Role: Creative Intern
Duration: 10 weeks
Skills: Graphic Design, Layout Design, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop
PROJECT SUMMARY:
During my ten-week internship with the Creative Department at L.L. Bean, I worked on the Direct Response + Retail team to develop and execute layouts for the renowned catalog that is sent to over 8 million consumers annually. I quickly learned the suite of softwares that L.L. Bean utilizes for all of their asset management, as well as familiarized myself with their layout design process, from merchandizing to the final catalog design. The bulk of my work was for the equipment, active, and kids business areas, which is represented in the examples below that show my work at different stages in the design process, as well as reflects my interests in pursuing design for the outdoor industry.
Earliest stage of the layout process - creating a playful layout for a kids shoe spread
PROBLEM-SOLVING:
As a Creative Intern, a significant portion of my work involved making changes to existing layouts in order to reflect changes to the merchandizing exposures. This typically meant that products were added to existing layouts, requiring me to rearrange photos and text blocks in order to accommodate the new products, as well as maintain a level of visual consistency and harmony.
Above: adding new boot styles required me to add the vertical column of boots to showcase the color varieties offered.
In addition to workshopping layouts to more effectively showcase new products, I also was responsible for coming up with novel solutions to technicalities in the catalog, often drawing on my wealth of knowledge and experience with graphic design and visual communication.
When working on a family-oriented mini catalog for the Winter 2023 season, a need arose for a price tag graphic that includes the prices for both adult and kids' products. I was asked by the Director of the Direct Response + Retail team to generate several options utilizing different visual techniques (shown below), from which she picked the two last images, which employ a vertical line dividing the two different prices. I then updated the Core Standards sheet to include the new tag design, shown below.
EMAIL GRIDS:
While the bulk of my work was focused on catalog design, I also worked with the Creative Director to design and execute a series of emails to highlight L.L. Bean's 2023 Denim Initiative and supporting photography. My main task was creating a series of grids utilizing the new photography to create a sense of playfulness, movement, texture, and quality. Below is the final selection by the Creative Director.
