Nora Lafferty '27: Inside a Design Internship at '47

In her senior year at Emmanuel, Lafferty is focused on building her portfolio, which will capture her growth as a graphic design major and showcase her own style and brand as an artist. It’s still coming together, but her time spent at an internship over the summer proved to be a valuable addition to her repertoire.

A Holistic Graphic Design Internship

From May to August, Lafferty worked as a headwear design intern at ’47, a sports clothing company that started in 1947 as a souvenir cart outside Fenway Park – just down the street from Emmanuel – and grew into a nationally recognized brand in sports. Working with ’47 was a great way for Lafferty to continue developing design skills over the summer, and the internship gave her a glimpse into how successful brands make creative product decisions.

Lafferty jumped in at a stage that was “super cool to witness” in May, joining a small team within the company as they kicked off the creative process for the 2028 season.

“I got to see the discussions about market research and product direction evolve and turn into concrete ideas,” she said. Over the following three months, Lafferty would be a part of those early discussions, learning how a design team aligns new products with market trends to maximize success.

Lafferty got hands-on with her own design work too. Alongside interns from other departments, she was tasked with creating a physical product to go along with a specific collection theme. By the end of the summer, she had sent her own hat design to the factory, and got to keep the finished product that she had seen through several rounds of edits: another piece for her own portfolio.

“It was a crazy feeling to actually see the physical art I created. Especially after looking at a design for so long on the computer, you get used to just hitting ‘save file’ and it’s done,” Lafferty said.

Even though Lafferty tends to create designs that connect back to her favorite sci-fi and fantasy books in class rather than athleticwear, the practice she got over the summer was huge for her growth as a designer.

She learned some useful new skills, like swapping out the logos in multiple hat mock-ups at once, which have enhanced the outcomes of her designs in the classroom, putting her in an even better position to succeed in her final year at Emmanuel.

“I added a lot to my skillset! Now coming back to school I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I wasn’t doing this the whole time,’” Lafferty said.

At ’47, she also benefited from the support of two design mentors who helped “show her the ropes” and help her acclimate to the design process in a professional setting.

Being a part of a much smaller design team within a larger brand helped Lafferty see how much impact one person can have on the final product. The feeling of a small team environment definitely stood out, and helped her get a better idea of the setting she might want to work in post-graduation.

Not only is it where she feels most comfortable, it’s what she has enjoyed most about learning graphic design in Emmanuel’s art department since transferring in as a sophomore.

Growth in Graphic Design at Emmanuel

As a commuter, Lafferty said she’s always had a home on campus on the Eisner Administration Building (EAB) art floor, and has loved how being part of a close-knit department at Emmanuel has helped her grow alongside her peers.

“You’re watching your own work grow as you watch everyone else’s – I feel like with arts and design there’s so much to know, so this helps you learn from others too,” she said.

The same goes for connecting with art faculty. Getting to know them over the years means they’ve seen Lafferty’s progression as a designer, they know her art style and interests, and know the best ways to push her.

She has always thrived on that type of constant feedback and being able to workshop her art, even before she started pursuing graphic design. Lafferty’s earliest art critic was her grandmother, who always drove her to improve.

Now as a senior, Lafferty said she can’t believe how much progress she’s made from day one – and by the end of this academic year, she’ll have her finalized college portfolio to show for it. 

But no matter how great it turns out, her mindset will remain the same, striving to make each design she creates better than the last.