General Updates

I have been getting up to lots of things lately, so to save four short blog posts I have condensed it all down into one little post with bite sized pieces. Like with any catch up you always have to have a hot drink, which explains the image, obviously.

Image sourced from here

1. You may have noticed that my blog has had a slight make over recently and now has more of a personal feel. Changing the layout is something I have been wanting to do for a long time yet not really got round to, I am keen to have both my website and blog use quite a consistent theme and I think this is a good match. Over time I hope to tweak and improve both to create a better synergy between all my digital presences.

2. Post placement I have been applying for lots more jobs and Internships (as usual). My placement at Big in December opened my eyes to lots of possibilities and this week I've really had an "I've got nothing to loose" mentality and applied and emailed people about a whole range of opportunities. My aim is to try lots of different things, not necessarily design, and just gain as much experience as possible by trying new things. So far i'm enjoying it.

3. My good pal Alex is owner of Albatross Clothing; an ethical clothing company with morals at the heart of everything they do. This week I have been working up designs for a new apparel range after receiving an invite to submit work.

Apparel design is not something I know a lot about but I definitely wanted to have an emphasis of fun in the designs I created as the Albatross audience is young people. Once focus group research has been completed I will hopefully know if these designs will be going forward to be sold under the Albatross brand. Fingers crossed the designs make the cut!

4. Finally I have been working on some freelance projects. The first is for an accounting firm which really came about by lucky coincidence, hopefully I can provide something that will really work for them a their brief was quite vague and I have a few ideas I want to pursue.

So that really concludes general updates. Hopefully some exciting things will start happening next week :)

Placement Reflection

Image via French Knot

I've just completed my four week placement at Big Communications in Leicester interning as a junior designer. I had a great time, got some fantastic real life experience and met a whole host of lovely people. During my time on placement I learnt a great deal and it helped me clarify some of my thoughts and ideas about employment.

I'm a real worrier; anyone that knows me on a personal level will know that I worry about everything and will endlessly contemplate the smallest details. My advice to myself for the future and other graduates is just don't. Don't waste your energy and brain power on worry - it's unnecessary. At times I found myself worrying about timings and tried to work on projects as fast as I could when, in some instances, time and reflection were required to achieve the desired result. If you are concerned, ask! I did and was reassured to know I was working at a good pace, which leads me on to my next point...

I enjoy getting feedback, it helps me to understand where I may be going wrong or right in order to improve and it's also nice to hear positive words about work you have done. During the placement I tried to get feedback wherever possible but still wish I had got more. In future I would take every opportunity possible to get some constructive criticism from those around you in order to better yourself as a creative.

Be interested in everything. Generally I ask a lot of questions, about everything, to anyone, on any topic. Because of this I learnt a lot of several things I previously had little knowledge of; internships, advertising, copywriting and digital, for example. Because of this I have a clearer idea of what I want from future internships and jobs and am excited by the prospect of diversifying into new areas.

I'm really thankful for the knowledge I gained in Leicester because it has helped me clarify what I want. Internships are part and parcel of this industry and it can be frustrating not to walk in to a job straight away but it is so worthwhile when you better understand and come away with invaluable knowledge.

Next up is finding my new creative endeavour, watch this space.

Placement Update

This past week I have been enjoying my first week of placement as Big Communications in Leicester as a graphic designer. My previous blog posts had charted my application and interview so it seems only right that I post a quick update on how my placement has been going so far...

This week I have been working on emailers, livery, print work and branding so it has been a really varied few days but great for experiencing a whole range of tasks in a short space of time. I think I have been keeping up with the fast paced work place well and loved that I was working on real life campaigns that might actually be used!

I hadn't had a great deal of real studio experience beforehand so it was a steep learning curve the first few days as to how the studio functioned. Many of the people in the creative team work in pairs of copywriter and art director; something I was aware of but had never experienced first hand before so took the opportunity to quiz an interning copywriter and art director on their experiences. I was interested to find that both had studied graphic design (as I had) but diversified into their new roles. It made me feel positive about the various opportunities I could expand into in the future if I wanted.

In general I have had a productive, educational, creative and fun week. Being on placement has really taught me so much in such a short space of time and it's really satisfying to do a job that I have been trained for and working towards for 3 years, especially with such a respected and successful agency.

One of the benefits aside from the actual creative work is meeting like minded creatives and being able to have a fun work environment as well as a creative and interesting job.

N.B I didn't wan't to shove an SLR in peoples' faces on my first few days so decided to include this quote from one of my favourite designers, Saul Bass (from here) that I think is quite apt.

The poster is taken from my Pinterest board "Inspiration" which you can follow for typographic and design based pins.