Interior Design student's Vogue Living internship experience

Preparing students for their future careers is part of our DNA at Billy Blue College of Design. We place industry at the forefront of everything we do, and pride ourselves on being Industry’s University.

We’ve forged key partnerships with design powerhouses like Vogue Australia to provide our students with unique opportunities to connect with the best, and to see how things are really done. A prime example? The chance for four students to intern with Vogue or Vogue Living.

The value of an interior design internship at Vogue Living

Meet Interior Design course student Deanna Samios. Aspiring designers like Deanna are no stranger to spending hours flicking through Vogue Living, and she leaped at the chance to work alongside the team.

“This once-in-a-lifetime experience which has granted me so many takeaways that I will be able to apply in my studies,” Deanna says, “but also my endeavours as an up-and-coming designer beyond university.”

Tailored to her goals and plans, the internship allowed Deanna to experience the industry first-hand, offering unique insights and a competitive edge as she embarks on her dream career.

Deanna’s interior design internship experience

When it comes to starting your first day of school, university or a new job, nerves are natural. Safe to say the same can apply when embarking on an internship with one of the world’s most renowned magazines.

“On the first day of the internship with such a well-known brand, it was understandably nerve wrecking as I walked through the revolving glass doors into the office,” says Deanna.

Fortunately for Deanna, these nerves quickly subsided as she was welcomed by the team, and it wasn’t long before she was immersed in the day-to-day.

“My time at Vogue Living was quite the experience,” Deanna reflects. “From it I gained a sense of how a magazine is run and what it is like to work amongst a busy design work environment. It allowed me to get my foot in the door in the industry and experience how a team works together, and see first-hand all the work that goes into creating the final magazine.”

Deanna’s Vogue Living internship highlights

Let’s take a look at what Deanna gained from this amazing experience. 

Applying learnings from the classroom to the workplace

Throughout her time at Vogue Living, Deanna had the opportunity to work on several briefs provided by the team. These briefs provided her the chance to apply learnings from her interior design course and showcase her design approach.

One brief was to create a series of mood boards focused on creating a sophisticated penthouse suite environment – one possessing bold features, and the other more neutral and reminiscent of a Parisian apartment.

For students at Billy Blue College of Design, mood boards are a key component of any project, allowing students to collect and organise their ideas with a visual representation of their creative thinking.

Again, Deanna made the most of every opportunity she had to tap into the minds of the team, receiving feedback and guidance from the staff at the iconic magazine.

“Taking the time to create mood boards and then getting feedback to perfect it allowed me to analyse my progress and receive guidance at each phase of the process. I did not underestimate the value of the team in steering me in the right direction,” says Deanna.

Behind the scenes of a interior design photoshoot

It’s not uncommon for Vogue Living readers to be left awe-inspired by some of the shots featured throughout each edition.

During her internship, Deanna had the rare experience of being able to attend one of those very shoots. She saw the incredible amount of work that goes on behind-the-scenes to get that picture-perfect shot – setting the scene, the framing, the lighting, the editing...

In interior design, the value of top-level photography cannot be underestimated. Photography is an integral part of any interior design business, because it is often the first thing your potential client sees, and needs to showcase the calibre and creativity of your work (did we mention we have a Diploma of Photography and Photo Imaging?).

For Deanna, it was exciting to be on set for a day, learning from the best. “It was very interesting to see the photographers in their element... seeing how they could take on and interpret the mood of the shot as they edited small details of colour and tone to create the desired look,” she says.

What work experience opportunities does Billy Blue College of Design offer?  

At Billy Blue College of Design, all of our courses have a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) component, and a team of industry professionals to support you through. WIL can be undertaken in two ways, either through completing a live brief or an internship.

Live briefs let students work on real design challenges with real clients, while internships offer the chance to put your skills to work alongside clients in a variety of settings such as interior design studios, fashion houses and creative agencies.

The best thing about WIL is building your network and gaining practice in your dream career, before you graduate.