Things I Gained Beside Skills From My Internship At Noise 13
Having the Best Deskmate and Co-workers
There is nothing better than when you walk into an office, and you know genuine and creative people will surround you. Everyone at Noise 13 will support you no matter what. We are friends and best teammates either in life or at work. I could sincerely tell you that my boss, Dava, and my project managers cared about my growth, and most importantly, my happiness. Before the pandemic changed our working model, we would sit close to each other, collaborate on projects and could talk through issues quickly. The only thing you need to do is to smile at the person next to you, and you will fall into a lovely conversation and get things sorted out. The best benefit for me during my internship was finding great mentors and friends. This experience transformed me into a better person.
A Goofy Mistake Will Open Your Heart
I have a very introverted personality and am also very intimidated by making mistakes. When I first joined the Noise 13 team as an intern, I liked to get to the office a bit ahead of others to prepare my mind early. So, I decided to make coffee for everyone. However, since I was still new to our coffee machine, I made the most robust coffee in history, which I don’t know. When our former Creative Director, Peter, took a sip, he screamed to the ceiling fan, “Wooo! This coffee is INTENSE! Who took charge of the drink today?” Then I realized, “Oh no. I must have gotten it so wrong.” But to my surprise, after I said I did it, everyone didn’t blame me. Instead, everyone began laughing and started to give names for this goofy drink. I feel surrounded by warmth and instantly blended in.
Office “rule” No.1 Blast the Music and Work It Out. And Most Importantly, Never Do a “Hard Stop” on Any Songs.
Having music playing in the background is a must-have at the office. Someone always starts the day by selecting the tunes. Everyone can be an office DJ and take charge of the playlist. We even created our Noise 13 playlists during the quarantine so everyone can still connect acoustically, from home! You can enjoy those lists on Spotify here:
Finally, the most important (music) rule is to smoothly fade out the current music and never stop a song abruptly while it’s playing! ;D
My Fave Project
During my two years at Noise 13, I have participated in many projects, from large to small. My biggest project has been the Instacart’s careers and company websites. As a junior designer, I played an important support role on the team. I have helped with illustrations and rolled out web pages designs. When I first joined a larger project, I learned how to coordinate and communicate with an entire team.
Gladly, owners from small businesses also come to us to help them solve their branding challenges. They may be the owner of an Italian merchandise store in San Francisco, or a founder who owns a tasty, handcrafted gin. These entrepreneurs make new and innovative products with genuine passion, such as New Age Meats, committed to creating more environmentally friendly, healthy, and ethical “meat”.
If I had to pick a favorite project, I would say it is DIAVOLICCHIO. I was very pleasantly surprised when I first read the creative brief; the client had a logo mark already in mind. DIAVOLICCHIO is a spicy olive oil product, and the client wished their icon to be a devil face with big open eyes and a tongue sticking out. It needed to be fun and convey that spicy taste! The moment I learned about those design requirements, and saw the photo taken of the founder making this face, I laughed out loud, excited to design this clever idea.
After the product finally launched, we asked the client to send us some samples to conduct the photoshoot. I worked with another team member to direct the photos as well. That was my first time to lead a project from the beginning to end. If you need some Italian indulgence or want to buy some holiday gifts for your family and friends, don’t forget to visit this shop!
In the end, my internship turned full-time job has kept me surrounded by fun projects and coworkers. I would gladly do it all over again, except for the coffee!
—Zili
