AGENCY LIFE FOR THE DESIGN INTERN

WHAT WE WISH WE KNEW AS A DESIGN INTERN: A FUN, SLIGHTLY UNHINGED GUIDE TO SURVIVING (AND THRIVING) IN BRANDING AND ADVERTISING

Approximate 12-14 Minute Read

So, you landed a design internship at a branding agency. Congrats! You’re now part of an industry that somehow blends art, psychology, technology, business, and the occasional existential crisis into one career path. If you’re imagining that agency life is all about brainstorming in trendy exposed-brick offices and creating the next Cannes Lions campaign, buckle up. If you’ve never heard of Cannes Lions, then get cozy ‘cause this is the old-school article for you.

Let’s start with a basic assumption—you probably have pretty darn good design chops, know how to wield Adobe Creative Suite, and maybe even have an opinion on the fonts named after U.S. states. But if you’re planning to survive in an actual agency, there’s a lot they don’t tell you in school—like how agencies make money, how to navigate clients who are asking to merge logo concepts "A", "C", and "G", and why copywriters will be your secret best friends (even if they’ll roast your work with alarming confidence).

If we could hop into a time machine and drop some wisdom on our intern selves, here’s what we’d say.

Agencies Exist to Solve Business Problems, Not Just Make Pretty Things

Let’s get this out of the way: Branding and advertising aren’t art. At least, not in the museum gallery, duct-taped banana, deep existential meaning, people-nod-while-sipping-wine kind of way. If you’re looking for that, you might want to switch your major to Fine Arts and start prepping for your tortured-genius-starving-artist phase.

What we do is commercial creativity—which means our creations have one job: to make money for someone else. I know, I know. It sounds soul-crushing, but the best designers in this field don’t see it that way. They know that solving a business problem with creativity is its own kind of magic.

If you’re working on a consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brand, for example, your work has to:

• Make a consumer notice it in three seconds or less on a crowded store shelf.

• Convince them to pick it up instead of the 38 other brands of oat milk sitting next to it.

• Speak to the consumer. Like, make them appreciate your brand on an objective and emotional way.

As David Ogilvy (debatably the godfather of modern advertising) once said in Ogilvy on Advertising, "If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative." That doesn’t mean your designs have to scream "BUY NOW!" in flashing Comic Sans. But it does mean your work has to have a purpose, a reason, and a clear message that makes people want to engage with it.

If you’re only thinking about making things look "cool," you’re missing the point. The best creative work isn’t just visually appealing—it’s strategically designed to move people to action.

Agencies Make Money (and Exist) Because Clients Pay Them

You know how some internships pay in "experience" and "exposure"? Yeah, that’s not how agencies stay in business. They exist for one reason: Clients hire them to do work. This means a couple of things that you should know upfront:

1. Clients are the reason you have a job. So, as much as you'd love to say, "thanks for the feedback but I think it’s perfect as is”, you, uh… probably shouldn’t.

2. Agencies charge for time. Everything from strategy meetings to Photoshop edits gets billed, which means your productivity impacts the agency’s bottom line.

Most agencies make money in one of three ways:

• Project-based work – A client hires the agency for a single job, like a rebrand or packaging refresh.

• Retainers – A client pays a fixed fee every month for ongoing services, like social media, brand strategy, or advertising campaigns.

• Billable hours – Every minute you spend adjusting kerning or debating hex codes is tracked, billed, and paid for.

You’ll find out sooner rather than later, whether explicitly or implicitly, that navigating "The Iron Triangle of Service" will be a constant struggle. Industry veterans may debate the application of this model, some even call it a fallacy, but I tend to align to the thinking that you can apply two of the three factors to a given project…not three.  

• You can have a project fast and good, but it’ll be expensive. 

• You can have a project fast and cheap, but it probably won’t be the agencies best work. 

• You can have a project cheap and good, but the work will be deprioritized at the agency, and it will probably take longer than what the clients schedule allows. 

This is something you cannot solve. And frankly, it’s not really something you should concern yourself with all too much. Your account managers and creative directors will work with clients to find the right balance. All you should focus on is creating the best work, as quickly as possible (Good + Cheap). This will give the agency financial flexibility while helping them maximize profitability. 

If this sounds a little "wait, I thought I was here to be creative?", don’t panic. The good news is that when you understand how an agency makes money, you’ll start seeing where you can add value. And trust us, agencies love interns who add value.

Want to be a design intern that people actually want to hire later? Learn how to hit deadlines, communicate clearly, and perfect your craft so that your Art Directors don’t have to rebuild your files when the work goes into production. 

Great Design is Nothing Without a Great Idea

One of the biggest mistakes new designers make is thinking their job is just to make things look nice. Nope. Your real job is to bring an idea to life visually. If you’ve never thought about what an idea actually is, let’s try to fix that now.

A big idea is the foundation of any great campaign or creative solution. It’s what makes a brand memorable, what makes an ad stick in your head, what makes a product something people actually care about. This is why copywriters are your secret best friends. Copywriters don’t have the benefit (or burden) of a set of visual design skills to communicate their creative solution. They rely on their ideas and the articulation of those thoughts. This is where most every great idea starts. 

Think about some of the most iconic campaigns:

• "Got Milk?" – Simple. Bold. Instantly memorable.

• "Just Do It." – Not just a tagline. A brand philosophy.

• "Think Small." – Volkswagen’s campaign that changed car advertising forever.

• "Wassup?" – Perhaps one of the first "viral" campaigns of the 21st century. 

Would those ideas have worked without good design? Probably not. But would great design alone have made them legendary? Absolutely not. A lot of young designers underestimate the importance of ideas and words in branding and advertising. But the best creative work happens when designers and copywriters collaborate to build something greater than the visual alone.

Luke Sullivan talks about this in Hey Whipple, Squeeze This—how the best creatives understand that writing and design aren’t separate disciplines. They’re two sides of the same coin. So, next time you’re working on a project, don’t just think about how it looks. Ask yourself, What’s the big idea? How would I sell this to my team if I woke up the next morning and my hands were missing? (oh…damn…that’s the first time I’ve thought of that and it’s quite disturbing.)

Clients are Humans and Consumers Too
Let’s talk about clients. You’ll meet many incredible ones who trust your creativity, give you thoughtful feedback, and make you feel like you’re working together to change the world. And then… there are the clients who will make you want to consider a new career in commercial landscaping. 

But here’s the truth: Clients aren’t the bad guys. They’re humans, just like you, and understanding what makes them tick is one of the best ways to level up as a designer. Clients have a lot riding on their decisions. They’re under pressure from their bosses, their budgets, and their sales targets. Sometimes, when they ask for "more blue" or "a bigger logo," it’s not because they don’t trust you—it’s because there is something about the idea or execution that makes them uncomfortable and maybe they don’t know how to express their thoughts. 

Evaluating creative can be a subjective exercise and the clients are learning how to critique just as you are learning how to create. Understand that you are there to help solve their problems in a way that makes them feel confident, heard, and valued. That’s why client service teams—account managers, strategists, project managers—are so important. They act as the go-between, translating business goals into creative briefs and helping manage expectations on both sides.

If you learn how to explain your design choices in a way that connects to business outcomes, you’ll become invaluable. For example, instead of saying, "I think this layout looks better," you could say, "I chose this layout because it draws the eye to the product benefits first, which is key to driving purchase decisions." See the difference? You’re not just defending your work—you’re tying it to something the client cares about: results.

Also, learn to pick your battles. Not every piece of feedback is worth going to war over. If a client wants a slightly different shade of blue, it’s probably not a hill worth dying on. But if they want to add 15 extra words to a headline that’s supposed to be punchy and memorable, that’s the time to speak up—respectfully, of course. Remember, you’re on the same team. The client hired the agency because they need your creative expertise. If you approach the relationship with empathy, patience, and a willingness to collaborate, you’ll not only create better work—you’ll build trust, and that trust can lead to more creative freedom down the road.

And one last thing that really helped me: Often, the best part of the client’s day is when they get to review creative with their agency. Think about all the other "mundane" tasks that go along with running a business. The creative review might be sandwiched between a two-hour meeting with legal and an upcoming working lunch with procurement to discuss the implications of new tariffs. They look forward to meeting with you. Use that to your advantage.

 
Confidence Meets Vulnerability: The Art of Presenting Ideas and Thinking on Your Feet
One of the biggest lessons you’ll learn in branding and design—whether you realize it now or not—is the delicate balance between confidence and vulnerability. You need to be confident enough to stand by your creative decisions, but vulnerable enough to admit when something isn’t working or could be improved. It’s a tightrope walk, but if you master it, you’ll not only become a better designer—you’ll become a better collaborator, a better presenter, and ultimately, a more valuable creative professional.

Let’s start with confidence. As a young designer, it can be terrifying to present your work, especially when you’re sitting across from clients, creative directors, or senior executives who have years (or decades) of experience. You might feel like you need to apologize for your choices or preemptively defend your work before anyone even says a word. Don’t do this. If you walk into a room unsure of yourself, everyone will pick up on it. Present your work with the assumption that it is great, because you put in the time and effort to make it great. Plus, most directors wouldn’t let you walk into the room with work that is objectively bad. So, it’s ok take some confidence from that. 

That said, confidence isn’t the same thing as stubbornness. If you’re too rigid in your thinking, you’ll shut yourself off from the opportunity to make your work better. This is where vulnerability comes in. Vulnerability means being open to feedback, willing to kill your darlings, and understanding that even the best ideas can always be improved. It’s the ability to separate your ego from your work—to take critique without taking it personally.

One of the most valuable skills you can develop as a designer is the ability to think on your feet—especially in client meetings and presentations. This is where lessons from acting, and improv comedy can be a game-changer. Ever notice how the best improv comedians roll with whatever is thrown at them? They don’t panic. They listen, adapt, and keep the energy moving forward. That’s exactly what you need to do in a creative presentation.

A client might say, "I like this, but it doesn’t feel quite right." Instead of freezing up or getting defensive, you can use an improv-inspired approach: "Yes, and…" This simple technique allows you to acknowledge the feedback without losing momentum. "Yes, and we could explore adjusting the typography to give it more warmth." Or, "Yes, and maybe we can refine the layout so the hierarchy is clearer." It shows you’re engaged, adaptable, and capable of problem-solving on the spot.

The best presenters don’t just explain their work; they tell a story that they know the client will relate to. They walk the audience through their creative choices in a way that feels logical, exciting, and purposeful. Think of it like a movie—there’s a setup (the problem), a rising action (the creative exploration), and a resolution (your final design solution). If you can master the art of storytelling in your presentations, you’ll not only sell your ideas more effectively, but you’ll also make the process more enjoyable for your audience.

A great example of this is Steve Jobs. When he introduced new Apple products, he didn’t just list features—he created a narrative that built anticipation and excitement. He made people feel like they were part of something bigger than just a product launch. If you can take even a fraction of that storytelling magic and apply it to your work, you’ll stand out in any agency. (Hint: TED talks should be your friend.)

So, remember: Confidence gets people to listen to you. Vulnerability gets people to trust you. Storytelling makes people buy in. And improv keeps you from falling apart when things don’t go according to plan. If you can master these skills, you’ll be the kind of designer that people want to work with—not just because you create great work, but because you present it in a way that inspires, engages, and moves projects forward.

Your Career Path Might Take Some Unexpected Turns

When you’re just starting out, it’s easy to think your career will follow a straight line. You imagine landing a junior design job, climbing the ladder to art director, then creative director, and eventually running your own agency or freelancing from a villa in Tuscany. And hey, maybe that will happen! But for most people, careers in the creative industry are a lot more twisty, turny, and unpredictable.

The truth is, your first job probably won’t be your dream job, and that’s okay. Every role you take is a chance to learn new skills, meet new people, and figure out what kind of work really lights you up. Maybe you’ll discover that you love the fast-paced world of advertising—or maybe you’ll realize that working on long-term brand strategy projects is more your speed.

Also, keep in mind that design isn’t the only path forward. Agencies are filled with people who started as designers but found their true calling in other roles:

• Brand strategists dive deep into consumer insights and positioning. If you love research, psychology, and figuring out what makes people tick, this could be your jam.

• Creative directors oversee the entire creative process, from concept to execution. They need big-picture thinking, leadership skills, and the ability to sell ideas to clients.

• Production designers focus on the details, making sure everything is pixel-perfect and ready for print or digital. If you’re obsessed with precision and love working behind the scenes, this might be your lane.

• User experience (UX) designers create seamless digital experiences. If you’re interested in how design affects user behavior and functionality, UX is a growing field with tons of opportunities.

• Account Mangers play a quarterback-type role on the team. They “own” the client relationship and will represent their needs when discussing the work internally. They best ones are beloved by both the clients and the creatives.

The point is, there’s no one-size-fits-all career path in the creative industry. Your path might evolve in ways you never expected, and that’s part of the fun. The key is to stay curious, keep learning, and be open to new opportunities. And don’t be afraid to pivot if something isn’t working. If you land a job and realize it’s not what you thought it would be, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed—it just means you’ve gained clarity about what you want (and don’t want) in your career.

Also, keep an eye on emerging trends. The design landscape is always changing, and new roles are constantly being created. Ten years ago, "social media manager" wasn’t even a thing. Now, it’s a crucial part of most marketing teams. Who knows what the next big thing will be? Maybe you’ll invent it.

Finally, don’t let imposter syndrome stop you. Everyone feels like a fraud sometimes—even the people who seem like they have it all together. The trick is to keep showing up, keep doing the work, and keep reminding yourself that you belong here. Because you do. So, take a deep breath, trust the process, and remember: Your career path might not be a straight line, but that doesn’t mean you’re lost. Sometimes, the detours lead to the best destinations.

Final Thoughts: You’ve Got This—Now Go Make Some Magic
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! That’s the type of dedication and focus agencies are looking for. 

You now know more about agency life than most design interns walking through the door on day one. And sure, there’s still plenty to learn (like how to gracefully accept feedback without needing to take a lap around the block), but here’s the good news: you’re exactly where you need to be. You’re stepping into a world where creativity meets business, where good ideas can change businesses, and where a killer design might just land on store shelves, billboards, or even someone’s phone screen as they mindlessly scroll at 2 a.m. That’s pretty damn cool.

Will you make mistakes? Oh, absolutely. You’ll probably send a file with the wrong crop marks at some point, or accidentally CC the wrong person in an email. Maybe you’ll pitch an idea that totally flops in a meeting. But guess what? Every single great designer before you has done the exact same things—and they survived. So will you. Trust your instincts. Be confident, stay curious, and never underestimate the power of a well-timed "Yes, and..." when a client throws you a curveball. The best designers aren’t the ones who never fail—they’re the ones who keep learning, keep evolving, and keep pushing themselves to think bigger.