Nike selects Product Design student for summer internship
Hot pink cleats, intramural sports and apparel design at Nike: this was summer 2023 for Emma May Travitz ’24, a Product Design senior at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD). Travitz spent the summer interning at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon on their Global Apparel and Materials team.
“I didn’t do sports growing up, but I found myself in four intramurals doing pickup soccer. I didn’t make a single goal the entire time,” laughs Travitz. “It was just a great environment to feel comfortable to try new things. The team I sat on was so incredible, to feel like I was valued and part of the team. I felt like I wasn’t an intern,” she continues.
A Nike aficionado since childhood, Travitz was thrilled to be selected for the competitive internship. “I really got a better understanding of actual product creation and what it’s like to get an idea from the conception to the retail space,” she explains. “Being able to really understand the limitations of the industry and see ways that you’re able to thrive and innovate within these constraints. I really learned more about material sciences and how we’re able to shape better products for athletes.”
Now well into her senior year at MIAD, Travitz especially values the emphasis on self-care that John Donahoe, CEO of Nike, instilled into the summer interns. “Stepping back and really refueling ourselves makes us a better designer, a better person,” she says. “Senior year, where it’s the mess of [senior] thesis, it’s really good to realize that you need to step back and it is okay to fill other wells.”
Keep up with Emma on Instagram and learn more about MIAD’s Product Design major.
News
Meet Sofie Captain and 2025 Senior Exhibition project Then and Now
Meet Fine Art + New Studio Practice alum Sofie Captain and 2025 Senior Exhibition project Then & Now. Captain is from Hartford, Wis.
MIAD student duo publishes issue 2 of Triple magazine
Co-founded by Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) students James Kramer ’27 and Lydia Walz ’26, Triple3 Magazine is an independent, Milwaukee‑made arts and culture publication.
Meet Emma Jenkins and 2025 Senior Exhibition project Rowan
Meet Emma Jenkins and 2025 Senior Exhibition project Rowan. Emma Jenkins ’25 (Communication Design) is from Milwaukee.
MKE Prints exhibition installed at MKE airport
MKE Prints is a collection of hand-pulled screen prints was created by Communication Design students at MIAD on view at the MKE airport.
Recollection Wisconsin digitizes Guido Brink collection
Thanks to the Recollection Wisconsin Digitization Initiative, the Guido Brink collection at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) will soon be digitized and available for public access. Current UW-Milwaukee graduate student Ceceilia Loeschmann is digitizing and cataloging the collection during summer 2025.