Design alumna makes smooth transition to industry
Provided
Julia Tenney was integral in the creation of a digital loft space at Procter & Gamble's Cincinnati, Ohio, headquarters. The touchscreen-laden digital experience educates visiting stakeholders and executives about P&G and its recent exploits in UI/UX design. The design process reminded Tenney of projects she completed at RIT.
For Julia Tenney ’24 (new media design), the path from RIT to designing for some of the world’s most iconic brands was seamless.
Between the RIT new media design program’s curriculum delivered by faculty with a wealth of industry experience, her own ambition, and several work experiences, Tenney had a smooth transition to her current role at consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble. She began as a user interface (UI) designer on P&G’s corporate function design team shortly following graduation.
Tenney works on anything digital-facing, from apps to websites, to serve digital experiences to consumers of the 70-plus brands under the P&G umbrella, including Bounty, Old Spice, Pampers, and Tampax.
“I couldn’t believe how well RIT prepared me,” Tenney said. “All the materials, the class selections, it was a direct correlation to the projects I’m doing at my job now. On co-op my manager told me, ‘Coming from RIT, you would think you had five-plus years of experience.’ New media is a whole different ball game with the technical skills they teach you.”
Provided
Julia Tenney
An initiative Tenney worked on at P&G that especially reminded her of RIT projects was the formation of a digital loft space at the company’s Cincinnati, Ohio, headquarters. Tenney and her team created an in-person, interactive digital experience from scratch. Touchscreens and other brand elements were designed to educate visiting stakeholders and executives about P&G and its recent exploits in UI/UX design.
“You can interact with different exhibits,” Tenney said. “We prototyped and designed everything using Figma and the Adobe Creative Cloud. Some exhibits require moving around books and objects to trigger animated videos and educational UX content. it’s a fun place where folks can learn and ask us questions about the future of digital design at P&G.”
While at RIT, Tenney completed work experiences that rounded out her coursework.
She interned at wellness education agency KaleidoscopeME (web design) and Rockstar Games (production design). During her final semester, Tenney completed a co-op as an experience designer at Johnson & Johnson, working on the interfaces of programs and devices used in healthcare settings.
“One experience leads to another. I learned that early on so I made it a priority,” Tenney said. “I knew I wanted to work at a major corporation and I think having J&J and Rockstar (on my resume) really helped me as a new grad.”
Quinn Freidenburg '24
Tenney's group project that was shown at the 2024 Imagine RIT: Creativity and Innovation Festival, titled "Constellation Cove," was an interactive experience where visitors could make their constellations. The work was a collaboration between RIT new media design students and developers in the new media interactive development program.
Tenney found her classes to be equally valuable. Advice from Associate Professor Hye-Jin Nae, in particular, motivated Tenney to maximize interactions with the expert faculty teaching in the program.
“The classes that challenge you or the things you don’t want to do are the things you should focus on the most,” Tenney said, referencing the wise words from Nae. “She critiqued you the way the industry will critique you.
“All the new media design professors genuinely care about your success and future,” she added. “Learning about their experience in the industry was super helpful. The NMD (new media design) labs were the best place to learn and collaborate but it was also the best place to fail. The professors encouraged exploration of new technologies and platforms so we were always up to industry standard, if not beyond.”
Tenney had a comprehensive college experience as she also played four years on RIT’s women’s lacrosse team. The student-athlete life honed Tenney’s time-management skills and provided yet another community to lean on.
“Everyone was really supportive throughout my college career. I always say that RIT is the people,” Tenney said. “That’s what made my entire experience: my professors, my teammates, my classmates, my friends. I really appreciate this place and the people that they bring in.”