Some Thoughts From a Former NPR Intern [Repost]

August 13, 2010

Note: this is a repost from my previous blog that mysteriously broke. This post was posted on July 11, 2010.

Original Note: This post was originally posted on the Intern Edition Summer 2009 blog, in a post called A Graphic Designer at [a] Radio Company (sic). Seeing as I was the sole writer, I don’t see the problem with reposting it here. I have edited the post for clarity and grammar. The original post can be found here. I thought it would be interesting too look back on some of the thoughts I had while I was interning at National Public Radio. As a bonus, I have included a picture of my cubicle.

Hey there.  I’m Nathan Wells, the Creative Services Intern (a part of the Communications Department).  I’m 21 and a Graphics Design major at San Jose State University.

From the moment I started telling people I had an internship at NPR as a graphic designer, people have asked how I could design graphics for a radio broadcast company.  So what do I do?  Along with the typical intern responsibilities like filing, I perform a wide variety of tasks, always different from day to day.  Here’s a sample:

For the last week I have been assisting in proofing the NPR 2010 calendar.  This involves examining every printed sheet with a careful eye, looking for misaligned text, incorrect fonts, poor legibility, even the dreaded extra space between words.  These may seem like minor issues, but trust me, a single missing period or slightly pixelated graphic is like fingernails on a chalkboard for us in Creative Services.

I also have been cleaning up headshots of talent and staff, such as fixing the lighting, saturation, and cropping where needed, as well as some other cosmetic work.

Another one of my assignments was to create a banner welcoming a client of NPR to NPR headquarters.  It was a relatively simple, straightforward job, but it was very exciting to see the final project printed out crisply onto two 2′x3′ foamboards.

In addition to the regular Creative Services assignments, I am the Graphic Designer Editor for this Summer ‘09 Intern Edition.  My first (and arguably my most important) job was to design a logo for Intern Edition.  I won’t reveal the process it took to create the logo just yet – that story is for a later post or two [I will repost these posts on this blog later].  But I will say that the logo went through many, many versions and variations before it arrived at its current navy blue and silver glory.

As I work with fellow editors to put together the website, stay tuned for more posts from me, and keep an eye  out for some behind-the-scenes pictures of how I get my work done!

Posted in Graphic Design, Internship, Personal