When UT Austin undergraduates intern as design students under the guidance of faculty member Eve Nicols, they tend to go far. Becky Phung is working this summer with The Greg Norman Collection in New York City. Let's check in to see what she learned:
What degree are you working towards?
Textiles and Apparel with a focus in Apparel, Functional, and Technical Design
What does your typical day look like at The Greg Norman Collection?
A typical day involves sitting in meetings, creating line sheets, and color-matching colors from the computer to actual print-outs. These meetings could be with the design and sales team or with a buyer coming in to view the latest styles created for next season. At my desk, I typically will work on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create line sheets to send to buyers or for the company's own reference. To achieve an accurate depiction of the actual colors of the styles in real life, I have to test how the colors will print out first and compare them to their Pantone color standards. After the color matches fairly well, I print out the line sheets and hand it over to sales or to design.
What surprised you the most about this internship?
I was most surprised with how much responsibility I was given over the course of the internship. At first, I did more organizational work, but then I was given more work on Illustrator and Photoshop to do. I was also surprised by how much I didn't know and how much I've learned from the internship that I didn't expect to learn.
What is the most important skill you learned at your internship?
From the internship, I've learned how to categorize colors based upon their tones and hues better, which I think will be very beneficial in the future as a designer.
Advice for TXA students looking to get an internship?
Don't make too many assumptions about an internship that will prevent you from applying or accepting. Sometimes, the internship that you expect the least from will be the most rewarding in terms of marking connections with your co-workers and the knowledge you gain by asking questions every day.
