Tom design work experience

Tom working on some new graphics

For the last two weeks we have had the pleasure of having Tom in the studio for his year 10 design work experience. Tom is 15 years old and has an interest in graphic design and we first met him last summer when we did a careers fair at his school Redborne Upper. Tom has shown a great attitude whilst he’s been with us and we’ve tried to give him a wide variety of experiences whilst he’s been here. From concept stages of designing a learning environment, photo research, realia design to even helping us think about our 2016 Christmas card. So we thought it would be good for Tom to have the opportunity to reflect on his time with us and respond to some of our questions.

How have you found your work experience with us?
It’s been great, I’ve really enjoyed it! It’s been fantastic doing the job of a designer for the two weeks and it has definitely made me think more seriously about graphic design as a career choice. Everyone at emc has done a brilliant job at making me welcome and it’s amazing how willing they were to put their busy deadlines on hold to show me the ropes.

How do you think your time compares to some of your peers?
My work experience arguably has to be one of the better ones out of my friends. I’ve had a great time over the last two weeks and unlike many people I’ve come away from it with something to show for it; a CV and portfolio filled with work I have created over the week. Aside from the design aspect though the week has been made really enjoyable by the staff at emc.

What project(s) have you enjoyed working on the most?
I have really enjoyed working on the social media icons, helping to come up with concepts which will promote the company but doing it in such a limited area of say an Instagram tile, is a real challenge but it was great fun and a useful learning curve. I also enjoyed putting together my CV and portfolio with the work I have created this week and branding it with my own logo and colour scheme that I designed. It was great fun to put together my own “brand” for myself and I’m really happy with the professional result I managed to achieve (with much help).

What has been your least favourite aspect of the two weeks?
I genuinely struggled to answer this question as I enjoyed every task I have been set whilst at emc but if I had to pick a point it would be when I’m not designing something. I find you learn so much at such a quick rate when you are hands on with the software designing and when I wasn’t doing that I was looking forward to doing it again.

Has the week been what you expected? And has the work been at all like what you thought it would be?
The last two weeks have been really different to what I expected it to be. I had thought I might spend my work experience making teas and coffees, running the odd errand for the designers and getting to do a bit of design work myself but everyone has been really keen to avoid that happening and instead get me involved with their work its given me a proper insight in to the full process of the work, which takes a book from an idea in to a physical object.  The work has been completely different to what I expected and far more enjoyable!

We hope you’ve learnt a lot whilst you’ve been here, what do you think has been the most useful thing you’ve picked up whilst here?
I’ve definitely learnt a lot from getting hands on with the software the designers use on a day to day basis such as InDesign and using it to do anything from creating graphics for social media to laying out and formatting a page for a book. It gives you a brilliant insight in to the job and has changed how I will design things in the future.

What advice can you give to anyone thinking about doing graphic design work experience?
Just go for it, I think it’s all to easy to settle for a job at your local cafe or corner shop for two weeks but if you put yourself out there and go to a place such as emc or any other graphic design company, not only does it give you a taster of a possible career path but I think it is far more enjoyable spending the week designing graphics as oppossed to the alternative.