ROLE
Graphic Designer
TEAM
Solo Internship Work
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Pencil & Paper
DURATION
3 months, May - July 2024
FRESH IDENTITY
During my internship with Michigan Athletics, I developed social media graphics across multiple sports programs under tight, real-world deadlines that mirrored the department's actual production schedule. The core challenge was creating a fresh seasonal identity for the athletics brand, not simply replicating existing content, but exploring new visual directions inspired by contemporary sports design trends while maintaining Michigan's iconic brand standards. Working in Photoshop and Illustrator, I learned to balance creative experimentation with brand cohesion, producing assets that could stop the scroll while feeling unmistakably Michigan.
Celebrating Michigan track athletes Cindy Ofili Sember and Tiffany Ofili Porter, both three-time Olympians. This design emphasizes their shared legacy through dynamic action photography layered with bold typography. The challenge was honoring individual achievements while reinforcing their collective story as Michigan athletes.
A high-energy football matchup graphic designed to build anticipation on social feeds. Used composite photography and Michigan's signature maize-and-blue palette to create depth and movement, with the "Live From A²" branding establishing location-specific identity.
A rivalry matchup graphic utilizing close-crop action photography and bold vertical typography. The design creates tension and focus on the athlete while maintaining clean readability, which is essential for quick social media consumption during game day scrolling.
A countdown graphic using negative space and athlete silhouettes integrated into bold numerals. As a former gymnast myself, this project held personal significance, designing for friends still competing in the sport added meaningful context to the creative process. The result balances athletic aesthetics with functional template design that could scale across the season.
A modular template design allowing for quick customization of location, time, date, and opponent information. The torn paper effect and action photography combination creates consistency across posts while the placeholder text structure enables rapid deployment during busy game schedules.
Explored split-screen composition with torn paper texture effects to add grit and energy. The helmet-to-player transition creates visual intrigue while the "GAME DAY" type treatment dominates the frame, designed to perform in Instagram feeds and stories.
This internship taught me how to operate within established brand ecosystems while pushing creative boundaries. I learned that effective marketing design isn't about reinventing the wheel with every post, it's about creating flexible visual systems that maintain brand recognition while adapting to different sports and audiences. The fast-paced environment showed me the importance of design efficiency and building templates that allow for quick iteration without sacrificing quality.
Moving forward, I'm focused on expanding my ability to create cohesive visual systems across multiple platforms. I want to deepen my skills in motion graphics and video editing to complement my static design work, as marketing increasingly demands multi-format content. I'm seeking opportunities where I can contribute to a brand's visual identity from conception through execution, bringing both creative vision and strategic thinking to marketing initiatives.