This blog post highlights my day to day placement, showcasing skills learnt and knowledge gained.
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Infographic created by myself for their social media accounts.
Placement took place over 24th October- 3 November
Day One:
10am-6pm
Met Rob at 10am, briefly discussed my design skills. Took a tour of the office and introduced me to his other colleagues.
10:35-Briefed on Bank Of Scotland Infographic
The infographic focused directly on statistics, with a previously developed house style being apparent. Colour schemes, typefaces and scale were all factors in which were previously determined.
Thoughts:
- felt un-creative as I began to realise I was in an artworkers position, completing other peoples vision.
- skills gained surrounding infographic layouts-not an element of design in which I usually explore
- developing designs in an in-house style
Day two:
8.30-5.30
LinkedIn internal brief (bake off)
The LinkedIn brief was mainly the work of a fellow colleague, although I was asked to devise some cake illustrations based upon some recipes.
Thoughts:
- not an overly strong illustrator but created vector art
- no one really draws/creates anything by hand, something I found difficult as this is usually part of my work process.
- small corrections were asked but they were mainly okay
Day Three:
8.30-5.30
Bank Of Scotland Infographic
Day three was spent finishing the previous work set on the first day for The Bank Of Scotland.
Thoughts:
- Sat at the desk for hours on end..never really realised that design is an 'office job' till now.
- Feedback was easily assessible
- Unsure on the artworker role as the days seem really repetitive
Day Four:
8.30-5.30
Briefed on email header for TSB
Creating an email header for a 'party' invitation for the in house workers.
LinkedIn internal brief (bake off)
Finishing the previously set brief
Thoughts:
- Sat at the desk all day, no one really talks, even lunch im sat at the desk/expected to work
- Felt the briefs set to be somewhat boring
- Felt un-interested/wanted the weekend to come
Day Five:
RSA Infographic
Using pre-developed iconography another infographic was developed. Again for internal use, the infographic presents the key figures from the previous years expenditure.
Thoughts:
- enjoyed developing a more creative response
- was able to create my own iconography figures
- felt the social aspect was a bit more vibrant (maybe cause it was a friday?)__
Day Six:
new week, new thoughts?
8.30-5.30
Virgin photoshop exercise
Removing the background from an image
LinkedIn-more cakes
Thoughts:
- Removing backgrounds etc is very boring/time consuming but that is an artworker role
- Enjoyed developing the illustrations, allowed creative freedom
- Began to feel restless staring at a computer all day
Day Seven:
8.30-5.30
William Hill iconography pieces
Creating iconography pieces for their internal portal
Thoughts:
- Gained a lot of taught skills using illustrator
- Enjoyed creating individual elements
- one of the most enjoyable tasks yet
- lots of feedback
Day Eight:
William Hill GIF
Creating a gif for their internal server
Thoughts:
- Learnt how to make a gif on photoshop
- Learnt via colleagues/youtube
- Learnt new skills, strong day
Day Nine:
Lloyds TSB email header
Developed another email header, but this time for TSB
Thoughts:
- Learnt how to create their watermarks
- Learnt how to make a watercolour overlay
Day Ten:
Infographic for their social media
Thoughts:
- throughly enjoyed
- creative freedom
- created my own iconography person
- shared via there social media
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Things learnt during the placement:
Software skills:
Photoshop:
- Creating a gif
- Gif from layers
- Saving gifs
- Clone stamp tool
- Opacity effects
Illustrator:
- Kerning-create outlines/ungroup
- key short cuts
InDesign:
- Preview
- How to pre-set swatches
- Converting file formats
General skills:
- Sharing via an internal system
- Learnt what a copywriters role is
- Collaborating on similar aspects of one project
- How others clock in and out of projects/how they work as a business
- Confidence in industry
Companies worked with:William Hill, Tsb, Lloyds, LinkedIn, Bank of Scotland, First Direct, RBS, RSA, Yorkshire Building Society, Virgin
Future:
Although the time spent at Spiral allowed me to gain a greater insight into the design industry, the heavily digital format was an area in which I struggled with, as to myself it resembled very much of an 'office job'. I also found the artworker role highly uncreative and de-humanising. By the end of the placement I found the experience more of an effort than a pleasure. Obviously I understand that design isn't always going to be easy, but the artworker role in which I played really is not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I also believe that the company in which I selected was highly commercial and did not express the creativity in which I expected.
When considering my creative path after university, it is evident that my placement has altered my judgement. I may potentially (if I am unable to gain other creative employment) consider working as an artworker for a short period purely to gain creative experience. I would not want this process to take more than a few months, as I genuinely believe it would dissolve my creative passion. Other than for experience I do not wish to work as an artworker within the future, and therefore other creative options became apparent to myself.
During the placement I found that the constant designing was tiring, and did not allow myself time to drive passion. As a result of this I would suggest that in the future I may explore freelance or even some form of creative management. A creative director role may be suiting, as I could complete both design work and written work, ensuring that I do not get creative block.
