Hasta La Ideas

One of the greatest phenomena that every design student witnesses in the midst of their education (particularly if they go to school on the east coast) is the mass migration to New York City—or any major metropolis—around May for summer internship season. The flurry of applications and interviews for summer temp positions is a race with which most are all too familiar. As me and my design school cohorts approach the midway point in our respective internship positions—it’s just the right time to question the value and implications of unpaid and paid temporary employment.

In the last few years, a serious debate has emerged over the state of creative internships. Everything from lawsuits to public pouting has fueled a conversation as to whether creative internships are in fact a strength or detriment to our industry as a whole. Since we’ve already done away with old-fashioned design apprenticeships, a young designer can’t help but ask: where the heck are we supposed to get real world experience?

Enter Intern magazine: a UK-based magazine, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, looks to break open the often overlooked discussion about creative internships. With the tag line “Intern Magazine: Meet the Talent, Join the Debate,” we can only expect that they will be adding some much needed perspective to a conversation that has, to date, been lacking a voice for its most affected demographic: the recent and current creative interns.

As a self-identifying creative internship expert (and current Core77 Editorial Intern), I spoke with the Editor in Chief of Intern Magazine Alec Dudson about their Edition Zero and plans for the future via Kickstarter.

Core77: So what does the path to publishing a magazine look like? Where did the inspiration come from?

Alec Dudson: I guess the path to launching a print magazine began in January 2011. I had spent two months traveling and photographing the USA after completing my Masters degree in Sociology and upon returning, got approached by a friend to join him in starting a website with a couple of other guys. Initially, I figured it would just be a means of disseminating my photographs and maybe having a go at writing some photo essays, it turned out though, that I had stumbled across a passion. As the year progressed, more and more of my free time outside my bar job was becoming dedicated to the site and I was taking far more of an editorial role, using it as a showcase for others rather than myself. After the friend who invited me to the project began working some pretty awesome internships, I too decided to try and turn this ‘hobby’ into a career.

Why a print magazine and not a blog or different journalistic endeavor?

Having released one print edition of the website, my appetite was very much whet for print media—online stuff is fine but I love the tactile nature of magazines, the texture, the inks even the smell. That was reflected in the places I interned (Domus & Boat) who both have a strong on-line presence but whose jewel in the crown is their beautiful print editions. That side of it really drew me in to the creative industries as well, and as I spent time around designers and photographers, it struck me that a print project was always going to resonate more with this community due to its qualities as an artifact.

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