Explore Austin
“Explore Austin is a 100% free, six-year-long program serving youth from economically disadvantaged communities. We empower youth to reach their full potential through mentoring, leadership and outdoor adventure.”
Flyers
As a graphic design intern in Explore Austin’s Communication department, one of my main tasks is to match my designs to the new Explore Austin rebranding: playful solid-color nature graphics in blues and orange intertwined with photos highlighting the kids in the program.
One of my first tasks was redesigning the EA flyers in their new brand style for the program’s upcoming recruitment season. Taking inspiration from similar designs on their website and existing flyers, I used Adobe Illustrator to create new graphics to blend with images I was provided before putting together the flyer layouts in Canva with the EA brand typefaces. It took a few dozen variations to play with balancing the bold colors and graphics while keeping information concise and to the point.
Graphics
When working on promotional flyers, I got a feel for the kind of graphics that matched the ones designed for the website and other branded materials- mountains, trees, and other nature motifs with a really bold outline in the EA “dark navy” and colored in with the nature-inspired branding palette. In Illustrator, I created little icons and landscapes that could be used across different slides, flyers, posts, etc. and incorporated into photos or along with text for a whimsical addition.
This is a great way for me to practice breaking down physical items like mountains into simple 2-D shapes, getting the image across with minimal detail, as well as exercise digital illustrating. I loved playing with the cartoon-style of the icons and being able to work with such colorful designs that match my personal brand aesthetic, being able to draw on the playfulness I love incorporating into my work.
Social Posts
A large chunk of my work for Explore Austin consists of social posts for various events. Some fundraisers had their own branding styles, like the poker tournament’s red and black vintage vibes, and the pickleball tournament’s sporty green and oranges; using these design styles, I made quick informational posts and post-event photo collages for these fundraisers. Many of my posts are meant to showcase the different teams of kids in the program who were out on their Summer Wilderness Trips, hiking, climbing, mountain biking, and canoeing. When the kids’ trips are done, I sort through the hundreds of photos taken and organize them into photo collages with little accents drawing inspiration from where the teams traveled to or the team names.
Physical scrapbooking lends itself to many of my designs prior to this internship, and I continue this digital-scrapbook style in my layouts. I want each post to feel like a postcard sent from a national forest, or a traveler’s journal with polaroids and scrap papers recounting an expedition. I’ve also been wanting to explore designing layouts more, and these posts have been a great way to experiment with different compositions, photo editing styles, incorporating fun graphics and playing with typography effects to craft a narrative through design.
Click any post to the right to scroll through the post on Instagram or scroll through the examples in the slides below!
Event Flyers
Another kind of flyer I do frequently in my internship is informational signs for events. Explore Austin hosts a yearly pickleball fundraiser for which they need signs to display the raffle prizes and remind people to enter the raffle, pictured on the left. The flyer on the right is a promotional flyer for their upcoming poser tournament fundraiser in May.
Flyers like these are a project that can help me exercise putting together layouts for print quickly and adapting to a different branding than that of the company I work for. Designing for events lets me work with what other designers have done already by setting the colors, fonts, and general aesthetic, as well as a third party client who has a specific vision in mind.
Brand Guides
I am also in charge of putting together brand guide documents based on Explore Austin rebrand, to share with other designers working with the organization. My goal was to get across the branding aesthetic as simply and neatly as possible, playing with various ways to display color palettes and fonts. This particular project is still a bit of a work-in-progress as I continue to find the best way to craft a brand guide; this assignment also gives me more experience to soon make my own branding guide.
I additionally put together a slide deck template to be shared with other companies or organizers working with Explore Austin for any presentations concerning EA, playing with incorporating logos and graphics into the template’s design.
T-Shirt Designs
Later on in my internship, I was asked to create shirt designs for one of the Explore Austin teams, the 2027 “Stargazerzzz”. They requested the logo include their team name and the activities they do: rock climbing, camping, and canoeing; they also requested the shirt style and colors. I wanted to incorporate the stars mentioned in the team’s name, along with a rustic, wooden stamp-inspired type and illustration style.
This project was a great chance to combine illustration with logo design, as well as generating a variety of branding concepts with a quick turnaround. Tasks like this during my internship allowed me to gain experience working closely with clients to bring their vision to life, as well as designing merchandise items that exist beyond a screen.
Greeting Cards
In the fall of 2025, I designed greeting cards that were printed and sent to all of Explore Austin’s supporters. The card acted as both a holiday card and a reminder of an upcoming holiday event through a postcard inserted with the card.
Along with designing the layout for the exterior and interior of the cards and postcards, I was asked to illustrate a cover for the card. This project helped to solidify my love of illustration, and realize I could incorporate my background as a traditional artist into my design work.
This project, similar to the team shirt designs, was a great opportunity to see my work manifest in a physical media, and to be able to design something that is shared with a wider audience.
Further Exploration
Explore Austin gives me the chance to participate in more hands-on, local change. The values of this nonprofit align with the kind of values I want to incorporate into my design, creating equitable opportunities for younger generations and fostering inclusion and support for all. This internship gave me insight into the kind of work I can do as a designer to have a much more direct impact on my local community, which is something I will strive to achieve for the rest of my design career.
Interested in learning more about or helping out the Explore Austin program?