This experience was a huge learning curve for me as I was given plenty of responsibility at the studio and effectively became one of the staff. On my arrival, the senior designer was leaving for a new job and the junior designer was on leave for a month, meaning that I became the only designer responsible. Although tricky, this meant that I was able to learn so much more than I would have otherwise as more responsibilities were placed on me.
The main project I worked on was Little Moments, a branding project for an NHS product regarding neonatal care. I was fully responsible for this branding and was required to create presentations and pitches for my branding propositions. The new branding aimed to evoke a sense of peace and calm for Mums in a difficult situation. For this project over the course of two months I created a full branding, brochures, promotional materials, a fully functioning website, illustrations, infographics and more - this huge project used most of my time.
I also worked on converting wireframes for a falls prevention app. The app was effectively the conversion of paper forms used by nurses evaluating the falls risk of patients. This new digital format would be much more effective but it needed to be foolproof. Ensuring professionalism and technical quality at all stages here taught me to keep an eye on the detail and consider use experience at all times.
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| Falls prevention app wireframe |
I also completed lots of general work whilst I was there, picking up small jobs such as infographics and youtube thumbnails. This further helped me learn how to balance work and projects as well as communicating with other members of the team.
Some of the main points I learned from the experience are as follows -
- How to collaborate with a developer in order to create effective websites with user experience in mind. How to design effectively for web.
- How to collaborate with animators in order to create fluent moving vectors.
- Adobe Illustrator skills strengthened in general.
- How to organise files effectively and how to send these to clients in a format that they can understand.
- How to email clients, what tone of voice to use, how to write effective emails and communicate ideas to clients effectively, as well as how to come to compromises.
- How to convert wireframes quickly and effectively.
- How to use initiative within a design studio.
- How designers within industry approach a project.
- How to approach design jobs with professionalism.
