1. What is Industrial experience?
- The key aspect of industrial experience in my opinion is gaining experience and understanding about the politics within Graphic Design. Placements allow you to see the relationships and communication between clients and employees. Which in turn improves you're understanding when dealing and communicating with potential clients and work ethic's in the industry.
- Confidence is another key aspect of what Industrial experience can provide to me. This is a massive help to me as I have confidence issues with regards to presenting me work and getting my work concepts across. This confidence is developed by being placed in awkward and tough situations that you wouldn't usually choose to be in or experience unless working with big clients.
- Another thing industrial experience can help with is developing clients and contacts. When on placement it is a massive opportunity to actually get your name out there by talking to designers and clients about what kind of Graphic Design I am interested in, and what area i wish to pursue my career within (i.e fashion branding and identity alongside print or digital). By meeting new people and gathering contact details when i finish my degree, it gives me an opportunity to get in touch with the correct clients that are right for me.
- Also industrial experience can bring future opportunities by developing relationships with the employers of who i complete my industrial experience with. If I take the opportunity to not only impress them but show I can sit comfortably within their organisation, they may offer me future employment chances when finishing my degree; or even possibly offering some financial work prior to my graduation.
- When on placement I will also be surrounded with people that have potential been in the industry for a number of years. This provides the opportunity to absorb as much of their knowledge and experience as possible. For example learning new and unknown techniques within print and digital, also tips and improvements within my previous projects and concepts.
What can you learn from industrial experience?
- I can learn what is the appropriate and correct manner in which to approach clients and how to address them. There is also the terminology that will take i while to understand, certain graphics language may be used out in the industry that will take some getting used to.
- By completing an industrial year i can also learn whether this is the type of work that i wish to go into full time and if its right for me i.e i might misinterpret the work ethic and style of a company before actually working for them.
- another thing i may become more knowledgeable on is the time frame of set briefs and requirements, the limitation of time can effect the final outcome and i may not be used to the changing and unexpected deadline requirements in the real world.This will allow me to evaluate as to whether or not i can keep up with the workload given in the amount of time i have.
What form/format could industrial experience take?
- Freelance - this is me sending my work off to individual designers or companies in the form of a creative CV or something to represent myself as a designer. Freelancing is good but at this current level it might not have the outcome that i would want as i have no experience or contacts as off yet. So in order to become a successful freelance designer i would have to gain some experience and research into freelancing, whilst also building a reputation.
- Voluntary work - as it may sometimes be hard to gain paid experience i may have to look at doing some voluntary work within a company in order to gain some experience. This will still give me all the benefits of doing paid work experience however it will show my dedication to graphic design and look very good to potential employers that i have completed such work.
- Placements - This can come in the form of paid work, I would have to apply for these positions to companies and compete with other post graduates. The benefit of these placements is that the companies may offer future opportunities of employment. Therefore it may be of my benefit to try and get some industrial experience through this method.
- Individual Designers - I could shadow other individual designers to gather experience of how they operate and complete projects. This will give me an insight on how different designers work to how learning practitioners work. It will also allow me to improve my knowledge of how freelance designers go about getting clients and potential work.
- Websites - i could put my work up onto social networking sites and blogs (Facebook and Flikr). This will allow a wider range of audience to have a look at my work and get myself out there more.
What areas of industry are you interested in?
- Branding and Identity is something that i would potentially like to go into, particularly within the fashion and retail industry. Incorporating my design style into a brand that i am interested in would fulfil my ambitions within the industry , my dream is for a company or brand to use my graphics style to represent them as a whole.
- Digital/ Web design - another thing that interests me is designing websites for brands and companies, again within fashion and retail. The Internet is constantly viewed by the public , if i could design a website for a big brand or company it would be awesome!
- Interior design also interests me , although this is not to do with graphic design , i would like the shops interior to match the web , promotional and brochure design that i would have produced for the company or brand. I have elaborated my interest for this in one of my previous posts...LINK
- Editorial design is also something that i am interested in, I am passionate about photography and would love to work with a photographer in editing the photos and maybe adding text to image. However i need to clean up on my skills within this area , layout and kerning is not one of my strong points. Editorial design within magazine , zine and leaflet design interests me , working with style magazine and articles within the magazine would be something that would excite me as a designer. I elaborated my interest within this on one of my previous posts ...LINK
What are your concerns about industrial experience?
- I am slightly worried about how different the work requirements will be in the industry compared to the work i am requested to do now. Although my course is demanding , the work that is set in the industry could be challenging for me as i would not be familiar with certain requirements.
- Another thing that concerns me is my portfolio. How do i produce the right portfolio for the clients or companies that i am interested in working with or for. Also producing a portfolio that reflects me as a designer, it will be hard to choose which pieces of work and projects to include. I need to impress and influence the viewers and feel i need help in achieving this.
- The people that i will be working around could case a problem as some of them may be slightly patronising as they may have been within the industry for a number of years. In order to build good relations with the other designers they need to understand that i have no previous experience within the industry so many things may be new to me. Also some people may expect too much of me and may give me more than i can handle, this will mean that i could potential become stressed as i feel i will need to deliver all the work that they give me. I will also be nervous to ask questions , what i may think are good questions maybe silly and unnecessary.
- If i was to do freelance work then pricing is a big worry for me as i do not know the prices in which to charge a client for my time and work. This could potential lose me a client if i mistakenly priced the job to high or flip side lose a client if the price was too low as they may question my capability.
- Working internationally is something that I am interested in, however would not know where to start when applying for jobs or taking the first steps in trying to do it. I find it a very daunting process the thought of moving the whole of my life abroad and the fact that I could potential be the other side of the world to my family and friends.
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