Photo by Juan Posada

Summer is a time for travel, vacation, bar-b-ques, beach days and, for many ArtCenter students, a great time to pursue an internship. We decided it was a good time to visit some students on location to check in on their summer internship experience.

First up, Yanqi Li, fifth term Product Design major, who is interning at Karten Design, a product design firm located in Marina del Rey.

ArtCenter News: What do you admire about Karten as a company?

Yanqi Li: Karten Design is a small studio, formed by both designers and engineers, making it very flexible and versatile, that focuses mainly on medical device design. I developed a passion for this work during my studies at ArtCenter. During the studio class, “Design for Health and Wellbeing” I had the opportunity to talk to several patients and learned that most medical devices are really outdated and there is not enough effort being directed to this area, which is highly in need because of its close relationship with ergonomics and empathy— two important parts in product design. Karten’s design process emphasizes understanding deep user empathy in creating products for consumers, patients, caregivers and clinical professionals in the healthcare field.

Also, as a small studio, I really get the chance to work on everything—from idea sketching to logo design, from mechanical engineering to electrical engineering—which I find is really amazing.

AN: What do you hope to get out of this internship?

YL: I hope by interning in a studio, I will learn how the real design world is different from studio classes and get more practical training. Also, I want to learn from other designers, develop my own work flow and improve on things I am not yet good at.

Karten Design frequently offers internship opportunities to ArtCenter students and employs several of our alumni. Amanda Webb, who heads ArtCenter’s Career and Professional Development Department, notes, “we love working with Karten Design—they regularly provide a rewarding internship experience for our students.”

For more information about internships and how to get one, stop in at the Career and Professional Development (CPD) office or visit artcentercpd.com/internships.