Me, Foraker, and How it All Began

Hello! For those of you who follow this blog, you may not recognize me. My name is Erica Decker, and I’m the new summer intern at Foraker Design. I’ve now been here for about three weeks, so I thought it might be useful to give my perspective on the company, my job, the city of Boulder, and web design in general.

I grew up in New York, went to college in New York (Clarkson University: way up in the artic tundra of “The North Country” and 30 minutes from Canada), and interned in New York. I’ve never lived anywhere else, so this summer had to be different. I wanted to experience a different kind of setting, so I decided that I would apply to internships all over the country, and see where I landed. I so lucked out.

Foraker replied almost immediately to my application, and set up an interview. I found myself speaking with Kirby Kana, and her excitement was infectious. Foraker quickly became one of my top choices. I then Googled absolutely every name I could find associated with the company. I researched for hours trying to come up with a picture of the company I might work for, and came across some surprising things.

I knew that Foraker Design has a lot of high-profile clients. What I didn’t know was that it is also a company of around 20 people. For such a tiny company, I couldn’t figure out how they got so much done. After beginning my internship, I’ve come to understand.

I barely slept at all the night before my first day because I was so nervous, but as soon as I got here, I felt comfortable and welcome. On my desk was a small gift bag of “Colorado essentials” like sunscreen, lotion, and, of course, chocolate. About an hour later we had our “All Hands” meeting in which everyone from the company stands in front of a gigantic whiteboard and discusses for about 15 minutes everything that has been accomplished, is being accomplished, and needs to be accomplished. I remember being impressed by the efficiency of this process.

About My Job

I sit right across from the art director here (great resource right there), and I’m treated as an employee, rather than the intern that does all the dirty work. I have the fastest Mac I’ve ever worked on, and a huuuuge monitor. It’s pretty sweet. In my first week, I was already designing better websites.

What I’ve learned so far

• Obscure and useful Photoshop tools
• CSS fixes for random problems, such as a site with multiple backgrounds that deletes itself when the window is resized
• How to code a website from an expansive PSD file
• How to design for clients that desire what I think constitutes bad design (A given for web designers around the world. Sigh.)
• Mastered CSS Sprites

A sampling of projects thus far

• Worked on designing customizable PDFs. This is pretty sweet; you fill out the specifications, and voila! A PDF tailored exactly to your individual needs.
• Produced many composites for clients
• Fully designed two websites (a yoga studio and a skateboarding shop)
• Worked on the website for the Denver Voice, a truly amazing business where local homeless people sell a monthly newspaper and keep most of the profits. Foraker designed and maintains this site pro bono, which I think is phenomenal.

About This Weird and Crazy Place

What I haven’t begun to describe is how goofy this place is. Each “All Hands” meeting opens with “who got a new haircut?” Just today, my boss pipes up, “If y’all could toot your own horn, what would it sound like?” The company also has a reputation for having office-wide Nerf Gun wars; although I have to admit that I’m disappointed it hasn’t happened yet during my time here.

Another thing that makes me deliriously happy is that there’s super-tasty, whole-bean, freshly brewed coffee at ALL TIMES. I don’t even want to know how many bags of coffee this place goes through in a week. Pretty much the coolest part of my job, though, is that there are SIX dogs running around the office! Well, that, and the fact that the president walks around barefoot.

Boulder has to be the perfect place for a company like this, if only because Boulder is a weird, but totally awesome place. Almost everyone I’ve met in this city is laid-back, quirky, super nice, and very helpful. It seems as if the entire place is focused on being healthy, too. The food everywhere is delicious, yet good for you, and people walk or bike everywhere. Most of the common free-time activities I’ve come across are also active. For instance, last weekend I climbed to the top of Bear Peak. I’m still sore.

Well, that’s about all I have to share in this special edition of “Through the Intern’s Eyes”. Tune in next month for more!