New Media and Communication Technology Major, Design Intern at Washington Post’s Express

I’ve lived in the Washington, D.C., suburbs since I was 1 year old. I grew up reading The Washington Post every morning at the kitchen table during breakfast. In high school, I developed a love for not only reading the news, but also telling it. So I worked on the school newspaper, writing and editing. At Ohio State, I worked as the Managing Editor of Design at The Lantern where I discovered and honed my love for editorial design. When a posting for a design intern at The Washington Post’s commuter paper, Express, came into my view last summer, it was love, and that is why this is my second summer with them.

My Position
At Express, I work on the layout and design of a variety of pages. I am usually assigned to two to four sections to work on each day. I am often assigned to the Sports section, which is exactly what you think it is: sports, with a Washington, D.C., focus. That’s not to say that Express only covers D.C. sports and events, though. I have edited more photos of LeBron James in Photoshop than I would like to think about so far this summer.

I’m often also assigned to the People section, which consists of short blurbs about the latest celebrity gossip and news. I love crappy celebrity gossip and the latest Kardashian catfights, so obviously I enjoy working on this section. A story about Mila Kunis and a lawsuit about her allegedly having stolen a chicken was included in the People section once. This was my once in a lifetime opportunity to Photoshop Mila Kunis holding a giant chicken. This section is really, truly amazing.

Lately, I’ve been assigned to the Taste section as well. Because Taste is a food section, the layouts can be much more feature-y which allows me more freedom with how I add copy and photo elements to the page. A few weeks ago, Express ran a story about new beer gardens in the area that are open for summer, so I was able to illustrate a literal garden of beer taps using stock images.

Becoming a pro
Besides just listing the things that I’ve done, though, Express has taught me so much more than I ever could have learned through trial and error on my own. InDesign and Photoshop can be finicky programs, so it has been a breath of fresh air to have someone around who actually wants to teach me how to navigate the tools.

The best example of this is the pen tool in Photoshop. The pen tool is a super great tool for cutting out images because it cuts easily around curves and makes perfectly smooth edges. However, the pen tool is also a cold, difficult jerk—it’s one of the tools that I found impossible to learn simply by messing up until I got it right. One day, my boss walked up and said “why don’t you use the pen tool to cut that photo out?” Then he taught me how to use the powerful, yet cruel pen tool. Now I use it everyday like a pro.

As for the rest of the summer, I’m looking forward to learning to master more tools in Photoshop as well as staying up to date on celeb gossip thanks to the People section.

Meet all of the 2016 summer intern bloggers and read about their experiences.