Art direction and alumni connection: Design student interns at Nike

This past summer, Olivia Nava ’26 (Communication Design) landed a fiercely competitive internship at athletic footwear and apparel brand Nike. Now that she’s back, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) senior reflects on the experience, and the MIAD classes and connections that prepared her for this opportunity.

Nava stood out amongst 70,000 applicants as one of 200 interns at Nike during summer 2025. Receiving the internship, says Nava, made her feel shocked, grateful, “accomplished in the work I have done so far and trust in my practice.”

The youngest person on the team, Nava was often tapped for a Gen Z perspective. “It was nice to be considered in that way. I felt I definitely saw my place on the team,” she says. “The most rewarding part of my internship was my team valuing my perspectives and my ideas.”

Nava’s internship focused on the global football market within the Brand Creative team. While Nava had plenty of design experience before the internship, she spent the summer honing her art direction and communication skills. “It was more of an art direction role rather than graphic design,” she explains. “It was really that push of concepting and more of the big idea, less than more tangible or technical skills.”

Several MIAD classes and experiences benefitted Nava in preparing for her internship, including an art direction class and experience working with hands-on techniques. “Having classes with more technical skills and having more tactile principles down, such as letterpress and risograph,” says Nava, “really strengthens those conceptual [art direction] skills.”

Not only did Nava’s class experiences reinforce the skills that got her the internship, she also found a network of alumni support at Nike. “Design Confessions,” a program hosted by MIAD’s Communication Design department, featured Catherine Currie ’23 (Communication Design), a MIAD alum who interned and now works at Nike. Currie encouraged Nava to apply to the internship, and along with Emma Travitz ’24 (Product Design), connected with Nava on the Nike campus this summer.

Keep up with Nava on her website and learn more about MIAD’s Communication Design major!