{"id":16170,"date":"2025-01-24T11:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T11:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lollypop.design\/?p=16170"},"modified":"2025-10-14T04:20:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T04:20:11","slug":"intern-to-fulltime-designer-lollypop-design-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lollypop.design\/blog\/2025\/january\/intern-to-fulltime-designer-lollypop-design-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"From intern to Fulltime Designer at Lollypop Design Studio-Varun&#8217;s story"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Have you ever thought a simple notification could change everything?<\/b><b><br>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s exactly what happened to me. One day, a friend tagged me in a post by <a href=\"https:\/\/lollypop.design\/about\/anil-reddy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Anil Reddy<\/a> about Lollypop Academy. It seemed like just another design course, but little did I know, it would lead to a full-time role as a UX designer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hi, I\u2019m Varun K R, and this is the story of how I went from being a student to an intern and now a full-time UX designer at Lollypop Design Studio.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16602\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1440x865-1.jpg\" alt=\"Varun K R\" width=\"1440\" height=\"865\" srcset=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1440x865-1.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1440x865-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1440x865-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1440x865-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><b>Before Lollypop<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I started my career as a self-taught designer at an early-stage startup. As the only designer, I had to handle everything\u2014UI designs, wireframes, pitch decks\u2014you name it. It was a great learning opportunity, but over time, I felt the weight of figuring things out alone. I craved guidance, feedback, and a community to grow with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s when a post about <a href=\"https:\/\/lollypop.academy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lollypop Academy<\/a> caught my attention. Anil Reddy talked about transforming designers\u2019 careers and building the best product designers in the industry. It felt like the opportunity I\u2019d been searching for, but I wasn\u2019t sure if it was the right step.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>First Steps at Lollypop Academy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At first, I registered for the Academy out of curiosity. What stood out to me was their interview process\u2014it wasn\u2019t just about enrolling in a course; it was about selecting individuals with the drive to learn and grow as designers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The interviews surprised me. I presented a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.figma.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Figma<\/a> prototype in an online round, shared my thought process, and answered questions about my goals. Soon after, I found myself in Lollypop\u2019s Chennai office for an in-person round. The process felt less like an interview and more like a conversation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To my surprise, I was offered the last remaining spot in the batch, and I had only two days to start. Something about it felt right, so I took it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Academy Experience<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16595\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1440x865_11zon.webp\" alt=\"Lollypop Academy experience\" width=\"2161\" height=\"1298\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lollypop Academy was a reset for me\u2014an opportunity to unlearn and rebuild. Under <a href=\"https:\/\/lollypop.design\/about\/naseer-ahmed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Naseer\u2019s<\/a> guidance for UI and <a href=\"https:\/\/lollypop.design\/about\/doris-santhus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Doris\u2019<\/a> mentorship for UX, I began seeing design differently.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most transformative moments was when Doris sent us to a shopping mall to observe how people interacted with the world. It was about learning to see\u2014noticing the details, behaviors, and patterns we often overlook.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>\u201cIf you don\u2019t observe the world, how will you design for it?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In UI, we focused on the fundamentals\u2014grids, colors, prototyping\u2014and tackled real-world challenges. Each week, we presented our work, learning to communicate ideas with clarity and confidence. The Academy wasn\u2019t just about design; it was about building a mindset and a community of support.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Internship Experience<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16596\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1440x865-3_11zon.webp\" alt=\"The Internship Experience\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1298\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joining Lollypop as an intern felt like stepping into a tribe. From day one, we were part of the culture, attending events, sharing ideas, and collaborating on projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During my internship, I worked on a B2B hotel management app and a challenging rediscovery project. Shadowing senior designers gave me a front-row seat to their process\u2014seeing how they approached problems, making decisions, and balanced creativity with real-world constraints.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I learned the importance of edge cases, iteration, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lollypop.design\/blog\/2024\/october\/designing-for-empathy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">designing with empathy<\/a>. What stood out most was how approachable everyone was, always willing to share insights and guide us through challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The OG Batch<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16597\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1440x865-1_11zon.webp\" alt=\"The OG Batch at lollypop\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1298\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Being part of the first-ever Academy batch was a unique experience\u2014late-night tea runs, weekend trips, and shared milestones kept the energy alive. It wasn\u2019t just about design; it was about collaboration, new perspectives, and pushing each other to grow.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>6 Months Paid Internship<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16598\" src=\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/websiteasset\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1440x865-2_11zon.webp\" alt=\"6 Months Paid Internship at Lollypop design studio\" width=\"2160\" height=\"1298\"><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After completing my initial internship at Lollypop Design Studio, I was selected for a six-month extended internship involving two rounds of interviews with on-the-spot tasks. During this period, I worked on four key projects for notable brands, focusing on mobile-responsive designs for marketing websites and e-commerce platforms. The client Client calls and real-time feedback refined my skills, teaching me the importance of being adaptable and paying attention to the small details.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contributing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/C-IR7mvNvZb\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Design Atti<\/a> was a highlight, where I ventured into print design and created an Instagram filter, expanding my creative boundaries. I also attended workshops on animation and sketching, which were enjoyable and valuable for my growth as a designer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With guidance from my manager, Shivi Ravishankar, and support from my seniors, I\u2019m excited to continue my journey as an Associate UX Designer at Lollypop Chennai, applying everything I\u2019ve learned and ready to take on new challenges in the design field.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Gratitude<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Big thanks to my mentors, Naseer and Doris, for reshaping how I see design. Their guidance in UI and UX helped me grow in ways I didn\u2019t expect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m equally grateful to my manager, Shivi Ravishankar, and the amazing UI and UX teams at Lollypop for their constant support and insights. Your feedback and encouragement made all the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever thought a simple notification could change everything? That\u2019s exactly what happened to me. One day, a friend tagged me in a post by Anil Reddy about Lollypop Academy. It seemed like just another design course, but little did I know, it would lead to a full-time role as a UX designer. Hi, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13],"tags":[],"blogs_category":[26,27,25],"class_list":["post-16170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs","category-january","blogs_category-banner-blog","blogs_category-blogs","blogs_category-top-blogs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From intern to Full-time Designer at Lollypop Design Studio!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how one of our colleague grew from intern to full-time designer at Lollypop. 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