WDD: All About Scout

Hello Hello!

Our applications for the Spring 2023 semester are officially live! 🥳 Applications remain open until November 28 at 11:59 PM. To celebrate, this Weekly Dose of Design covers everything Scout! We know how intimidating it can be to send in an application, so we thought this email could help break down what we do and how you can join our little community!

Some of you may already be Scout veterans. Some of you might be new subscribers (if so, welcome!). But all of you are design thinkers and enthusiasts. And if you know anything about us, as part of Northeastern’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, our aim is to be the best place on campus for students to learn about design!

Scout recruits new members every semester, and many of our teams this fall are comprised of first-timers. We’re committed to creating high-quality work while also providing an encouraging space to stretch yourself as a creative. Because of this, we evaluate both Scout’s goals and our applicants when choosing each new team. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Scout is committed to being an inclusive and interdisciplinary environment, and we encourage students of all academic backgrounds and years to apply!

There are different seven teams on Scout, providing numerous academically diverse learning opportunities for students. From working with real-world clients in the greater Boston area to spearheading an annual design conference in ISEC, each team is integral to our organization. Not sure where you’d fit in? Here’s an overview of each team!

STUDIO

Interested in storytelling, branding, or UI/UX? Studio is our largest team, with over 30 designers and developers working on small, agile teams to create impactful work for real clients. Our Studio teams provide students with hands-on, real-world experience, where they collaborate with clients from the local Boston community.

From branding to web development to packaging design, Studio is full of incredible opportunities for aspiring designers and developers. In addition to participating in a dynamic environment, Studio allows students to take on leadership and project management roles.

CONFERENCE

Interventions is an annual design conference connecting Northeastern students with the Boston design community. The entirely student-run conference team is responsible for a new brand and experience every year, centered around Intervening in design. Not to brag but… we’ve had some incredible speakers come from companies we admire like AirBnb, IDEO, and Upstatement!

Check out our most recent conference, Interventions: Amplify, which was held in ISEC on April 9, 2022.

Interventions: Amplify is Scout’s fifth annual design conference at Northeastern University. This conference is all about creatives, advocates, and organizations that work to lift up marginalized groups and underrepresented voices through impactful design. From pushing the boundaries on how design can shape information to using design as a tool to advocate for social change in our communities — everyone in attendance will walk away with new perspectives on the role they play as an influential creator and activist through design.

MARKETING AND EVENTS

Marketing and Events serves as the voice of Scout, connecting the design community through events, open office hours, and digital content. This includes our speaker series, Club Scout office hours, and workshops that allow Scout members to share their knowledge with other students. We also connect with our audience through social media posts, our Medium blog, as well as our Weekly Dose of Design email, which contains interesting design content curated by Scout members. Members have the opportunity to collaborate with a diverse team of designers and non-designers to develop and improve a brand — Scouts brand!

LABS

Love research and problem-solving? Scout Labs brings together a multidisciplinary team of students with varying skill sets, ways of thinking, and academic backgrounds to solve pressing problems in our community. Simply put, we believe in the power of design for social change! The Labs team partners with the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics to research civic issues in our city and prototype creative solutions. We approach each problem statement with a solutions-agnostic lens, using our research findings to inform our final design solution.

PRODUCTION

Are you a natural storyteller? The Scout Production team works together on a variety of projects throughout the semester, ranging from client product photoshoots to marketing videos to animated short series — and anything else in between that we can figure out together and bring to life on screens. Our Production team often works closely with the Studio team to create visual content to support their branding. Production also has their very own podcast, By Design, which is available to listen on Spotify!

OPERATIONS

Our newest team, Operations, consists of dedicated and energetic, community-focused students that are responsible for ensuring that internal Scout operations run smoothly and our members feel sufficiently supported throughout the semester. If you’re a people person and passionate about fostering healthy and engaged community relationships, this is the team for you!

For more information on all our teams (and to apply!) check out the official Scout website here.

💫 That’s all for now! Thanks for reading!💫

By Elizabeth Cui