Summer 2026 Art Automation Design Internship
THE OPPORTUNITY:
Lakeshirts is seeking a detail-oriented Design Intern to support our Art Automation initiative. This internship provides hands-on experience working at the intersection of apparel design, production workflows, and emerging automation technology.
You'll work alongside our automation and art teams to help prepare and standardize garment templates used in automated artwork placement systems.
This role is ideal for someone who enjoys organized file structure, precision work in Adobe Illustrator, and learning how design connects to production and technology.
This is an on-site position based in Detroit Lakes, MN.
Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm
Duration: Summer 2026
Join us and be a part of a company that values teamwork, innovation, and making work enjoyable every day! The starting wage range for this position is $16/hour.
What You'll Learn
What You'll Do (With Guidance & Training)
You will not be expected to design production artwork or write automation code. Your focus will be structured file preparation and technical organization.
Qualifications
By the end of the internship, you will have:
OUR CULTURE TRULY SETS US APART. Life at Lakeshirts is all about embracing our core values, having fun, and working with great people who make every day an opportunity to thrive. We're looking for those who want to roll up their sleeves and make an impact while enjoying a culture that values creativity, teamwork, continuous improvement, and empowering each team member to define and elevate their success. We also foster a strong sense of community and are dedicated to wowing our customers on the daily.
LIFE'S BETTER IN A T-SHIRT & SO IS WORK! Here's what you can expect when you join the Lakeshirts team:
Cognitive or Mental Requirements of the Job:
Employee must be able to see and hear, read and write. Requires good judgment, people-oriented, flexible organized diplomatic, reliable, enthusiastic, courteous, helpful, patience.
Physical Demands:
Occasionally: Lifts, Carries, Pushes, Pulls, Climbs, Balances, Bends, Twists, Crawls, Reaches, Lifts 25-50lbs, Carries 25-50lbs, , Reaches at above or below shoulder height
Frequently Lifts and Carries 10-24lbs, Stands, Walks
Continuously Sits
NOTE: This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive and should in no way be considered a contract or guarantee of employment. Employee may perform other related duties as needed, based on the ongoing needs of the business. Minnesota is an Employment-At-Will state and implies no specific length of employment.
Lakeshirts is a custom apparel decorating company that started in our owner’s parents’ basement in 1984. We have since grown to an $200 million+ company in a 275,000 square foot facility. Our production floor includes 48 automatic screenprint presses, 32 multi-head embroidery machines, six 60-foot laser appliqué bridges, three sublimation presses, and a number of dogs running around the place.
Lakeshirts sales continue to grow, as does its profitability, due to the hard work and continuous improvement efforts of its 500+ employees and over 60 nation-wide reps.
Lakeshirts provides decorated apparel to thousands of customers in the resort and college markets, being a preferred choice to customers based on its breadth of great designs, great garments in its inventory, and reliable and responsive delivery.
With more than 40 artists on our staff, we create thousands of pieces of art each year, giving each customer a unique look. We have over 100 bodystyles in stock, and each one comes in a multitude of colors, totaling more than 1,000,000 pieces in our inventory.
This is all done in a culture that reflects respect, community, and fun. Our culture is second-to-none and must be experienced to be truly understood. If you happen to be in the lakes area, we invite you to stop in and see for yourself. We always enjoy visits, and we’re proud to show off the community that we’ve called “home” for all of our lives. And if you happen to bring along a Milk Bone or two with you, we know you’ll make some very quick and deep friendships.
Life’s Better in a T-shirt
