6 Months Internship - Industrial Design Intern Prime Studio Employee Review

During my spring semester at university, I had the great privilege of interning with Prime Studio. Prior to meeting the design team, I had heard amazing things about the studio from friends/peers in the industry—and they did not disappoint. Throughout my internship, the team supported my growth as a designer by assigning me meaningful work that was beneficial to my own personal learnings as well as to real projects going on within the agency. It was super fulfilling to see some of my work come to life, and I really appreciated the opportunities to not only sit in, but also actively participate in client meetings. I always appreciated that critical feedback I received from the team was always constructive and from a place of genuinely wanting me to improve—never from a place of ego. At the end of my internship, the team was also sure to sit down with me and go in-depth with areas for their improvement of the internship program (not many changes needed, in my opinion!), as well as areas where I personally succeeded/areas where I still have room to grow. Their attention to detail in not only their design work, but to their employees of every level is something that sets them apart in the best way possible. I would highly highly recommend this internship to anyone who is interested in the design consultancy space! Thank you again Stuart and team, for such a fulfulling industrial design internship.

Coming from more of an in-house industrial design background, I occasionally found it difficult to gauge exact task expectations/instructions delivered from multiple points of views and without a designated internship manager. That being said, it taught me how to be more flexible and communicative in a team setting that was different from what I'm used to; and this was a very minor aspect to nitpick!

Prime Studio is a company that believes in letting its designers be involved in every phase of the project, from initial client relations to final production which, for the right designer, can be extremely rewarding. As a designer at Prime, you have the benefit of getting to work on a huge variety of projects for large CPG companies as well as up-and-coming start-ups. While there is a strong focus on housewares, which has been the studio's bread and butter for a long time, the new trend in working with start-ups has brought a nice range of projects from small electronics to soft-goods. While the pace of work can be fast at times, it is balanced by the fact that the studio keeps very good hours, which is great for a work/life balance.

The studio has been slowly growing over the past few years, but the small size of the team means that you end up working with the same designers on most projects. That said, Stuart does a very good job of picking employees who not only have the desired design skills, but fit the studio's culture, which makes for a quicker and smoother adaptation period for new hires.