Designer Intern

JOB TITLE: Summer 2027 Intern, Designer, Creative Department LOCATION: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania DEPARTMENT: Creative Employment Type: Intern Employee POSTED DATE: 2026-09-16

JOB DESCRIPTION: About Athena Athena is a creative place for leaders, risk-takers, and boundary-pushers. We partner with organizations looking to transform their presence, reputation, and performance. For more than a decade, we’ve delivered business insights, marketing strategies, and brand activations for leading organizations across industries ranging from telecommunications to major league sports. Our people make Athena, Athena. As a three-time Philadelphia Inquirer Top Workplace, we pride ourselves on fostering an environment where passion meets excellence. We are solutions‑oriented, collaborative, and not afraid to roll up our sleeves to make work that works—while sharing a few laughs along the way. All Athena internships are hosted in person at our Philadelphia headquarters. The Summer 2027 cohort will run from June 15th through August 11th. Interns are expected to work 20–30 hours per week. As a Creative DEPT. Designer Intern, you’ll help create campaign concepts, visual identities, presentations, social content, websites, and marketing materials while gaining hands-on experience in design execution across a range of client and agency projects. You'll gain exposure to concept development, visual storytelling, branding, typography, presentation design, digital and social design, design systems, and creative collaboration. Throughout the internship, you'll strengthen your skills in Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, layout, visual hierarchy, design craft, creative problem-solving, and integrated campaign development. As part of the Athena team, you'll contribute to real client and agency projects, participate in brainstorms and creative reviews, and help create thoughtful, impactful work across digital, social, brand, web, presentation, and print experiences. About the Program The Athena internship program immerses interns in a collaborative, cross-functional environment where they work closely with teams creative, strategy, project management, account management, and marketing—gaining exposure to how departments align to bring projects to life. Our Capstone Project allows interns to collaborate and contribute to real-world initiatives by presenting their proposal to internal stakeholders. Interns are mentored through weekly managerial check-ins and executive support. Athena fosters a culture of support, curiosity, connection, and inclusivity, which allows interns to shine. Our Intern program begins in June 2026 and is a part-time opportunity to join the organization for the summer. Requirements What you’ll be responsible for: - Support the development of campaign concepts and visual directions - Design layouts, graphics, presentations, social content, and other creative materials - Help create mood boards, design explorations, comps, storyboards, and initial visual concepts - Explore photography, illustration, typography, color, and graphic styles that support a creative idea - Apply core design principles, including typography, layout, balance, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, and visual unity - Collaborate with designers, art directors, and copywriters to help ensure that visuals and messaging work together - Assist with preparing creative work for internal reviews and client presentations - Incorporate feedback and revise work with attention to detail - Help organize project files, creative references, and final deliverables - Participate in brainstorms, team critiques, and creative working sessions - Learn how ideas are developed and adapted across platforms, including social media, digital, print, video, and animation - Stay curious about design, culture, technology, and emerging creative trends The skills and experience you should have: - Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree, certificate, or equivalent training in graphic design, visual communications, advertising, digital design, or a related field - A portfolio that demonstrates strong design fundamentals, creative thinking, and an eye for visual storytelling - Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma - Understanding of typography, layout, composition, color, visual hierarchy, and brand systems - Ability to translate ideas into compelling visual concepts and polished design executions - Passion for both conceptual thinking and hands-on design craftsmanship - Strong attention to detail and commitment to producing high-quality work - Excellent organization, communication, and time-management skills - Positive, collaborative attitude with a willingness to learn and grow - Interest in working in a fast-paced, innovative, and highly collaborative creative environment It’s a plus if you have: · Experience with motion design, video editing, animation, photography, illustration, or 3D tools is a plus Benefits Paid Experience: Interns are compensated at $20/hour, with bi-weekly pay throughout the nine-week program. Flexible Scheduling: Interns are expected to work 20–30 hours per week, ideally on a consistent schedule. Hours are coordinated with managers to allow flexibility within the weekly limit. In-Person Engagement: This is an on-site internship based in Philadelphia, designed to provide immersive, real-world experience in a collaborative office environment. Professional Exposure: Interns gain hands-on experience with client-facing work, learning key skills in professionalism, communication, and public relations.