How to get my graduation proposal to a BIG company

Design Discussions students and schools
1

Hello,

I study industrial design in the Netherlands and are in the middle of finding/coming up with a good idea for my graduation project. For this last project of my studies, i prefer a subject which has not onely my professional, but also my personal interest. This means i have to come up with a good idea for a project myself. This is not the biggest challenge however. The tough thing here is to arrange an internship at a company that’s suitable for this particular project. I already did an internship (at a small design studio), but i would like another one to give this project more practical value and to gain some more experience “in the field”.

So the big question here is: how to get my proposal to the right person within a certain company. For the internship i already did, i emailed the studio, which got me invited for a chat at the studio, which in turn led to me getting the internship. But here i’m talking about BIG companies. And I know that the bigger the company, the more unlikely my proposal gets to the right person. It probably won’t be read at all… So, should i call, should i email adding a link to a portfolio website, should I…

Opinions on this matter would be very welcome.
Thanks,

Tiz

2

The larger the company the more likely they have an internship program that is established. It might be hard to get a place to pay you to do your thesis on their time.

What type of project?

3

Thanks for the reply yo.

I would like to do a conceptual product design project. First trying to find an idea for a new product or an innovative redesign of an existing product, then designing upto concept stage.

Yes, large companies do have internship programs, but they never seem to really ask for industrial designers. So, i was thinking to just send an application by e-mail to the adress given for student internships explaining what kind of project i want to do for them and why. Even if they are not asking for industrial designers. Just be bold. :slight_smile:

Tiz