My Internship at Studio Rubric
During the winter of 2020, I interned for development and design firm, Studio Rubric in Brooklyn, NY as a Digital Marketing and Design Intern. While at Rubric, my day-to-day tasks involved social branding, creating visual assets, editorial design, and most importantly, web design.
Projects
View the projects below to gain a better understanding of my work tasks and assignments.
Website Design
Nathaniel Rateliff
One of my major assignments at Rubric, was to facilitate the completion of folk singer/songwriter, Nathaniel Rateliff's, website. I designed the main page shown in the thumbnail above. I included this as an example because this was the first major website that I have taken on a large amount of responsibility. I experienced some struggles, such as learning how to write HTML code on the job, while still meeting my deadlines. It was especially gratifying that my superiors at Rubric trusted me to do a thorough job.
Curating Blog Posts
Luke Williams for Bone NYC
During my internship at Rubric, I made minor level editorial adjustments to blog posts prior to publishing them. I chose this blog post as an example to showcase because it was the first full blog post that I templated and wrote all the copy for. This was an exciting challenge, because although I consider myself a good writer in school, writing blog posts was unfamiliar to me. This task allowed me to combine my design and writing abilities, ultimately strengthening both skills.
Social Media Marketing
Promoting Rubric
The third example I chose to include in my ePortfolio is my social media marketing tasks. My major promotional project for Rubric was for their debut art show in February. On a daily basis, I would update and maintain social platforms, post images, videos, or visual assets announcing events or news. For the art show however, I worked with another team member to design physical and digital marketing materials. I also organized paid-advertisement campaigns and curated email blasts to potential artists and clients. View the link below to see what I curated between December 30th to January 28th.
What I Learned
Through this experience, I was able to learn more about the art-business world. I saw firsthand the extensive processes that go into creating a website and other social design assets for a client. I learned how to manage working with multiple clients simultaneously, while still reaching our important deadlines. I also gained new skills within Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Finally, I was able to experience working for a smaller sized company which ultimately enabled me to see the actual impact and results of my work.
Personal Growth
Post-Rubric
Following my internship, I decided to take an introductory HTML course so I could provide Rubric with more skills, if I end up working for them again. I was also able to assemble my own website for my musical career. I've used what I learned from this internship to also run Facebook campaign advertisements and overall how to improve my social media presence. I chose to include my website below, because my main aspiration and goal in life is to be successful through music. So, utilizing skills I've learned in the business world ultimately helps me build my brand and better represent myself as a legitimate artist. This is an extremely important in the competitive landscape of the modern music industry.
Moving Forward
Working at Rubric has benefited me greatly. I have made new connections, personal and business, and this has enhanced my knowledge of the design world. Music is still my end goal, but having design and social media knowledge has take my personal brand to another level. I hope to intern at another smaller, start-up style business next. I found it gratifying to see my work implemented and receive results from that work. In all, not only has my experience at Studio Rubric introduced me to a new world of fusing art and business, but has improved and facilitated bringing my personal goals to fruition.
Future Plans
During the last two years of my college career at UMD, I plan to run for a leadership position in my business fraternity Phi Chi Theta, tour with my band for the second time next year, and release new music. I also hope to travel more, whether it's going abroad or just taking trips with clubs or other friends. Since the start of quarantine, my roommate and I have began the process of starting our own e-commerce company. Finally, this summer, my friends and I decided to make a bucket list and we want to have someone always filming our experiences. We will then make a summer-recap video so we can relive our memories, for years to come.
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Following graduation in 2022, my plan is to move to either Los Angeles, or New York City. Regardless of where I move, I plan to pursue my music career. I will use and implement the skills and lessons I obtain from earning a degree in marketing, to continue to brand myself and network with others in the industry. If music isn't paying the bills, I still plan to work in the industry, but on the marketing and business side.
