willing to help. They paid attention to my needs | More transparency about hiring after the internship | ||||||||||||
54 | Design Bridge | Amsterdam | Netherlands | €715 a month | Dinner if I worked later than 7pm | 46 | €2,000 at least rent is super expensive | No | The people I’ve met there | Being told at the end of it I’ll have to wait and see if I get a job as other interns are coming and at the end of the day “it’s a competition”. | Better pay and being more looked after by the company when moving to a different country as I was let to do everything on my own and got little to nothing of help. | It’s a shame the industry is “competition” based as I feel I’ve put in so much work and effort and it wasn’t noticed by one of the senior managers as he wasn’t present and the decision seems to just be his opinion. Overall my experience has been a rollercoaster to say the least and I’m leaving now feeling very deflated and questioning my future within the industry even though it’s something I’ve been passionate about all my life. | ||||||||||
55 | No Service 24/7 | Berlin | Germany | 300 | they bought me a new charger for my macbook :-) | 40h | 750 | clearly defined yes, educational not that much | - The studio place as well as the people are amazing, super nice and fun to work with, cooking together for lunch, very chill about working hours - good time management - you can do home office if you want to - huge dinner every now and then with other people from Berlins creative/music scene - 4 day trip to Vienna | - I had to work with my own laptop using the CC which I had to pay for, but due to the fact that all their imacs got stolen a week before I arrived - the tasks got quite boring in the end, almost only correcting law documents for a quite complicated client - unfortunately the balance between working on fun tasks vs doing "boring" client work was 20:80 | - Internships should focus on being educational, since you already get little to no money, so experience and learning something is your "salary" - You should at least get paid enough to pay for accommodation. (more for long-term internships!) | |||||||||||
56 | Front Row BCN | Barcelona | Spain | 0 (+some erasmus money that didn't even cover rent) | I wish | 30 | 650 | Tasks were defined but were not educational | I now have a better understanding of how start-ups function + have increased my level of Spanish. | Initially, it was hard to find a good work/life balance as all communication was through Whatsapp, and no clear working hours were set, so I was getting messages about work from 6am-2am most days. I felt as though I couldn't plan anything in the evenings or weekends in case I needed to do work. There was also no office to work in so I had to work in cafes alone. I was hoping for more of a team environment. | Getting paid- make it illegal to hire unpaid interns. Ensure that equipment is provided and any software needed is paid for by the company. Provide every intern with health insurance. Have very clear outlines of what the internship will involve and the benefits that it will have on the intern's career. | Stay away from unpaid internships- if an employer can't afford more staff they should not hire interns until they can. | ||||||||||
57 | Studio.Build | Leeds, UK. | UK | £150.00 | No | ~40 Hours | £800.00 | Yes and no, there was a lot of independence given to me which was great as it threw me in at the deep end and helped me make mistakes in order to learn from them. | The plethora of client work I got to be involved in. I also had the chance to really flex the skills I'd gained during university in real world applications, which was great for gaining a better insight into where my strengths lied in the industry to become more specialised. | There was a correlation between how much I thought I was worth as a designer and how much I was being paid. This initially gave me a feeling of imposter syndrome, however I quickly shook this when they offered me a job as a junior designer towards the end of the 3 months. | Fair pay. At least minimum wage if not more based on your specialism and value to the studio. More 1-to-1 time, it's great to learn how to think on your feet and use initiative, but never feel like you can't ask questions, no matter how big or small they may be. Less hierarchy, as an intern you can be made to feel bottom of the pile, make tea/coffee, wash dishes, when it should be a golden opportunity to better your craft. Less uncertainty, more concrete contracts that guarantee your future. | @ethanearle_ | ||||||||||
58 | Mediamatic | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 250 | not really, 50% off at the bar, but they stopped doing that after a while | 38.5-50 sometimes more | Around 800, but the rent was 740 and i had to share a room with my bf and split it to be able to afford living there | Not really, I got the internship for a program but ended up being put on projects that had nothing to do with said program or my skills; the interns were basically hired for a full job, but with intern pay. No one to mentor or teach you. I was put in positions way beyond the scope of my contract and had to deliver art and design work etc (that you'd normally charge for or hire someone to do) for free. For example i was put in charge of a department for a few months because one of the only ACTUAL full salary employees that specialized in this quit and they didn't want to hire someone else for a full salary. This was on top of everything else I was doing. | -All the other interns were absolutely lovely, a lot of diversity -I was able to connect with interesting people in the arts | The negatives outweigh the positive by a landslide. -there were 0 boundaries. The personal/professional line was crossed all the time. The director was inappropriate with almost all the interns, but especially with the women. People used to cry at work. A very unhealthy stressful environment. I burned out, and I know of at least 4 others that did too. People kept quitting. -although it is an NGO, they have a commercial side (restaurant, bar, events). Part of my internship was tending bar almost one day a week during day time hours (there were actual bar staff, but they would only start working in the evening). I guess they didn't want to pay minimum wage for when it wasn't busy, and interns are free. -lunch was included, meaning everyday someone had to take 2-3 hours of their work time to cook for 30 people out of the food left overs from the restaurant. -you also had to work for private events for serving, ticket checking etc, outside of work hours, without extra pay. | - I wish there was more focus on the educational aspect. We're almost working for free, because the 'pay' is supposed to be recieveing knowledge. A lot of the time an intern just ends up being a cheap temporary tool to use. - Better pay, so that entire social groups aren't excluded because they can't afford to do an internship because they don't receive financial support from other sources. Experience is valuable for breaking through in this industry, and you have to fight with income-based gatekeeping to reach it. - More transparency - Treat your interns like human beings, not like cheap temporary tools | I am not a scorned ex-intern. What I wrote about was the shared experience of every person that interned there. And it's just the surface, really. It's very problematic that everyone knows what's going on but no one warns you about it or takes any steps in stopping/changing it. The art intern culture is toxic af in it's current state. It's a shame that so many other prestigious art institutions and universities associate with it, when all of this abuse is happening in the background. I wish we could speak up. I have a lot of Dutch friends who told me afterwards that their teachers warned them about this place when they had to do an internship year. I am international, so was everyone else working here. All the Dutch interns quit within 2 months. Thwy rely on foreigners because it's one of the few places that don't require you to speak Dutch. It's hard to think of it critically and decide of it was worth it or not in the end, because the connections you made with the other ppl working there are so precious. I'd think long and hard before applying here. Just getting the name association with this institution that has clout might not be worth your mental and physical health. I learned almost nothing here. | Maybe there's a way to connect if you drop a line to the main account and they get in touch with me, but I just don't feel safe coming out publicly. I'm sorry ): Best of luck to everyone! | |||||||||
59 | adidas HQ | Herzogenaurach | Germany | 1,200 Euro (Monthly0 | Yes. | 39.5 | 650 Euro | Yes. | The people, the food, and the possibility of getting a job after the internship. Also meeting famous athletes was a plus. | No. | ||||||||||||
60 | Brave New Alps | Nomi | Italy | 250 EUR/month | Free lunch | 35 hours | 450 | Offen I had clearly instructions about what I had to do. Sometimes I had less clearly defined task but this was part of the job and it was absolutely usefull for my education. | I had learned different aspects of my future work, like how the graphic design could help to solve social and economic problems. | I hadn't any bad experience | The foundamental requests from an internship is to recieve knowledge about your future work and esenzial tasks to survive in your future workplace. If with this two contions there is also a friendly atmosphere, the internship should be great. | |||||||||||
61 | Arab advertising company in istanbul | Istanbul | Turkey | 350$ | No | 40-42 | 500$ | No | it was opportunity to actually see how’s the industry, how work is done in real life. | It was frustrating on so many levels, specially that i was given a general task like “make branding for this client” without brief. Also there was always a miscommunication between manager and the client and i had to repeat work as a result. | bara2x | |||||||||||
62 | Gudberg Nerger | Hamburg | Germany | 400 | Basic healthcare and discount for magazines and other products. | 38-45 | 600 | At the beginning no one really briefed me about my tasks or cared about what I was actually doing. There was no clear communication at all. But after a few weeks I got more integrated + I was lucky that the art director at that time was super supportive. So it got much better and more productive. | Diversity in work. (it's an agency, a magazine shop, a publish house and a gallery at once). Location and access to many great independent magazines. | Besides the bad communication, there were some personal things I wasn't okay with. | Proper payment. Care about the working atmosphere. Just don't hire interns only because they're cheaper. Respect interns and at least take your time to give clear expectations, briefings and most of all: useful feedback. | |||||||||||
63 | Munich | Germany | 500 EUR | No | 45 | 750+ EUR | No | I got the experience on my resume, most of them were nice to me | In general, seen professionally, the internship was OK, but not more. I felt a bit abandoned there, there were no clear tasks for me, I got to help here and there but I felt like my abilities were not seen or did not really matter. I felt like there were things I could have helped with and done a good job but I was given busy work, quick photoshop and retouching jobs, little bits and pieces here and there. I was bored a lot. I also got the impression from some coworkers and one of my bosses that I was "only" the intern and that they did not really care. ( wouldn't really say hi, would snap at me, or send me pick up mail / groceries etc. just not the way I felt like they wanted me there at all. I felt intimidated and would feel frustrated and in doubt of myself almost everyday after work.) | Respectful and decent treatment, clearly defined tasks, responsibility, direct support, own/ shared project to continuously work on | I did have two coworkers who were very nice to me, I got the impression they still remembered their time as interns so they made an effort to make it a bit easier for me. | — | ||||||||||
64 | Liberty London Graphic Studio | London | UK | £10 a day | 30% discount in the store | 40 | Around £900 | Yes. A lot of typesetting, etc. | Learned how to artwork, develop and present work. | The pay was not great. | Interns should be paid for their work. Always. Also give them at least one big project they can work on. | |||||||||||
65 | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum | New York, NY | New York, US | Stipend | No | 26-30 hours | I acted autonomously on all projects, allowing for me to exercise my voice and perspective as a designer while also accumulating knowledge on branding for a larger audience and with a wider scope. That being said, much of the education comes from questions within the projects you are given. | You are viewed as an equal and important voice on the team and for the institution. Your opinion is valued and requested often. Questions arising from projects or general inquires are always accepted and even encouraged. | The internship overall has been very respectable, being careful not to cross any lines that would be unprofessional or request a service or time outside of the initial contract signed and agreed upon. | Giving interns an hourly pay. The institution rest too heavily on the name recognition, and the autonomy on projects and the hours committed deserve a more substantial compensation. | The Guggenheim's graphic design team has a great work-place dynamic and encourages collaboration and discussion across the whole institution. I would highly recommend. | cgekiere@pratt.edu | ||||||||||
66 | John Paul Mitchell Systems | Century City, California | California | $6500 total | No | 40 | Yes | Hands on work and getting to see my designs come to life by the following year | Yelling argument between two coworkers | @kimia, info@kimiafariborz.com | ||||||||||||
67 | Winter Design Studio | Encino, CA | California | $7500 total | No | 37 | Yes | Small studio environment meant efficient work with the coolest people but with a diverse client list | NONE | @kimia, info@kimiafariborz.com | ||||||||||||
68 | Deutsche & Japaner | Mannheim | Germany | 400 | free coffee, free food | Around 34 h/week | 800 | The tasks were clearly communicated, if something was not clear, you could always ask. As an intern I had insight into different projects and was involved in different aspects of the design process. | Interns were even given the opportunity to work on a self-initiated project that was mentored by Deutsche & Japaner. They really took time for that. A wonderful experience! I felt very respected, learned a lot, and I felt as part of the team during my time there. As an intern, you never had to work overtime. I had really nice co-interns. And Deutsche & Japaner would even go for beers with us after work sometimes. We always ate lunch together. It was everyone's turn to cook for the team once a week. So there was a self cooked lunch every day. | Nothing really! | Treat interns respectful, pay them, give them responsibility, mentor them and appreciate them. | It was a really, really good experience! | ||||||||||
69 | Landor | London | UK | £20k | No | Full Time / 40hrs | £1000 | Yes | I think it was perhaps one of the most valuable work experiences I've had so far, I was given a fair amount of responsibility and in the beginning a set project to work on, which I was fully immersed into. The team was extremely helpful and I think working as part of the collective allowed me to learn a lot about the design process in a studio and improve my skills quite a lot. Furthermore, I was not treated as just an intern but as an actual member of the team, I felt that my ideas and input were actually valued and in some cases implemented across projects, which was quite fulfilling. During my placement I was assigned a mentor with whom I could speak to about any issues or discuss the type of projects I wanted to be a part of, as well as if I wanted to extend my internship there (which they were open to). | No. I think it's a great experience even if you are not particularly interested in branding / advertising as there are so many aspects of the studio from which you can learn and you are given a fair amount of creative freedom. Personally, it also helped me realise that this area of design was not something that I wanted to pursue in the long run, but the skills / experience I've gained here are vital. | I think every internship should pay at least minimum wage | |||||||||||
70 | Evocreative s.r.o. | Prague | Czech republic | 0 | No | 37 | I can't remember, but I lived at hotels for three months, ate on restaurants everyday and had my car with me all the time. But in Prague everthing is cheap. | Most of the time yes, but sometimes they did not have tasks for me to do, so I did personal projects. | To explore a new country and the city Prague. To use another language every time you had to speak to somebody. Using technical terms in my daily work in another language (English). | It was not nice that they did not have tasks for me all the time. I could have used a salary. | Paid internships should be normal. You work for a company for a while, and even though you are not graduated, you should be paid something. | |||||||||||
71 | common-interest | Basel | Switzerland | 1150 CHF/month | travel and food whenever I had lunch/dinner with them, also coffee! | around 40hrs | I think 550-600 CHF (450CHF rent. The rest on food, museums ecc.. and some unpredicted expenses). Switzeland is hella expensive but mine was a two months internship, managing and limiting expenses wasn't hard for just two months. | I wouldn't define the tasks directly educational, but I definitely learned a lot everytime | the relationship between us was very human and respectful, communication was very open and straightforward. They created a space where I felt comfortable, where I could feel safe on having opinions towards the projects and therefore expressing them. I felt mentored and I had the chance to learn a lot. | nope | Please pay fairly and respect your interns, they are human, don't treat them as if they're just cheap/free labour because they will still put a lot of efforts into the job while their motivation is slowly falling apart. Don't exploit them, encourage and follow them. I feel lucky, almost guilty, comparing to other experiences where students are not getting paid or the minimun wage is just not enough to even cover the living. Not every student can afford a living without getting paid. | mc.deleo9@gmail.com or @ma.dele | ||||||||||
72 | Copenhagen | Denmark | 0 | No | 90-110 | 7k DKK | Bo | Everything | No | More money. Real work = real pay | ||||||||||||
73 | SuperHeroes | Amsterdam | Netherlands | 300 Euros | Insurance | ~ 40 hours | 1000 euros | Yes | Great people and tasks | Not really | More "ghosting" client meetings | 2019 | 6 months | |||||||||
74 | upstruct | Berlin | Germany | 500€ / month | Free Lunch | 40h | 600 | Yes | I was a fully integrated team member and it was a nice atmosphere in the studio. Also the clients were pretty cool. | Not at all | 2016 | 6 | ||||||||||
75 | Petranix, they do annual reports, I was a graphic design intern | Adliswil, Switzerland | Switzerland | 2000 Fr/month for 4 days a week, but they offered 500 initially for 5 days, I just asked for more because I need to pay off a student loan (it's always worth doing) | My accident insurance was covered, as per Swiss law | 34, 9-6 Monday to Thursday wti 30 min to 1 hour break | 500 but I didn't have to pay rent at the time | Tasks were clearly defined, it was pretty educational at first but towards the end I was really just an employee like everyone else doing the work every day, getting projects finished | The people were nice, it's in a small village, there was a good team feeling, the work was sometimes challenging and interesting | No, I just realised I don't like really designing annual reports though | The intern must be able to meet the costs of their living expenses, either by earning enough working 4 or 5 days a week or by having the time to work a second job if necessary. In Switzerland this would mean at least 1500 Fr a month or so working 5 days a week, which is an extremely low wage. Internships should be limited to 6 months max. There should be as much transperency as possible, especially about if there is a position avialable afterwards. | It might be better to found your own small studio alone or with friends, you'll probably learn and earn more doing that. | 2015 | 5 | ||||||||
76 | Dafi Kühne | Näfels GL, Swirtzerland | Switzerland | 500 Fr a month | No | 3 days a week, 9:30-16:00 | 500 | I had a lot of interesting and varied tasks, from teaching to putting a book together to cleaning presses to printing, everything, learned a lot of stuff | I loved helping during the Typographic Summer Programme and printing great posters and working with Dafi was really cool, he's a lovely guy and very fair. I learned a lot. Dafi didn't pay much but he did not earn much then and he was very transparent about it and kind. He let me only work limited hours because of my long commute and second job. | No, I enjoyed it a lot. | Be fair and transparent with your interns about tasks, money, etc. Don't take advantage of people. Communicate openly. Ask for feedback. | 2016 | 3 months | |||||||||
77 | Opendot Lab/Dotdotdot | Milan | Italy | 200/Month after the internship period (+ erasmus money) | sometimes free lunch/breakfast | around 40 | tasks were clearly defined & divers so I learned a lot! Also I had a good amount of responsibility and could structure my work independently | the atmosphere at the studio is really good and the tea works together well. I could always ask for help and support. I always remember it as a great time and opportunity. | Please pay your interns the money they need to pay to make a living , most of us contribute a lot of valuable work to your projects | |||||||||||||
78 | Gudberg Nerger | Hamburg | Germany | They wanted to offer me €300. I stood up for myself and asked for €450, which is the regular salary for a minijob in Germany. | Discount on magazines available at the shop. | 40 | €500-550 | Tasks were sometimes clear. I do have to add I did not learn anything new during this internship, I simply applied what I had already learned before. | Co-interns were very nice. I had the chance to help out during a book fair for a little extra money. (50€) | Yes, many. When you take part in this internship, you are given a desk where the magazine and bookshop is. That means that half of your tasks as "design" intern will be giving service to clients, pack magazines/books, writing bills. This pissed me off because if I had known, I could have gotten a job as shop attendant somewhere else, get paid the same but work half the hours I did at GN. Second bad experience: the first task I got when I got there was designing a new identity for a client they had at the time. They told me a freelance designer would actually take care of the identity, but that having one or two extra proposals wouldn't hurt. Long story short the client picked MY proposal, the freelancer worked on refining MY work and I never got ANY credit for it. I'm not even mentioned on their website and they never let me meet the client. | Pay your interns accordingly, minimum salary at least. Pay more attention to them. | Many design studios have written statements on why they do not hire interns anymore. It mostly has to do with the fact that internships are basically cheap labor, studios make no effort in building relationships with their interns. They come and go and they are always lining up in dozens to take even an unpayed internship. If I could go back in time I would look for a part time job rather than an internship. | 3 months | |||||||||
79 | Double Standards | Berlin | Germany | 400 € / monthly | free coffee, sometimes breakfast, snacks and sweets | 40 hr | 700-800 | yes, it was super easy to communicate with everyone | really nice people, great location and studio space with a super collection of design and art books, a really good point were that people understood and helped me if I needed spontaneous time for appointments for visiting flats etc. | not really | better payment for every design intern | 2019 | ||||||||||
80 | Stuttgart, Germany | Germany | 400 | no | 40 | 600 | Yes | Everything | No | – | – | 2014 | 6 | |||||||||
81 | Verlag Hermann Schmidt | Mainz | Germany | 450 per month | no | 40h. In hard times 50h per week | 700 | yes | I got from the first day for a bunch of productions absolute responsibility. That really cool and maybe overwhelming, but that's because the people trust me and to realize that as an intern often at the beginning of my career gives an awesome feeling to manage my own future after that. I had the full time the chance to learn from both bosses. To look over their shoulders and take the time to really learn some tricks. Also I now after the intern, we stay in contact and they support me in finding other internships or get their opinion regarding to my own projects. | yeah well, at some point it was not always like I expected. But isn't that always the case in some points? Out of the reason that's a press house for high-quality design special for book design, they realize print media based on a really complex design structure. this is awesome to lern, even in a world of digitalization. But of course I was not always designing something. Often I learn all the other task I have to do as a designer far from creating something. that is good but not always what I wanted. | more money and more respect! In the most internships in Germany it is a full-time job and to be honest.. you get so less money (if you get some at all …) that you can't pay you monthly bills and out of the reason as an intern you work 40h or more … there is no energy left to have a second job next to it. In the end as an intern, I am a full employee and get nearly nothing for it. that is sad and I'm feeling exploited and treated with to less respect for me as a full designer with an M.A. at the end of my studies after 7 years of hard learning | you ONLY get the internship if you have to do a mandatory internship for your university and if you are actually an art/design student. If you don't have these qualifications you really don't get an internship at all! | 2016 | 3-6 | ||||||||
82 | No Service 24/7 | Berlin | Germany | 300/month | ticket for public transport, free lunch 2-3/week | 40 | 650 | My tasks were usually defined pretty clearly and for most of them you could say I've learned by doing them. Sometimes I got tasks that were so basic I wasn't really challenged by them. | The work atmosphere (small team of 8, young, motivated, friends with each other) was definitely a plus. I never had to work overtime unless I, for myself, decided to do so. I could always ask for help and wasn't put under work pressure. I was given main responsibility for two bigger projects which was great. Task varied quite a bit. They didn't refer to me as an intern but as a designer. | Since No Service is a brand agency, the focus doesn't merely lie on graphic design but also quite a lot on marketing. I would have wished to learn a bit more about those functions and be more involved in meetings with clients instead of "only" doing graphic design which for me, in addition, was usually too mainstream. | Fair salary; not letting interns hang loose or rework something a thousand times just because they don't cost the company that much (because they should cost them more!) | I accepted this internship without any previous work experience and under pressure of finding a place somewhere cool in very little time. Now, having almost finished my internship, I would never accept an offer with that little salary again. What I'm trying to say is, don't sell yourself for cheap just because you have no experience. Rather wait a little longer than accept to work for almost nothing. | 2019-2020 | 6 | my instagram is: @wwweberberger | |||||||
83 | Fons Hickmann m23 | Berlin | Germany | 400€, 450€ after 3 month | No | 40 | 900 | Clearly defined but not too educational. | I learned about client contact, pre-press and print production. | There was hardly any mentoring or possibility to take part in an interesting design process. Instead I applied existing CI, followed instructions and worked on unattractive jobs. After six month of underpaid full time work not a single project was suited for my portfolio. Moreover I felt like a personal assistant: answering all phone calls, running errands, making coffee and cleaning tables after working hours etc. The worst part was the toxic atmosphere at the time. I witnessed inappropriate behavior of all kinds, bullying and passive aggressive conflicts. It was really alarming and I probably should have quit. =/ | Adequate payment, educational and representable jobs, open and clear communication, fair and flexible conditions, honest appreciation and interest in every person’s individual potential and experience. | 6 | ||||||||||
84 | Rubin Museum of Art | New York City | New York, US | unpaid | free admission to the museum and many other museums around the country, reserved tickets for some events, discounts at the museum cafe | 21 hours | living with parents so I paid ~$300 for monthly bus pass to city, lunch every day ~$13/day | yes | The people there respected me and treated me as their equal although I was the youngest person working there. Every project I worked on had value for me to grow as a designer. I was given larger projects once I proved myself and appreciated that trust. I learned a lot about working in a small museum and how design touches all parts of the museum's experience. I also got to learn about the many inner-workings of a museum exhibition, even parts that didn't involve my department. Merely observing was extremely educational and eye-opening. I made good connections while there and felt like I was part of a team. I left with good portfolio work as well. | This would have been the perfect summer internship if I had been paid. I appreciated working on larger projects but I think such projects deserved some sort of compensation. I also think if I wasn't as proactive as I was, there would have been a lot more sitting around doing nothing. | All design internships should be paying at least minimum wage, especially in large metropolitan cities like NYC. Projects assigned should never be busy work and should be enriching in some way. | summer (3 months) | ||||||||||
85 | Contagious | Edinburgh | UK | Nothing | No | 40 | £300 | Yes | It was good to experience the working environment and work on a variety of projects. | I did not feel part of the team. | Pay money. Get them involved with other team members. Make sure there is regular communication. | 2018 | ||||||||||
86 | Tangent | Glasgow | UK | £200 in total | Paesano pizza | 40 | £400 (travel, accomadation and food) | Yes, I got to work on live projects, shown through how they structure their projects etc. | The team were all very friendly and welcoming, understood quickly what level I was at and where I could fit in for the duration of my internship. | I really enjoyed my time with Tangent. They are very much a small independent company with style. They have some really interesting and recurring big clients which very much makes them influential as a design agency and interesting to work with. | I believe that internships that last at least 2 weeks should be charged out at least minimum wage. (It might be different if you stay in the same city/can stay with a friend but if not the intern is always left out of pocket which doesn't seem fair) | 2017 | 2 weeks | |||||||||
87 | G1 Group | Glasgow | UK | I believe it was £7.50ph (living wage) | Discounts on venues, Free entry to their clubs, Free lunch 1 a month. | 40 | £600 | I worked on live tasks under the guidance of the creative director. | Being able to work on projects as a member of the team and gain experience as to what being an internal graphic designer is like. Getting to visit locations and present ideas direct to their managers was great fun. | There was a bit of tension across certain members of the team that did occasionally make for an uncomfortable environment. The building, location and set up did make up for that though. | Honestly, I believe this was a good place to intern at if you want to gain general experience with software and how internal design teams work. I am not sure if she still works there but the lady in reception (wish I remember her name) is the loveliest. | 2017 | Just over a month I think (They offered longer) | |||||||||
88 | Freytag Anderson | Glasgow | UK | n/a | n/a | 40 (ish) | £250 | I helped with a lot of research based work. Less structure than previous internships I had completed however I was in awe of a lot of the work they produce so I was happy delving into the inner workings of their previous projects (They had a relatively new junior/mid designer at the time I came). | Greig organised a good chunk of time for me to present him my portfolio in their conference room at the end of my week and gave me constructive criticism which I was sincerely grateful for. He also showed me previous versions of his own portfolio when he was at my stage for a sense of scale. | Their wasn't a huge amount of structure during my time at Freytag Anderson however I believe this was more to do with my internship's timing than anything else. I still believe I gained a lot from being invited in for a week and would have loved to stay for longer. | Had fun painting the mural on the studio wall with the junior/mid designer (sad that the company has moved studios since then) | 2018 | 1 week (GDFS reward) | |||||||||
89 | T-Systems Multimedia Solutions | Dresden, Germany | Germany | 1520€ per Month | 38 | About 500€ | No, I did what all the other coworkers did. | I was allowed to work independently without my boss controlling everything I did. Also, the Team was very friendly. | It was not challenging at all and I was bored most of the time. I could not learn a lot because it was always the same few tasks including Shutterstock research, cropping photos and pasting them into templates. Sometimes there were weeks with hardly any task to do for me. | Design Students want to learn something during their internship. Please challenge them instead of using them as cheap workers. | 2019 | 5 | Instagram: @hangmansraven | |||||||||
90 | Gudberg Nerger | Hamburg | Germany | 450 | No | 50 | 550 | No not at all. Communication was super bad. At least their air director was taking care of the intern but she also quit because of bad communication. | No stress, you exactly work 40 hours not longer. | The communication was super bad. You are not allowed to meet the clients. They are not taking proper care of their interns. I’ve design a huge identity and I was not even credited. | More money. Appreciate the interns work | 2019 | 6 months | |||||||||
92 | Studio Es | Vienna | Austria | 300 EUR/month | Free Entry on Design Conference and on a Design Award Event | around 40-45 hours a week | 700 | in the fewest cases they were educational. The tasks were often quite clear, but nevertheless one did not know exactly what kind of implementation was desired. | — The people. The whole studio was kind, and the other interns become really good friends. — I have learned that quick results are justified in the business — I’ve become more aware towards ideas about aesthetics — communication with clients and co-workers — living in such a nice City and meet a lot of other creatives | — no constructive feedback, insufficient support — no sustainable training in technical and basic procedures or instruments — a huge amount of reproduction work: scanning, taking pictures — expanding working hours | — most important: the Interns should be adequately supervised/mentored. This includes above all continuous and regular feedback. — Feedback rounds (about every two weeks) would be useful — expectations should be formulated clearly and in advance — the amount of work should be commensurate with payment | – | ||||||||||
93 | The Birthdays Design Studio | Athens | Greece | 600 € total from studio | Erasmus tuition from university | 30 | 600 | Yes, i got usually direct instructions to specific briefs, there was a lot of space for exploration of different directions. | Nice approach of the directors, friendly and comfortable enviroment, i was the only intern there. Mostly interesting tasks, optimal working schedule, very interesting city with affordable prices. | Generally i was satisfied with studio work, maybe I was a bit sorry for the amount of unused concepts i did, which weren't use for the final proposals. | Studios should pay more money to the interns, if they cannot afford it, the working schedule shouldn't be fulltime. | 2019/2020 | 6 | |||||||||
94 | Claudio Nardi Architects | Firenze | Italy | None | House rental | 8 | Considering approx house rentals i think around 600/800€ | Yes | The relation between Owner of the Studio and me as intern | Some colelagues send me some bad looks when i was talking with the Chief Architect as i was a threat for their careers | To provide to the interns more free accomodation than money: when i was young i prefer more to discover new cities than gain money | 2013 | 2 months | careers@g-design.it | ||||||||
95 | Bureau Borsche | Munich | Germany | 400 EUR | No | Around 40, never more | 800 EUR (500 rent) | As clear as necessary | You become an integral part of the team (as interns make up around half of the team), the atmosphere is fun and friendly. The Studio itself is beautiful. Mirko is undoubtedly great at what he does, and has a good ability to pass this on to his interns. He will consider every idea of yours and respect your style. | Some had to work with their own laptops. If you are a female intern, I advise you to be prepared to speak up and let him know when he crosses a line. Not that it's your f*cking job, but just for your own sake. He had a way of making inappropriate jokes and his behavior can be disrespectful towards women. | Pay them better. You can afford it. Treat your co-workers with respect. It's not that hard. | older | 6 | |||||||||
96 | Jerszy Seymour Design Workshop | Berlin | Germany | 0 | no | 4 days a week | 800 | Sometimes. Since he was often not in the studio it depended on you how much effort you put into tasks. | The work is very free, its expected that you do whatever you want and integrate own ideas. Also the discussions about art and design usually while lunch were super interesting. | Some tasks were definitely not a job for a design internship (picking up stuff etc.) | Fair payment! Often internships are needed to apply at universities or for jobs, how can we live without earning (enough) money? I think its just disrespectful towards the work. | 2019 | 3 | |||||||||
97 | Nils Holger Moormann | Aschau im Chiemgau | Germany | 1300€ netto | healthcare | exactly 40 | 1000 | yes | professional colleagues, topics are very fair helping you to improve your skills, strict working schedule so you don't work more than 8 hours a day | Sometimes I felt lonely as the only full time graphic designer in the company (the others are working on products and distribution) | I felt thankful for experiencing my internship at "Moormann" but I know that this is not the average. For studios that don't pay a fair amount for work that increases their capital: people should value themselves more within design and that includes better pay | 2019 | 6 Months (internship was not part of my studies) | www.instagram.com/fabius.kossack | ||||||||
98 | Henry Ford Museum (Graphic Design Intern) | Dearborn | Michigan | 12/hr, got paid through a grant initiative | Free tickets to the museum for 4 people plus me | 40 Hours | lived at home | Clearly defined, if they weren't you could ask questions. I had a couple confusing tasks that my boss was helpful figuring out. | I didn't have anyone breathing over my shoulder telling me how to get stuff done, everyone was nice, pretty trusting in my abilities. | No bad experiences! Had a lot of fun working in a museum | This one was pretty entry level and I had not worked in-house before and wasn't quite sure what type of work I'd be doing, so I would just make sure you do your research beforehand and ask what kind of work you'll be doing before beginning. | Never give up! :) | 2019 | June to August | amrista99@gmail.com | |||||||
99 | Designers Remix | Copenagen | Denmark | 0 | no | 40 | 1300 | i was doing a lot of errands, ironing and steaming, sewing and some pattern cutting. Being part of the design process /creative process was barely part of the internship | regulated work hours | The attitude of the heads of the company and some employees was condescending and disrespectful, like you were of lower value. Obviously the company was making very good profits but did not pay for their interns. | Integrate interns into the real processes of their work and treat them respectfully. Treat them with respect and value their work with a wage. | 5 | ||||||||||
100 | Dataworks Limited | Glasgow | UK | £500 (in total and that was random one-off payment) | No | 30 | £5 (I'm still living at home so the only bill I have to pay right now my mobile bill) | Initially, yes. Then my mentor left the company and I was pretty much winging it from that point onwards. | I got to do a lot of stuff that, as a novice UX designer, I'd never done before. | The office politics was horrendous. My fellow intern was constantly being put down by the man who believed himself to be in charge (who, for the purposes of this form, I shall refer to as intense guy). The other higher up actually had more management experience than intense guy but had to constantly work around intense guy's ego. I decided to leave after intense guy tried to mansplain my job title to me (he got it wrong so I corrected him) and continually failed to listen to anyone. Weirdly enough, I was the only person producing any output at the company despite the fact that I was a lone intern who'd never done design before and was trying to singlehandedly do the job of an entire design team. | They should be paid. I don't care what the intern is doing; they should be getting paid for it with hard cash. Not "experience" or promises of something to put in their portfolio (I have nothing because intense guy decided to be inflexible about the NDA), money. It's as simple as that. | Do not work at Dataworks Limited. It's a software consultancy startup that is destined to crash and burn if intense guy doesn't change his ways. | 2020 | |||||||||
101 | bungalow kreativbuero | Würzburg | Germany | 400€/month | - | 25 | 300 apartment + 150 food and stuff | I was part of ongoing projects where i got the chance to work for myself in cooperation with one of the main team. I could always get feedback when i was unsure. | The bungalow crew trusted me a lot and we had a really nice connection going on. I could definitely gain insights into the inner workings of a buero and was able to get to know certain design processes and dealing with clients and bigger projects. Overall the team atmosphere was amazing. | Maybe sometimes more strict plans how to start with a project and what i should actually do. But this totally depends on your character if you need structure to help you with a task. | I really enjoyed my time in Würzburg and if you'd like to have a pretty amazing internship where you hang out with the nicest people and get to do some awesome work and also learn a lot – bungalow is right for you :) | 2019 | 6 | instagram.com/michael.hengl | ||||||||
102 | KOCMOC.NET | Leipzig | Germany | 450EUR | no | Never more than 40h a week | 450EUR rent (student home) and another 200EUR for food, transport etc. | Most of the time | The team was extremely friendly and ready to help. Sometimes then overlook the interns but they dont mean bad by it. The clients they have are very good usually and they involved me in client meetings instantly and let me take over big clients and gave me a lot of responsability. | nope | A higher income, because it was not possible to find a place to stay short term (6months) for less than 450EUR. I would have liked to earn money and see more of the city and experience it. | 2019 | 6Months |