My Summer Internship as a Graphic Designer

Author Julia Shiels '24 is a Graphic Design major and works as a student assistant at JWU, contributing to JWU News.

This summer, I had the privilege of interning at Ginkgo Bioworks as a graphic design intern on the creative marketing team. Ginkgo is a biotech company based in Boston that focuses on creating sustainable bioproducts for clients. During my time there, I assisted with various design projects ranging from digital posters to beverage can design. Through this opportunity, I learned many skills, both design and professional.

I discovered this internship on Handshake, a job search site that JWU helps students utilize. The listing caught my eye because I have always been interested in science, and the company has a focus on sustainability, which is a topic I am very passionate about. I applied in September and went through three rounds of interviews before receiving an offer in December.

I started at the end of May and worked until the middle of August. During these three months, I worked closely with a group of extremely talented designers and marketers. Although I was the only intern and worked remotely, I immediately felt welcomed by my new team. My experience in my junior year Brand Identity class helped me pick up using Ginkgo’s brand standards quickly, and I was so excited to use a real company’s standards to create designs.

ABOVE: POSTER ADVERTISING GINKGO'S IN HOUSE MAGAZINE, GROW BY GINKGO.

During my time at Ginkgo, I was able to gain experience in editorial, package, and social media design. I created posters that were hung around the offices, LinkedIn posts, and my favorite project, the beer can design for Ginkgo’s 15th birthday happy hour. The knowledge I gained from my classes at JWU helped me succeed with these projects. For example, because of what I learned in my package design class, I was able to create a beer can design that successfully combined Ginkgo’s brand standards with the celebratory nature of the occasion while still visually making sense with the package.

ABOVE: BEER CAN I DESIGNED FOR GINKGO'S 15TH ANNIVERSARY HAPPY HOUR.

This internship gave me a glimpse into what my future career could look like. I made strong connections with my team and further developed professional skills such as working on a team and presenting ideas to a group. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to intern with Ginkgo, and I can’t wait to see what the next step in my career will be.

ABOVE: POSTER ADVERTISING GINKGO'S THIRD-PARTY HOTLINE PROVIDER, ETHICSPOINT.

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