Internship Fields
Build Your Creative Skills with a Graphic Design Internship Abroad
Graphic design is a field where your portfolio does most of the talking, and the work you produce in a professional setting abroad adds a dimension that is hard to replicate elsewhere. Working in a real design environment in another country exposes you to diverse visual cultures, client expectations, and creative approaches, making you a more versatile designer.
Our internship placements are available in graphic design firms and in-house design departments across a range of industries. Past interns have worked on creating web pages, promotional materials, logos, catalogs, brochures, social media content, and event graphics. In Madrid, some interns have worked with an international events management company, producing flyers, posters, cards, and promotional materials for events ranging from bridal shows to automotive fairs.
Graphic design internships are available in Spain, Chile, and Mexico, with programs running year-round. Some Spanish language skills are helpful for most placements, as day-to-day communication with supervisors and colleagues is part of the work.
An international graphic design internship gives you real creative work experience alongside the cultural exposure that shapes how you see and design. Here is why graphic design students choose to intern abroad with Adelante:
Graphic design placements are in active, professional environments where you contribute to actual briefs, not just practice exercises.
Design work produced for real clients abroad adds a compelling and distinct dimension to your creative portfolio.
Visual culture, aesthetics, and design traditions vary significantly across countries, and working abroad gives you a first-hand understanding of how that influences the work.
Working in a Spanish-speaking design environment builds communication skills that are increasingly valuable in global and diverse creative industries.
Most Adelante interns receive academic credit through their home university, with full documentation support from our team.
Prior graphic design experience and a working knowledge of design software are helpful for most placements. Your background and skills will be discussed during your interview so we can find the right fit for you.
Graphic design is a broad field, and our placements reflect that. Here is a look at the types of work our graphic design interns have taken on across their placements:
Get placed in a professional graphic design firm or within the in-house design department of a larger company. You will work on real briefs alongside experienced designers, contributing to projects across a range of industries and clients.
Nearly every company needs daily visual content for social media and digital platforms. Some placements involve producing social media graphics, digital ads, and other visual content as part of an active marketing or communications team.
Some interns have been placed with companies that organize conferences, fairs, and conventions, creating booths, stands, banners, and promotional materials for participating companies. In Madrid, past interns have produced a wide range of graphic assets for events including bridal shows and automotive fairs.
Some placements involve contributing to branding and visual identity work, including logo design, brand guidelines, and marketing collateral for companies across different sectors. This type of work gives you a strong grounding in how design functions within a broader business and communications context.
Destinations
Spain
Madrid has a vibrant creative and business environment, with a strong demand for graphic design across events, advertising, and corporate sectors that gives design interns access to a wide range of real briefs and professional experiences.
Spain
Barcelona is internationally recognized for its design culture and creativity, with a strong graphic design community and a wide range of companies that offer design interns a professionally rich and visually stimulating environment.
Spain
Seville offers graphic design placements in a city with a distinct visual culture and a growing creative community, providing a more intimate professional environment in one of Spain's most historically rich cities.
Latin America
Oaxaca is one of Mexico's most culturally and artistically significant cities, with a rich artisan community and a creative scene that offers graphic design interns a genuinely distinctive and inspiring place to develop their practice.
Programs
Barcelona
Intern in Barcelona with housing, placement, and language classes included. Guaranteed placements across 30+ fields, programs starting monthly.
Madrid
Intern in Madrid with housing, placement, and language classes included. Guaranteed placements across 30+ fields, programs starting monthly.
Seville
Intern in Seville with housing, placement, and language classes included. Guaranteed placements across 30+ fields, programs starting monthly.
Oaxaca
Volunteer or intern in Oaxaca, Mexico across a range of fields. Affordable programs with housing included and flexible durations from 2 to 6+ months.
What’s included
Both our Internship Abroad and Study Abroad Programs are among the most affordable you’ll find. Explore a new country and gain meaningful internship experience that makes a difference, without being limited by your budget.
Enjoy your own private room in a shared city-center apartment, conveniently located near your placement, local life, and weekend adventures.
You’ll receive a signed contract from your host organization before you arrive. We have placed 100% of our candidates in one of their requested fields and stand behind that with a guarantee.
Your Adelante director builds your placement around your background, interests, Spanish proficiency level, and areas of interest. No cookie-cutter placements.
We help you identify and articulate the skills you’ve built abroad, an essential step in translating impactful international work into language that resonates on your resume, in interviews, and on graduate school applications.
Nearly every Adelante intern who needed academic credit has received it. We provide full documentation and can work with your home institution to meet their requirements.
How to apply
Fill out our simple online application. There is no fee to apply, and it takes only a few minutes to get started.
Eligible candidates receive a link to schedule a free, first assessment interview by phone or Google Meet.
We’ll learn about your background, areas of interest, Spanish level, and goals so we can start building the right placement for you.
In real time or within 1–2 business days, you will receive your interview results by email. Successful candidates receive an acceptance letter with clear next steps.
Confirm your spot within one week of acceptance with a $325 confirmation fee. This means there is no tire-kicking, and you are committed to going abroad. A second interview and full placement details follow soon after.
Once confirmed, you will receive a comprehensive Pre-Departure Information Packet with everything you need to prepare for your time abroad, including visa guidance if required, along with cultural prep.
Reviews
Read what past interns, students and volunteers say about their time abroad with Adelante.
DePaul University
Graphic Design · Mexico
Adelante Abroad helped me find an internship that aligned with my values and introduced me to an entirely new place I had never been to before. Oaxaca, Mexico is a special place that any creative should go to at least once in their life. This is the center of where your…
Adelante Abroad helped me find an internship that aligned with my values and introduced me to an entirely new place I had never been to before. Oaxaca, Mexico is a special place that any creative should go to at least once in their life. This is the center of where your experience can be extremely impacted because of Oaxaca’s huge artisan community. When it came to my experience and my internship, they helped contribute to how much I learned and grew as a designer and a person. With my internship, I was able to learn and achieve the goals I set for myself. In three months, I have learned the basics of web design, branding, and design within my desired field. What an exceptional experience. This internship not only helped me find different ways to communicate with others but also how to work with different types of people and to work outside of my primary comfort zone. I am grateful to have been apart of this program.
Adelante’s graphic design interns work in busy, professional settings usually in offices. The type of tasks is dependent on what is needed from the company that they are placed with. Some tasks may include creating digital content, making social media or ad graphics, creating logos or mockups, or any marketing material.
Pricing for a graphic design internship depends on where you will be participating in the internship and how long you will be abroad. Pricing for our programs differs from country to country. Do you want to travel for 2 months or 6 months? This will change the internship program price as well. You can learn more about our pricing.
Prior graphic design experience is definitely helpful when finding companies who are looking for graphic design interns. Along with graphic design experience, all companies are looking for people who have some Spanish speaking skills to easily communicate with colleagues and understand assignments.
Yes, many universities and colleges allow students to receive academic credit for an international graphic design internship, especially if a learning agreement or project is completed. Adelante Abroad can help provide documentation and guidance for earning credit. Make sure to speak with your college advisors at your current university to see how credits may transfer.
Yes! Adelante Abroad is one of the only programs on the market with housing included in the program cost (and still some of the cheapest programs on the market as well). The interns through Adelante Abroad will either live in a shared apartment or homestay with laundry and some meals included.
After you’ve been accepted into the program, our team carefully matches you with a host company based on your background, goals, and interests. Your internship placement will be finalized 1 month before your departure date, giving you plenty of time to prepare for your experience abroad.
Adelante Abroad has earned the trust of thousands of candidates worldwide through 25 years of guaranteed placements and life-changing experiences. Since 1999, we’ve specialized in providing affordable, customized internship and study abroad programs across Spain, Latin America, and Scotland, and we’re not a large, impersonal agency. We’re a team of seasoned travelers and international education professionals who’ve lived abroad ourselves and know what it takes to make your experience a success.
Every program is built around you: your goals, your values, your background. With in-country directors operating full-time in every city where we have programs, you’re never on your own. No matter where in the world you are.
Great design work comes from real experience with real clients. Apply today and let Adelante find the right placement to grow your skills, your portfolio, and your perspective as a designer.
