Meet Thanh: Designing His Way Through Tokyo!

Thanh Tran, a senior Graphic Design major at Michigan State University, took his creativity global with an exciting internship at Apex in Tokyo through CRCC Asia in Summer 2024. From mastering motion graphics to navigating Japan’s vibrant design scene, Thanh’s journey has been a mix of inspiration, adventure, and growth! 

Here’s Thanh’s journey in his own words: 

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background.

I am a current senior majoring in Graphic Design at Michigan State University. I have always been involved in the creative process since high school, but I chose the route of graphic design in my freshman year of university after listening to a keynote speaker on typography. The longer that I was in the program, I began discovering more of how design is everywhere from movies, architecture, and book covers.

2. What motivated you to join the CRCC Asia program and select your specific host location?

I had the confidence to intern abroad after my previous internship in New York which exposed me to the largest city in the United States (US) and the diversity of design in the area. I wanted to have experience in a new country and explore opportunities in my field outside of my home state of Michigan and the US in general. I specifically chose Tokyo, Japan because it aligned more with my goals of

• Interning in a highly dense population results in an abundance of design styles and materials.
• The use of CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) characters in their languages differs from the English and Latin alphabets, writing systems, and typography.
• Smaller details that interested me from the country’s packaging, illustrative infographics, and environmental design.

3. Please give us some snippets of your internship tasks- What were the skills you learned and applied, and what were some of the most rewarding aspects of your internship? 

My tasks at Apex were creating graphics for their digital platforms to improve user experience, user retention, and SEO. I applied my background in graphic design to create materials like social media posts, blog covers, and presentation slides that expanded and were consistent with their brand identity. My favorite projects that I worked on were graphics that included an animated element which allowed me to improve on a new skill set and work with After Effects.

4. What challenges or unexpected things did you encounter while working and living abroad? How did you overcome them?

The hardest challenge that I had to overcome was the language barrier in Japan. This was not a huge issue at Apex because most of the employees can speak English. When I would work on graphics, the text in Japanese would be provided for me so that I could focus on the visual elements, or I would ask my team members for additional help.

It was during casual encounters with people at the konbini, train stations, or restaurants that it felt difficult because I didn’t understand the language. I later became more comfortable and natural in all of those environments because of daily exposure to those situations, English-Japanese signages, and friendly staff/individuals.

5. How does the whole experience fit into your long-term career goals and aspirations? Did it in any way make you rethink your plans or offer you new insights and perspectives?

Working at Apex introduced me to the recruitment industry and allowed me to gain further experience in in-house design. Because of my tasks and work on creating motion graphics, I gained new encouragement to continue pursuing design post-graduation and building my portfolio.

7. What were your favorite experiences outside of work? Did you participate in any cultural activities or events? Please share some that were most memorable or impactful for you. 

Although I spent time in Japan with students from the program and co-workers at my internship, I really enjoyed the time that I spent traveling alone. It allowed me to make mistakes, meet new people, and adapt to a new country at my own pace.

• I made many wrong stops while riding the trains in Japan, but I could then understand the system and details such as when was the best time to take the train.
• While waiting for the night bus from Tokyo to Osaka, I met people that I helped find their own ride despite a language barrier, met another person fluent in English, and conversed about our experiences while waiting for the bus.

I traveled to Osaka/Kyoto one weekend and Kamakura another weekend during my time in Japan. These trips were both impactful to me because I managed to travel alone and book the necessary things like transportation and hotel. Both trips were memorable because one of my friends showed me around Osaka, and I really fell for Kamakura’s view of the ocean.

8. Did you form lasting connections with other interns or professionals during your time with CRCC Asia?

I did! I connected to many students from CRCC Asia on Linkedin and followed some of their Instagram. It was really fun and interesting to see what they were up to in Japan and at their host companies.

9. What advice would you give to future interns on making the most out of their CRCC Asia experience? What are the key takeaways from your CRCC Asia internship that you would like to share with others?

One piece of advice was actually something that my supervisor told me when I asked a similar question during my interview. “Make a friend that lives in Japan.”

The people I met at Apex made my internship an amazing experience, and I truly hope to stay connected with them. Talking with individuals I also met outside of Apex and CRCC Asia was memorable when I listened to their life in Japan and what growing up was like for them.

Getting out of your accommodation, meeting people outside the program and company, and being willing to make mistakes to truly live in Japan for a few months made this experience something I would do again.

All the images are courtesy of Thanh Tran and you can take a look at his wonderful portfolio here!