Animation/Illustration major Annlyn Huang holds a prototype of an ornament that she sculpted in the  Keepsake Ornaments studio at Hallmark Cards.

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

(This summer, SJSU Today hit the road, visiting students and recent grads on the job across the country and around the world. We saved the final installment of our Spartans at Work series until this month to celebrate the holidays.)

As a 3-D product development intern, Annlyn Huang, ’13 Animation/Illustration, spent this past summer helping put the finishing touches on the Hallmark Cards Christmas tree ornament collection.

Huang worked at the greeting card company’s Kansas City Keepsake Ornaments studio, which develops toys, interactive books and decorations sold in stores nationwide.

“I love that my internship is not just meeting and answering emails,” Huang said. “It’s sort of like play.”

At Hallmark, Huang translated 2-D sketches into 3-D designs for ornaments, collaborating with engineering, analytics and supply teams to come up with a final product for the mass market. In addition, Huang learned sculpting skills that allowed her to work closely with the experienced Keepsake crew.

“It’s been fun being surrounded by people who are serious masters of their craft,” Huang said.

Huang’s 12-week internship taught her the value of networking and how to “ask the right questions” and “be more resourceful” with people around her, while her classes at SJSU gave her a range of skills and interests that helped her relate to her co-workers.

“Take classes you like because you are curious about them and you can learn much more from them,” Huang said.

Hallmark has supported the SJSU Animation/Illustration Program for over 30 years by providing internships, special classes and funds for special projects.

In March 2012, a Hallmark grant supported special color theory workshops, taught by SJSU instructor Cameron Chun.