Icarus
May 2019 - Jun 2019
Service Design & Design Research Internship
Skills & Tools Used
Service Design, Design Strategy, User Research, Contextual Inquiry, Typography, Illustration // Illustrator
In June 2019, I interned at Icarus Design - a design studio in Bangalore (India). During my 6 weeks, I worked closely with the design researchers, strategists, product and graphic designers on various collaborative projects relating to service design, branding and packaging design. Given the dynamic nature of the firm, and the number of projects I was a part of, my responsibilities and areas of contribution were diverse, including (but not limited to) user research, brainstorming, concept sketches for packaging elements and documentation of projects and information.
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This diversity in the projects and teams I was a part of also resulted in a unique mentee experience - I am fortunate enough to call many of the designers at Icarus my mentors, and all of them added something unique and valuable to my storehouse of knowledge.
Due to a NDA, I cannot disclose specifics about the projects I worked on, but I will attempt to outline in some detail my responsibilities and key takeaways from what turned out to be a memorable and highly educational internship - one I will remember for a long time to come.
Role & Deliverables
I. Design Research
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Primary and field research conducted on packaging and retail display for a skin care brand.
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Secondary research on service design companies' marketing approach and websites of multi-national retail outlets.
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Basic primary and secondary research for a tea brand.
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Research on a pack design for a tea brand newly acquired by a leading FMCG company,.
II. Exploring different graphical styles and coming up with a small graphical element for a candy pack.
III. Facilitated documentation for a service design project for a skin care brand.
IV. Brainstorming in a group for nomenclature for a skin care brand.
V. Was part of the design review and ideation with senior graphic designers.
Key Takeaways
Have collective design review sessions, and have them often
Part of why my experience at ICARUS was so unique was the nature of the design review sessions. Everyone sat down together, from director to senior to junior designers to interns, to review each other's work in a constructive manner without their rank getting in the way. Having them often enabled everyone to make timely progress, and making them collaborative offered many perspectives, which proved more than useful in the end.
Involve yourself in the unexpected
Be a part of something you never thought you'd be a part of - whether it's a project or a specific team. There is always something to learn, new (and more!) questions to ask, and always something that will add to your skills.
Really get to know who you're working with
Not only does this ensure that everyone can make the best use of their respective talents, you also make new friends along the way. While it took me a little bit of time to come out of my shell, I enjoyed the rapport and the memories I made - with them, and with my fellow interns. Whether it was bonding over similar reading and music tastes, or the small party that we interns hosted for the 50 employees (featuring home-made cake, cookies, payasam and samosas), at the end of the day, the people were the ones who made the internship such fun for me.