Bhava Communications.

The above illustrations were created by the designers from their responses.

Paige Danielson

Current Design Intern

Yvonne Le: Tell me a little background about yourself:
Paige Danielson: I grew up in Tucson, Arizona. I received a BFA in Visual Communications with an emphasis in Graphic Design, and minors in both Family Studies and Sociology from Northern Arizona University. I’ve always been interested in art ever since I was a kid devouring every arts and crafts book at the Bear Canyon Library. In college, I was that statistic that had a million majors including Mathematics, Nutritional Sciences and even Egyptology. But deep down I always knew I wanted to be a designer, and I realized this when I saw my brother working with Photoshop and Illustrator for the first time.

YL: What drew you to Bhava?
PD: From the moment that I opened Bhava’s website, I could see the team’s energy, passion and love for what Bhava does. Bhava’s holistic and collaborative community approach to work was refreshing, and I wanted to be a part of that type of positive and thriving atmosphere.

YL: How do you think Bhava’s internship program differs from others?
PD: The stereotype I grew up hearing was that interns don’t actually get much experience during their internships. They’re filing papers, picking up dry cleaning and going on coffee runs with maybe a bit of real work here and there—if they’re lucky. Bhava is different—the company really wants its interns to get real experience, be a part of the team and explore their areas of interest. Instead of having one project that I work on and present at the end of the internship, I am constantly given the opportunity to work on multiple diverse projects, which allows me to grow in all areas of design.

YL: What’s your favorite part about the internship?
PD: I’ve always loved learning and Bhava is very supportive and encourages the team to continue their education. As a result, I’ve been able to attend some amazing design events at Facebook, Adobe and Yelp as well as the entire 2013 HOW Design Live Conference.

YL: What is the most challenging part of the internship so far?
PD: The most challenging part of the internship was the first week. I had been freelancing just prior and Bhava was a new place and pace with a lot to learn. I really just had to jump right in and go with it, and it turned out fine. It was all a matter of getting used to the new job and asking questions if I ever needed anything.

YL: What have you learned within the five months that you’ve been here so far?
PD: I’ve learned a lot about my industry, working with clients and about integrated marketing and public relations. There is so much that you don’t learn when you are in school that I am able to learn now with everyone’s help. I’ve also been able to work on a variety of projects that I never covered during my studies, which is great fun.

YL: Any advice for future interns?
PD: Internships are a fantastic way to build a bridge between school and freelancing into a professional career. Find an internship that fits you, give it your all and learn as much as possible. Never stop learning, growing and exploring.

Yvonne Le

Graduated Design Intern

Paige Danielson: Can you introduce yourself?
Yvonne Le: Sure, I’m Yvonne from Austin, Texas and I went to school at Loyola Marymount University where I studied Multimedia Arts with an emphasis on image. I’ve always been interested in design as a hobby; growing up, I taught myself how to code and customized my own websites. I never thought of it as a profession until my brother, who is a Creative Director at an advertising agency, inspired and motivated me.

PD: Why did you choose Bhava?
YL: I chose Bhava because I was interested in learning about agency life and the tech space, having been raised in a tech-centric environment due to my father’s role at IBM. Bhava’s bright, colorful website also seemed to be a great fit to my energetic personality.

PD: How is Bhava different?
YL: The Bhava culture is different from my past internships. At Bhava we all work collaboratively in an open environment, and we get face time with all of our teammates every day. The Bhava team cares about me and my success, and everyone is here to help and support each other whenever we need it.

PD: What do you like most about working at Bhava?
YL: I like the continuing education opportunities. I’ve had the chance to attend workshops, conferences and events to learn new tips and tricks and have brought my learnings back to Bhava to share with the team.

PD: What was the hardest part of your internship?
YL: Client-facing meetings and email writing, because designers never learn the ins and outs of business life in school. The hard part is that it’s all about getting the experience, which comes over time and can’t be learned overnight.

PD: What do you think were your biggest takeaways from the internship?
YL: Finding my passions. The Bhava internship allowed me to dabble in different areas and further my skill set. I was able to hone in on my interests, which are now more focused towards coding than before, whereas before my internship I was completely unsure.

PD: How has the transition from intern to full-time employee been?
YL: The great thing about Bhava is that it sets you up for success. Bhava prepared me to for what it would mean to go full-time even before my internship was over, so it was a very smooth transition.

PD: What’s been the most rewarding project that you’ve worked on at Bhava thus far?
YL: Redesigning a client’s entire website. I enjoyed this project because I got to practice my coding skills, learn more about the processes of web design and work with a team on a multi-faceted and complex task. It was a long and extensive project but it was all worth it once we got to see it come to life.

PD: What’s your favorite font?
YL: That’s a tough one. That’s like choosing your favorite child. I go through phases but I’m really digging Didot right now.

PD: Any advice for future interns?
YL: Always ask questions, be curious and thrive by following what you don’t know to always be learning new things.