Here are a few tips to make sure you get noticed and make a statement that your potential employer will like to hear:

1. Pursue your passion: Too many students pursue internships with particular companies simply because it will look good for their resume. While experience with a reputable company is a plus, your internship should push you towards your desired career. The best way to do that is to gain experience (or at least exposure) in an industry that you have a passion. Rather than thinking only about what would look good to a potential employer, think about your interests or passions first and then think about how to make that look appealing to your employer. Beyond what’s lucrative, what will give you the type of experience that can start you on a path to a career you’ll love?
2. Make a good first impression: With small to mid-sized companies, internships are positions that desperately need to be filled, but they don’t have the full-time HR department able to respond to all requests. In that case, it is especially important to make a great first impression in order to be remembered. Send a written note after your first email. In a busy world of almost constant email, a simple letter or introductory note can cut through all the white noise and make a great first impression.
3. Know your company before you call/interview: Interns are a valuable part of any company that is growing. If you want a great internship, you’ll want to work for a firm that has real work that needs to be completed. Come into the interview with an understanding of your potential employer and how you could contribute. The company’s website or social media presence can provide a great deal of information. You will want to make sure to have a basic knowledge of the company’s history, their key personnel, and their client list. Depending on the situation, some internships may need someone who can do additional background research on a project, writing or errand runs for a client. Don’t be afraid to ask how you can help.
4. Don’t be afraid to follow up: While it might be nervous to follow up, understand that time always is moving faster for your employer than it is for you. A lot of students will send an initial email introduction, but never follow up. Reach out again to confirm they received the message. The lack of response is not anything personal; they simply have not had the opportunity to read through your email.
5. Use your connections: Don’t be afraid to ask people you know to make an introduction. A lot of students will quickly dismiss their connections and say that they have no network. Connections are the fastest way to cut through the noise and help your name rise to the top of a list. All it takes is one person to make an introduction for you. Don’t be afraid to ask friends, family, professors, etc. if they have any connection to the place you are looking to intern. Have them make an introduction for you.If you know a person inside of a company, contact them first and see if you can ask them some questions about the company’s needs for the internship. It is always better to make your first introduction with a little knowledge of what the company needs.
6. Show your willingness to learn: It is important to know your value, but in the interview, it is more important to be focused on the value you can provide the company. Your employer knows that you are still in the midst of your training, so they aren’t looking for a stellar list of experience. You need to position your skills in a way that can showcase how you have a passion to learn and take on new challenges. It is your mindset and approach they are hiring, not your experience.
7. Demonstrate how you serve with a positive attitude: The best way to capture someone’s attention and build an ally is to serve with a positive attitude. While you are interviewing though, it can be hard to demonstrate that quality, so it is important to be able to talk about your background in a way that your employer can see your character.
8. Engage and provide real-world examples during the interview process: Since your real-world experience may be limited, be prepared how you have dealt with situations you have encountered. How did you balance schoolwork with extra curricular activities? What have you done in a college setting that might be of interest to the company where you would like an internship? During many interviews, the interviewer might ask if you have any questions. Do not get stuck not having one. Many of the questions asked of you could also be asked to the interviewee. You can always say, “I’ve researched your company before this interview, but would like to hear how you would describe what happens here.” Engaging the interviewer and demonstrating a genuine interest will likely help get you to the next level.

As an intern, you will have a number of jobs that, on the outside may seem boring or trivial, but they have major implications for the company you are working for if they aren’t done right. Always push yourself to see the bigger picture. Your career path will always be determined by your approach to the tasks at hand.

As a vintage enthusiast, graphic designer and a lover of historic typography, I was completely drawn to the beauty of this compelling poster designed by Jessica Helfand of Winterhouse for National Poetry Month 2013.

Each April, the Academy of American Poets creates and distributes – for free – almost 200,000 copies of the current National Poetry Month posters to U.S. schools, libraries, bookstores and community centers to help promote the month-long celebration and to increase poetry awareness.

The design of the poster is inspired and prompted by a volume of poetry written by Rainer Maria Rilkes entitled Letters to a Young Poet. The letters resulted in a five-year correspondence between a young man (Franz Kappus) about to enter the German military in 1902 and Rilkes. The young man was looking for guidance on how to be an artist and a person during a time when the world was going through a dramatic change.

To me, the poster is aesthetically beautiful. It strikes a perfect balance of color placement (monochromatic creams, krafts, blues and a pop of red within the type) and the delicate styling and layering of vintage hotel stationery combined with minimal typography (Mrs. Eaves, which is one of my favorites). Again, this is a lovely example of classic, refined and timeless design.

Over and above the design, it’s refreshing to see more than 150,000 copies of this well-designed poster going into classrooms this spring. I hope the message encourages and inspires children to read, imagine, travel, and even write a letter by hand, instead of with a keyboard.

Personally, the design and message inspired me so much that I requested a copy for my 10-year-old daughter, who is a budding young poet, writer and artist herself.

If you’d like to do the same, here’s the link to get your own poster.

After leaving the world of local broadcast news, people asked me how my experience would translate in the world of social media. I had an answer for them then and more of one today. Content is king and continues to be.

We are in a world of constant content consumption. People scan their Facebook timeline, scroll through their Twitter feed and browse any of their other favorite social media channels for information that’s relevant to them. As a brand, how can you make sure your content is resonating with your customers? As the Director of Media Relations for TWIST Creative, Inc., I revert back to my days as an executive producer and think of what made news.

If a piece of content could hit one or more of these points, I found people would generally accept it as news:

• It has a unique quality
• It is a new trend
• It evokes significant thought or emotion
• It is a first
• It contains people, children or animals in an interesting manner

Our generations are conditioned to the newscast and its presentation. As you plan your content for your social platforms, think of yourself as a newscast producer. Would the people watching your show stay tuned to your content or will they seek out another source for the information? Are you providing your audience with good content that will hold them through the commercial break?

I will never forget a question posed to my college class by a guest speaker. He asked “What’s the number one thing that you need to do if you run a restaurant?” The answers ranged from “Provide good service” to “Make sure the food is amazing.” The guest speaker said that we were all wrong, claiming the number one thing you needed to do was get the customer to return for another meal. He claimed everything else just contributed to that goal. I often thought of that question while producing newscasts. I simply needed my viewers to tune in the next day – that was my goal.

Does your content that you are posting hit those filters I mentioned or could they use a tweak that might help satisfy what people have become conditioned to accept as relevant information? Plan your content accordingly to get those followers continually engaging with your brand and feeling they cannot live without your content and product or service.

At TWIST Creative, we know the power of creativity. Our client, Faber-Castell™ and its Creativity for Kids™ brand also understands how critical it is for childhood development and success later in life. However, recent test scores pertaining to creativity have been slowly declining each year.

Together at the 110th annual American International Toy Fair in New York City, we launched the Creativity Can™ campaign to both retailers and the media. The Creativity Can™ is a small container of simple, colorful materials like pipe cleaners, googly eyes and yarn that encourages people of all ages to imagine and invent while engaging in a brain-activating, hands-on activity. The product will be distributed to select retailers in the spring and available to people for free.

Creativity for Kids hopes the Creativity Can™ will ignite a national conversation about the power of creativity and spark a creativity comeback.

We’ll keep you updated when the Creativity Can™ is available at a store near you.

Oh, how I wish I lived in New York City right now. I would love to dash over to the show at the AIGA National Design Center in NYC.   “The Lustigs: A Cover Story” showcases nearly 500 pieces of designer Alvin and his wife Elaine Lustig Cohen’s book, magazine and catalog covers created between 1933 and 1961. The show runs until February 15, 2013

For many graphic designers including myself, the work produced by pioneers Alvin and Elaine Lustig Cohen – two mid century modernists- remain a constant source of inspiration. They created a distinctive body of design work that melded the ideas of European modernism with a uniquely American approach to graphic design.

I’m a big believer in timeless solutions and the importance of thinking “classic”. That sort of solution will always outlive its trendy counterparts.  This approach is a constant in our studio here at TWIST Creative. I encourage our designers to keep things simple. A seasoned solution in a new context is still an original. Sometimes the answer is in the obvious. Have the discipline to eliminate ideas you like just because they are “clever/cool” and choose the solution that will stand the test of time. Train yourself to shelve an idea you love, if it’s not right – its time will come. When you look at the work of the Lustigs, you gain an appreciation of design that is both a creative endeavor and a discipline. So go be creative, but for God’s sake, be disciplined about it!

Together, our team can achieve amazing things – the writing, designing, sorting, coordinating, strategizing, planning, building, shopping, managing and even an occasional healthy debate. All of this, to me, is a recipe for success. The work comes from the heart.

Thursday January 17th proved to be one of those magical days. With a quick deadline ahead, we had the honor of working on promotional video for one of our clients, Creativity for Kids/ Faber Castell. This was an “all hands on deck” effort, which also meant we needed kids. So of course, we called on the school-aged TWIST kids.

Having your children spend a day at work with you can be a special treat for everyone! It also creates lifetime memories for both parents and children. The kids really enjoy having more “insight” to what Mom and Dad do all day and especially helping out. The day was full of wonder, curiosity, color and laughter as the children participated in a creative workshop and crafted some really cool creations.

What a wonderful way to start 2013.

Take a look…

2013 is starting off with growth at TWIST Creative, Inc. We’re happy to announce that one of our interns, Liz Bermea, has been hired full-time.

Before coming to TWIST, Liz held other internships and freelance positions at a number of businesses and organizations. She’s a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art with a degree in Communication Design.

“A passion for visual design is important at TWIST Creative. We saw that quality in Liz’s design work and during our initial interviews with her,” said Connie Ozan, founder & design director.  “Not only is she an aspiring young designer, but she brings a mature work ethic (beyond her years) to the TWIST team.  As a young designer, Liz has a great eye for color and is current with design trends. I look forward to seeing what she can do.”

“Liz brings her fresh design approach and enthusiasm to TWIST Creative,” said Mike Ozan, president and chief creative officer. “During her internship, Liz quickly impressed us with her abilities as a designer and team member. We knew she would make a great addition to our growing staff.”

With Liz’s promotion, TWIST Creative is actively searching for design and public relations/marketing intern candidates for the spring and summer semesters, please contact us and include a cover letter, resume and portfolio site, if applicable. If you think you’re good enough to work with us, we want to talk to you.

TWIST Creative created a holiday strategy for the NEXT Stores window display around its unique ability to source exclusive products. In this case NEXT Stores participated in the launch of the Air Jordan IV “Bred” shoe from Nike. By deifying the shoe in a sea of red and black, we were able to create an energy and enthusiasm around the product.

The TWIST team also sought to show the raw desire involved with a product as exclusive as this shoe. Throughout the process words like “Lust”, “Want”, “Need” emerged, not only as elemental base feelings about the product, but also as a powerful design tool. These emotions themselves became the raw ingredients for our design approach.

The color scheme for the window came straight from the product itself. Black and red have the sex appeal that was right for the window, the shoe and the holiday campaign we conceived for NEXT Stores.

Last year, TWIST Creative pitched the idea of a one-stop shopping location for local media around Small Business Saturday. Every television station in Cleveland decided to do the story.

This year, we wanted to figure out how we could broaden the reach with pre-event exposure on a local level for our client, Ohio Kitting Mills and other Ohio City businesses. TWIST Creative reached out to Yelp’s Cleveland representative to pitch the idea of a local shopping event.

If you haven’t seen the statistics about the power of buying local, research by The 3/50 Project shows for every $100 spent in a local store, $68 returns to the local economy through payroll, taxes and other expenditures. With a national chain, it’s about $43.

Through the partnership, Yelp is covering pre-event exposure by alerting its database of Yelp users. TWIST Creative contacted area businesses to encourage participation and pitched local media about the event. We’d like to thank Ohio City, Inc. for its support in making the event possible.

TWIST Creative recommends retail and service businesses and organizations become familiar with Yelp because it’s heavily integrated into the iPhone Map app and also included in many online search engines. With Apple’s Map app, you’ll instantly see the location of the business and its Yelp starred rating along with information like phone number, website address, customers’ reviews, and pictures. Small businesses need to be aware of what their customers are saying about service, selection, atmosphere and prices through social media channels like Yelp.

We invite you to come spread some holiday glee, support local businesses and buy for some of those tough friends and loved ones on your list. You can find the list of participating businesses on Yelp’s Holiday Glee in the OHC event page.

Here’s a quick snapshot of what you’ll find in Ohio City:

Ohio Knitting Mills Pop-Up Winter12 Shop

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OKM proudly presents its 2013 collection including the beautiful Mondrian dress (pictured above) that’s once again made here in Cleveland. You’ll also find the ONWARD Cleveland collection for sale here.