A SUMMER FULL OF INTERNSBehind The Bend

After a busy spring season chock-full of new product announcements and trade show tours, we decided to stay put in the Bend House studio for the summer and get some good old fashion designing done. We lined up a team of interns from Otis, College of Art and Design here in Los Angeles, CA. We had a really good feeling about the trio that we assembled, and thankfully they did not disappoint.

We have had an affinity for Otis for some time here at Bend. Whenever we are on campus for one reason or another, we’ve always been impressed by the work that the students are putting out and the amount of creativity that is being expressed through that work. After seeing portfolios for a number of students, we had the tough decision of choosing just three to spend the summer with us.

Though the competition was definitely fierce, the work of these three easily stood out the most to us. Our little dream team was made up of three juniors from the product design major at the college Anna, Josh and Ellen. We chose Josh for his knowledge of upholstery and sewing. Anna has a strong interest in branding and her free spirited design aesthetic was definitely what we needed this summer. Ellen also has a design aesthetic that is very similar to ours. It was also her attention to detail in her designs that really made us feel like she would help bring everything that we worked on together into one cohesive story.

In the end, we are happy to say that the summer was a smashing success. We came up with some great all new product designs and even breathed some life into some old ones. We made 3D models on computers and 4D models out of cardboard in the studio. In many ways it was like getting back to our roots and really remembering what the creative process is like. We definitely have to send a big thank you to our summer intern team. You guys really rocked and we can’t wait for the world to see the work that was done at the Bend House during the summer of 2015.