Week 2 of Internship (& graduation)

So it’s all over, officially.
Graduation was on Wednesday, was an absolutely sweltering day, but good none the less. The speeches were great, even welled up a little at the video they played. I will miss the building so much, as well as the routine of going to a building I knew, seeing all my friends and working on my projects.

But it’s no time to dwell in the past. The week just gone has been another good one, helping with the case studies, doing some photography and learning new skills such as masking images and the purpose of it!
The case studies are looking great and its amazing how much work goes into them. When looking at other studios work it is clear that many just post static images of the work at the typical 45 degree angle. It is vital that the case studies are engaging! By using animation and film it allows the project to come to life and to be put into context, and ultimately become more believable.
During last week I also went to a leaving party. It was absolutely fantastic. The staff really put a lot of their own time and effort into making sure its the best night the leaver has had. A lot of this involved hilarious videos created by the dev team. The things you can do with a green screen are amazing. There is a really great social atmosphere which I’m so lucky to have found myself in.

As ever, looking forward to my new week! Onwards & upwards!

Week 1 of Internship

Last Monday I started my first ever internship at SAS London.
It was an amazing week. The first day consisted of meeting everyone in the office, getting used to where things were, as well as starting layouts for a PDF.

Tuesday I started something new as I was waiting for client content. I was helping Andy I’m the office search for music to accompany a case study. It was a interesting process as it allowed end me to see the effort the design agencies put into their own website as well as their clients. I also helped Louie take some photos for a case study. I was taken to lunch at one of the local pubs, which was great as I got to meet the design team a bit more. In the afternoon I sat in a discussion about one of the projects as well as added some of my own thoughts.

Wednesday was another photography day, I’ve done an A Level in the subject, but trying to get the picture at the right exposure on a sunny day seemed impossible! After I managed to get some decent shots for Michelle’s case study I then went back to working in the PDF briefly before heading off out to the BT Tower to do some filming with Andy & Pete for a case study. It was absolutely amazing and I’m incredibly lucky to have been able to join them, the views were amazing and the filming looked great. After this we popped to the local pub, which was also just in sight of the new office space.

Thursday I spent all day with Louie working in the PDF as we had received all of the content from the client. It was good to get stuck into designing, as I had to use style sheets (thank god I learnt about them before finishing my degree!), I also learnt a lot of new tricks in indesign. The finish off the day, the wonderful people at SAS had arranged for a wine tasting session with the philosophy that to be a good creative you have to experience things. It was a great experience, a shame I didn’t get to do this before my wine project at uni.

Friday was a nice end to the week as the PDF was finished ready for the artworker, and there was ‘tools down’ & introductory tea which included beers!

It’s been a really good experience so far. Looking forward to learning more as well as adding to the team!

Teaching assistant & LCC Makers Faire

Today is the end of a busy week!
I have been helping out all week at college, taking part in the CSM choices course which aims to introduce college students to graphic design. They are usually BTEC students and have studied for two years, during this week we encourage them to apply to our foundation course or the BA degree.

We started out by discussing graphic design and what it meant to them. From there we read and talked about an essay. It was really interesting to hear their thoughts on what design is. The questions were difficult, for example – what does graphic design look like?
I can barely answer this question now, let alone trying before studying the course.

There was also a week long project. The brief was message to society. I have done the brief myself this year, and I struggled with it intensely. So actually it was good that I had already done it as some students were getting stuck and worrying about the same issues I was – nothing important to say, felt like it had to be a campaign or a significant ground braking statement.
I can now see that when I did the brief I took it far to seriously. Perhaps this was for the entire year, apart from the last brief where I started to do more of just what I wanted.

During this week it has also made me realise what an absolutely incredible job tutors do. After each day I was literally mentally exhausted, trying to help 20 people, feels like trying to do 20 briefs in one day. Until you have done this, it’s hard to understand the amount of effort tutors put in. It’s not just luck to be or have a good tutor, its because they put the effort in. They are there, fully engaged and there to inspire you. Also I think it takes a great amount of skill to know who needs help and when. I think perhaps I interrupted people too much, when I should of let them just get on wi what they were doing.

By the end of the week, the exhibition was fantastic and they should all be really proud of themselves. I feel lucky to meet such lovely people and really hope many of them go on to study graphic design.

Also this week, in the evenings I have been working on some materials for London’s first mini makers Faire LCC at elephant and castle. This event was yesterday, it was good to see it all together. I helped out with the map and signage as well as some timetables in projectors. Unluckily I didn’t get to make my own maker badge during the soldering workshop as it was soooo busy but that’s also great that it was so full!

Now that this weeks over, it’s time to start something new next week – THE INTERNSHIP! Really excited to see what I learn.