Case Study: University of Tennessee’s Athletic Department empowers aspiring designers with Loaded For Bear internships

University of Tennessee’s Athletic Department grows design skills through a 1-summer internship with Loaded For Bear

The University of Tennessee’s Athletic Department provided a graphic design student with office experience but sought to give their intern, Mary Caroline Collier, deeper, practical skills in professional design workflows and tools. The vendor, Loaded For Bear, provided an internship program that offered hands-on project work.

Loaded For Bear's solution was to immerse the intern in their collaborative and feedback-driven office culture, giving her responsibility on a diverse range of real client projects. This approach allowed her to develop skills in creating mockups and mechanical files, understand the storytelling core of design, and learn from mistakes in a supportive environment. The vendor successfully equipped the intern with practical experience that directly benefited her university studies and future career, fundamentally changing her perspective on graphic design.

University of Tennessee’s Athletic Department