8/16/07

Today was my almost last day- my last day with Sarah. She is going out of town for a wedding and then i am leaving for home and we won't see each other until the second week of september. This might be a struggle for me- since i have seen her 5 days a week for the past many weeks. It was a short day today- just finishing up cutting scarfs with our new rotary blade and getting things all in order before Judy comes back tomorrow.
SO i guess since today is more of like a last day for me i will write up the BIG SUMMARY of what i've learned and everything that's happened to me during this internship. The first goal of this blog was to discuss my responsibilities at the internship and the role that i played. My responsibilities were very lengthy- basically everything. Although i had a great partner in Sarah. It felt almost natural for Sarah to take the lead most of the time and show me the way, but she was also the one that allowed me to contribute more of my own ideas and let me do things on my own if i said i was ready to. My responsibilities included in the assistance in everything that we did at the studio- silkscreening, designing blankets & t-shirts, cutting fleece & silk for scarfs, working with patterns-particularly the new one i made for our mitten, sewing with the machine & sewing by hand. My role was a design assistant- although i was also counted on for most of our pattern and cutting work.
I first started out at the studio as a follower- basically doing whatever Judy and Sarah wanted me to do or assisting in the projects that Sarah was doing. Now i am doing projects on my own and i have a better idea of how Judy expects things to be. Like how she likes her stars to look and what design elements she won't like. and even if she says she doesn't want something -half the time sarah tells me to still try it and show it to her because she doesnt' always know what she wants. SHe can get stuck in her old designs and although she says she wants new things it's not always the easiest to get her to agree to these new things. So as the new person in the studio she seems to listen to me when i back up Sarah in our opinions- she seems more willing to try new design ideas.
Some of the things that i've learned- including technical and conceptual-most importantly is that when you are working under someone you have to achieve their idea of design. Yes, Judy is always accepting of my ideas but when it comes down to it -it's her name that's on this blanket and she is the one representing it. Even if i don't like how things look or if it's not the same style as i have, i still have to do it-because that's my job. and i don't mind that. i understand what my position and responsibilities are and i understand in the end that Judy is the boss and that i may not be able to make all the designs i want to while i am there but one day when i have moved onto a different studio/internship/company i will be able to do those things. The purpose of this internship was to learn about a local childrens clothing company- and i have. i had no real expectations of this internship other than- is it in the fashion field that i want and is it hands on- which it was. I've learned from Judy that things don't have to be perfect and the flaws in shapes can be their strenghts. As far as technical- Sarah has taught me so much from adobe photoshop and dreamweaver. Now i have a better idea of how to present my images as well as create my own website-which hopefully i will do someday soon. SO i would say all in all this summer internship was really great. I got a new REALLY great friend in Sarah, a very flexible and understanding boss in Judy, AS WELL as a job offer!!!!!