Hollywood Reporter Internship Field Notes

Here are some field notes from one of UCA’s Directors of Design: Dylan Berzabel! He is currently a 4th year Design Media Arts major at UCLA.

Position: Art Intern for the Hollywood Reporter

Timeline: June 2019-September 2019

The type of work that I did at (company) included….

Designing and laying out pages for regular and special issues of THR Magazine.

Working with editors, photography, art, and art production to implement feedback and make design changes to ensure pages are up to the magazines standards.

Updating and managing our archive of illustrators we’ve worked with for future reference.

The most challenging thing was…

Staying up to date on every component of a layout. There are many different parts to a magazine, and they’re all moving at the same time (art, art production, photo, copy, etc.). No issue or page has the exact same work process, even if it’s a standard page that’s included in every issue. Things can shift immediately with little/no warning, so one has to remain vigilant and on the lookout for requests.

Layout Design by Dylan Berzabal

My favorite part was…

Being able to hold and look through a physical copy of everyone’s hard work out and about in the real world! Since we spend so much time on an issue before the public sees it, it’s interesting to see how everything eventually comes together to form a coherent body of work.

What I wish I knew….

Your workload will vary greatly and comes in waves of slow and busy periods, so definitely come in with an open and flexible mind.

Advice for future interns…

Don’t be afraid to ask, and I think that goes for all internships. Everyone there is trying to help you, and you have to remember that this is meant to be a learning experience! It’s okay if you find things disorienting at first or if you make mistakes. This is not a workplace where it’s one and done. It’s a constant collaborative effort between everyone in the office. Just remember to be mindful of other people's time, and that the energy you put out there will also be the type of energy you receive back.

Biggest takeaway…

Active communication and an open mind is key!