Image courtesy Anya Radzevych
Continuing our series on Summer internships, we checked in with Entertainment design student Anya Radzevych, who interned with Royal Caribbean Cruises at their Innovation Lab in Miami, Florida. Known for driving innovation in the cruise industry, Royal Caribbean is known for a number of firsts, such as rock climbing, ice skating and surfing at sea. Anya was the first intern and the first woman to join the Innovation Lab team full time. Graduating this term, she has accepted an offer from Royal Caribbean for a position as an Experience Designer at the Innovation Lab.
Alum Josh Nakaya, who serves as creative director and lead designer on all Innovation Lab projects, will be on campus on Thursday for an info session at 1 p.m. in Conference Room B at Hillside.
Campus News: How did you get your internship?
Anya Radzevych: I applied for the internship through the ArtCenter career website straight after Josh’s visit to one of the Product Design classes I was taking. I was very compelled by the projects that are in the works at the Innovation Lab. And as an Entertainment Design student with a strong interest in industrial design and prototyping, I thought I might be a good fit.
CN: Can you tell us a little about your internship experience?
AR: Over the three months of my internship, I truly felt what it means to be a hybrid designer. I could work on an entertainment concept one day, a food and beverage project the next and logistics process improvements the day after that, a physical product, a digital one, or a blend of both.
The highlight of my internship was a research trip on a cruise ship! With one day notice (seasoned designers at Royal Caribbean literally keep a packed suitcase in the office), I joined a research team to conduct interviews with the travelers and get first-hand insights on the experience and identify the future opportunities for the Innovation Lab.
I got to the St. Thomas Island at sunset and had a whole evening to explore, swim in the pristine clean ocean and eat the local food. This mini-vacation got me ready for the intense next couple of days on the ship.
The next morning, I embarked on the largest cruise ship in the world – Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas. The ship looks and feels like a city neighborhood with restaurants, bars, water slides, a massive hotel and a park (with real trees and occasional birds that join the cruise during the visits to the islands). It can, and always does host 6,000 people, cruises on the Symphony are always fully booked. My goal was to talk to as many of them as possible. By the end of the trip, our team surveyed 320 people and was ready to present the results back at the Miami HQ.
CN: What is the Innovation Lab like?
AR: I worked at the Innovation Lab building in Miami. This space is unique. The campus, in the shape of the signature Royal Caribbean crown, is located on the island, surrounded by the ocean with iguanas sunbathing at the open-air cafes. Innovation Lab has a VR cave, huge spaces to demonstrate and test full-size prototypes of the innovative experiences, a whole library of digital devices for any sort of modeling and designing works and a bunch of VR rigs and games for a lunchtime break.
The campus is currently undergoing a massive transformation. The result will be a state-of-the-art system of campuses with futuristic architecture, large open areas and a lot of glass to take in a breathtaking view of Miami.
CN: How does this internship fit in the grand scheme of the career path that you want to craft for yourself?
AR: I’m graduating from Entertainment Design this term. I work on entertainment and industrial design projects, on a small and large scale. From packaging design and household items to interior designs and environments for video games.
I’m always taking opportunities to work on future scenarios and innovation. In my career (that is just starting), I was very fortunate to design the future of the third-place at Starbucks, envision the future of play for Adidas, design the future workspace at Haworth, and, most recently, imagine the future of travel at Royal Caribbean.
I was very happy to accept the offer from Royal Caribbean and I’m very much looking forward to starting working straight after graduation. Eventually, I would like to apply the knowledge and skills from this first job to a broader spectrum of design for themed environments.
“We are always pleased to hear a student is the first ArtCenter intern at a company,” says Amanda Webb, director of ArtCenter’s Career and Professional Development Department (CPD), “and we’re excited that Royal Caribbean is back on campus to talk to students about their internship program.”
CPD supports students interested in interning by offering resources, best practices information and tools to ensure they take full advantage of their internship opportunities wherever they are found—through ArtCenter Connect, networking, approaching a company directly, or LinkedIn. Although the office provides resources to help all students throughout their internship experience, if a student wants to receive academic credit, they must register their internship with CPD by Week 1 of their internship term. 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.
