Editorial Illustration InternAt — Dorkaholics

Dorkaholics is seeking a passionate and creative Editorial Illustration Intern to support the visual storytelling of our pop culture editorial content. The intern will collaborate with writers and editors to develop compelling illustrations that accompany articles, interviews, and social media campaigns. This role is ideal for a student interested in media, entertainment journalism, and digital illustration. Interns will gain hands-on experience creating visuals for an established media platform, developing artwork that aligns with brand voice, article themes, and timely entertainment topics.

Tasks:

The intern will perform the following duties, which are pre-professional and aligned with industry standards:

Create custom editorial illustrations (spot, half-page, full-page) to accompany pop culture articles, interviews, and reviews.

Translate written content into visual narratives that support or expand on the article themes.

Develop concept sketches based on article briefs and receive iterative feedback before finalizing.

Follow brand visual guidelines for tone, color palette, and typography when applicable.

Prepare artwork for web publishing, including file optimization, formatting, and naming conventions.

Collaborate with writers, editors, and social media managers to align visual output with article promotions.

Maintain organized digital files, including layered source files and exports, for archival and future use.

Stay up to date on visual trends in pop culture media and apply relevant inspiration to original work.

Training:

Initial Orientation (1 session): Overview of Dorkaholics’ mission, audience, editorial workflow, brand style guide, and digital asset management system.

Weekly One-on-One Mentor Meetings: Dedicated time with the Art Director or Editor-in-Chief to review progress, provide mentorship, and address challenges.

Midpoint and Final Performance Review: Evaluation of progress toward learning goals, portfolio development, and feedback on deliverables.

Ongoing Project-Based Training: Feedback provided through collaborative project platforms (e.g., Google Drive, Slack, Trello) with visual markups and constructive critiques.

Optional Participation in Editorial Meetings: To gain exposure to pitch discussions, story development, and cross-functional team collaboration.

Learning Outcome:

Apply editorial illustration techniques to create artwork that enhances written storytelling in digital media.

Demonstrate proficiency in using digital illustration tools and adhering to visual style guides.

Interpret creative briefs and collaborate with editorial teams to deliver timely, theme-aligned visuals.

Critically evaluate and revise visual work based on editorial feedback.

Communicate effectively in a professional creative environment, including pitching concepts and receiving notes.