Thoughtform is happy to announce that Monica Rizzo has joined us as a design intern for the Fall of 2024! We sat down with Monica to talk about her many design co-ops, her interest in true crime, and her love of “memory collecting.”
Tell us a little bit about your background.
I am a fifth-year Communication Design student studying at the University of Cincinnati. I’ve been able to complete multiple co-ops working in UI design, social media marketing, graphic design, and more. I really enjoy my studies at UC as we are given a wide range of topics to study under communication design, and I have even gotten to further those studies in Florence, Italy. Now I look forward to a career after my upcoming graduation.
What’s an example of design you admire today?
I don’t know exactly what it is called or if there is an official name, but a design trend that I have been enjoying is that of collecting / scrapbooking / clutter, makes sense? Especially popular on social media, a trend of collecting random pieces from your life, receipts, scrap paper, stickers, bus tickets, and creating a digital scrapbook full of tiny mementos. The product is often highly textured, maximalist images full of different colors and type that tell a story from a person’s day, or week, or from a trip or specific experience.
I enjoy this trend as I see it as “memory collecting.” On my last couple trips, I have been saving every boarding pass, luggage tag, café receipt, spare change, postcard, or really anything that I can fit on my scanner. I don’t spend a horribly long amount of time creating the final images, but while creating them I am remembering the trip and experiences I had through the scraps, and I have them documented for later.
A creator on Instagram who I think could be an example of what I am talking about is @martinamartian.
What excites you most about working with ThoughtForm?
When starting anywhere I am always excited to meet and work with a new team to see their process and flow. At ThoughtForm I am especially excited to be working with a team of experienced problem-solvers and design-thinkers. I will be doing all that I can to learn from them.
What advice do you have for someone just getting started down a similar career path to your own?
As a student and as an intern, it is important to stay curious and try new things. In a classroom, you often have the chance to guide your projects and assignments to the place that you want them to go and to be your own creative director. So do something new or perfect a skill that is important to you. Working at an internship is a time to see how an office works and to see the professional world. This is a good time to envision the type of job or career you might want post-grad.
Who’s currently on your work playlist?
For some reason I really haven’t been listening to music much, I have been going more for podcasts. For when I am attempting to keep informed on the world, The Daily by The New York Times. For when I’m trying to keep informed on… true crime, Dateline NBC. And finally, just for background chatter or gossip, Two Hot Takes.