I am currently writing this article sitting in a small cafe in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. After paying less than 5 dollars for a chai latte (with almond milk and cinnamon for those interested), I have found my temporary workstation for the afternoon at a driftwood bench, watching the rain out the window. After a record-breakingly dry October in Philly, the chill, dew, and precipitation coming from Lake Michigan is a welcome companion. Feeling incredibly inspired by the lakeside and atmosphere, I am sure I could write my entire article just about how much I love looking at huge bodies of water. Perhaps more interesting, however, is how I have found myself in the Midwest after rarely leaving my Philadelphia bubble.
At the end of last semester, my professor took my friend and I on as interns for a real-world project, designing the branding for the annual Wayzgoose conference at the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers. My enthusiasm as a young designer to get my hands on something real could not be dampened by the fact that only a few days after the request, I would be hopping on a plane to spend a week in Copenhagen. However, upon my return, a summer full of balancing this project with my “day job” (a.k.a. full-time summer internship), was underway. I frequented the graphic design studios in their abandoned summer state, I had Zoom meetings with my professor and friend before running off to tutoring, and I spent evenings sketching or polishing my animation skills. When the project began to come to an end, an exciting question presented itself — Would my friend and I be able to attend the conference when it rolled around in November?
Now, after the opening of this article, you know the answer already. The excitement for this opportunity has been consistently building over the past several months, culminating in an early Friday morning departure and a late Sunday evening return. Because I grew up in a family that rarely traveled, being able to fuel my own wanderlust as a young adult has been an incredible dream. Being able to tell other people that I am traveling for my design job has been an incredible ego boost. The process of traveling, packing business casual clothes, and making sure I had networking materials at the ready was so affirming to me as a young professional in a competitive field.
Nothing though was comparable to walking into the conference and looking up at a gigantic screen situated behind the keynote speakers and seeing my work. MY WORK! Something I made with my own two hands as a real-world, big-girl designer! Hearing my name announced as the museum thanked us for our work and being congratulated and complimented by prolific designers was an experience I never thought I would have at 21 years old. I feel so proud and grateful for this weekend as I prepare to close my computer and head to the airport. I cannot wait for a future of “traveling for work” and knowing that the things I have created are out there in the real world.