Arielle Harris - Studio Outside SLAPS

As I woke up at the absolute crack of dawn (what a way to live), I contemplated all my life choices up to this moment. Thank god it led me to Studio Outside. After my hour drive down to the little brick office perched right on the edge of Fair Park, I knew that this internship was going to be interesting.

My first day was long, but exciting! I was able to meet all 45 employees and then meet my project team. There are 3 teams in the studio, Team Oak, Team Elm, and Team Cypress. There was also another intern who started the same day as me, his name is Hayden, so at least I have something in common with someone here haha. After getting a quick tour of the office (we have so many meeting rooms and 2 kitchens!) I sat in on the weekly Team Oak meeting to see how they plan out the work amongst us. It was kind of overwhelming at first, being thrust into the office lifestyle with no idea what they are even talking about. After the meeting I had time to set up my desk, then we all attended the bi-weekly full office meeting. Turns out that they had just signed a new lease, and that they are getting ready to open a new office location! But for now, they are starting renovations in the office until April (which means I must invest in noise-cancelling headphones… 💀) Although the meetings involve everyone in the office, the atmosphere was very relaxed and calm. People were cracking jokes and everyone seemed to enjoy each other’s presence. I could tell that I would feel welcome very quickly.

After a busy morning of meetings and onboarding, the office took me and Hayden out to lunch. I was able to get to know a few of my coworkers that were close to my age better. Overall I’d say it was a great first lunch! The rest of the day was spent doing training and reviewing the employee handbook. Seeing how specific the brand standards are is kind of bizarre to me; I never thought about how in-depth the rules were for keeping a firm logo set to specific RGB colors and sizes.

The rest of the week was slow I will admit. The office was still trying to figure out my strengths and what projects needed help with. So most of my time was spent scanning and working on marketing slideshows. Eventually I got my hands into some planting palettes and some redesigning for a camp project in Florida.

The last month overall has been great! I’ve definitely learnt more about AutoCAD and Photoshop in the few weeks I’ve been here than the last 4 years I’ve been in school (no this isn’t a read towards LSU but you know…) I’m definitely excited to start using Land F/X and Sketchup and learn all the little intricacies of them. I’ve also been enjoying the random projects they have me helping with. So far, they’ve had me work on 2 camp projects, a residential neighborhood, a park with a nature center, a ranch, and a larger project on redesigning various schools to include public parks across Dallas and California. I love the diversity of the types of projects Studio Outside does; it allows me to really get an insight on how this profession can really be applied anywhere. Slowly but steadily I begin my journey as a full-time firm worker.

P.S.

This office takes king cakes very seriously