"Where Are They Now?" is a series where we reconnect with former Prime Studio interns and discover the career paths they've forged since their time with us. In this episode, we chat with Adam Paskow, who interned with us back in the Summer of 2010.

What have you been up to since your internship at Prime?

Since my internship at Prime, I’ve had a pretty meandering but exciting journey. I started at a startup called Quirky, where I eventually moved into a design leadership role, overseeing everything from design to engineering and manufacturing. After five years there, I transitioned into freelance work, which led to co-founding a creative agency called Auxiliary. About a year in, Auxiliary was acquired by BuzzFeed, where I led industrial design for several years.

More recently, I teamed up with a close friend and fellow industrial designer to launch a studio of our own called Friends of. We're a small team focused mainly on consumer products, experiences and spaces- working on everything from furniture to electronics to housewares, and everything between.

What are some of your memories of your time at Prime Studio?

I had the chance to work alongside some of the sharpest designers I've encountered in my career, but what stood out most was how generous and collaborative everyone was. As a very young designer, I was constantly learning - from critiques, from process, and just from being in the room. At a time when that kind of mentorship wasn’t always a given, Prime felt rare. I was lucky to be surrounded by people who cared not just about delivering great work for clients, but also about supporting each other’s growth.

Did your internship at Prime influence your path?

Early in my career, I was focused on making beautiful things—but Prime gave me a front-row seat to the reality that design is also a business. You can’t make great work if you can’t keep the lights on. What stood out was that Stuart didn’t hide behind a closed door. He ran the business out in the open - everyone could see how he attracted clients, managed relationships, and kept the studio running. Hopefully Stuart won’t come to regret this, but that transparency left a big impression on me and shaped how I’ve built my studio.

What are you currently working on or most excited about in your career / life?

At Friends of, many of our projects are with partners we’ve known since before their companies even existed. It’s incredibly fulfilling to play a part in building something from the ground up and to see those relationships grow alongside the businesses.

In many ways, those collaborations have equipped us with the tools, and the confidence, to build something of our own, which I think is the dream for a lot of designers.

A few years ago, we started a brand out of the design studio, called Tchotchke, a modern take on Judaica that brings a whimsical, design-forward lens to a category that often feels either uninspired or disconnected from a huge part of the Jewish community: younger, culturally engaged people who may not be religious but still want meaningful objects in their lives. While I care deeply about the mission, what excites me most is learning everything outside my comfort zone - from marketing and retail to vendor relationships and advertising. It’s been a crash course in building something holistic, and it’s gratifying to experience this level of ownership and accountability that we are usually viewing from just outside.

Do you have any advice for design students looking for an internship now?

The market is incredibly competitive right now, and I think more design students should start thinking earlier about how their skills align with the kinds of companies they want to work for. I see a lot of portfolios from people who want to work at consultancies, but the work they’re showing, while sometimes beautifully crafted, often isn’t relevant. It leans heavily on handmade or conceptual pieces, rather than demonstrating the real-world skills that support client work.

There’s plenty you’ll learn on the job, and of course, your skills will sharpen with practice, but having a solid foundation in sketching, CAD modeling, rendering, functional prototyping, visual storytelling, and styling gives studios something to work with. Those are the tools we can plug into real projects right away, and then help you grow from there. 

At the end of the day, an internship has to be mutually beneficial. If you can show that you’ll be an asset to the business, it’s almost guaranteed that the experience will be a huge asset to you.

My final two suggestions are:

• Don’t trash talk your peers- it’s a small industry, and burning a bridge can stick with you.

• Stay in touch with people- if you’re a great designer and nurture relationships, you’ll never have to interview again.