Written by Holly Reina, photos by Nick and Thomsen and courtesy of Holly Reina
On my first day at Perkins&Will, I was brought to each desk and introduced to everybody, which helped make it seem less daunting. Everyone was so welcoming and excited, I pretty quickly felt like I was welcomed into the community.
Perkins&Will is a pretty large firm, but the DC location only has about 60-70 people which is much smaller considering the other offices have more than 200.
I would say that SCAD prepared me for critical thinking in design and concepts. But when it comes to how each firm goes through the design and documentation process it can be vastly different everywhere you go. There was a lot of training I had to go through initially, which was overwhelming at first but after getting put onto several different projects it was a quick learning process. Within the first week, I had learned so much about the technical side of things, especially the processes that Perkins&Will uses to facilitate their designs and documentation. So far,
My goal while I’m at Perkins&Will is to see a design I’ve worked on all the way through become a physical space. I’ve only worked at internships for a couple of months at a time before this, so I am excited to finally see a design come to life. I also love the values that this firm holds in terms of sustainable design, most projects they complete have a net 0 carbon footprint, which is incredible. My goals while at this firm or at any future ventures will be to keep these values and incorporate them into how I think as a designer.
Adulthood is expensive, it’s a give and take in terms of spending and saving, and figuring out a good work/life balance. It can start to get overwhelming when it’s all work, especially after coming from a college environment. It’s a big adjustment to make, and what I’ve learned is to make time for yourself. Spend some money to do something fun and keep yourself inspired by starting creative projects on the side. Overall, if you’re starting to feel burnt out, have a creative outlet, that’s what has helped me through it.
