They say time flies when you are having fun. Time also flies when you are working to meet a tight deadline. I’ve had a great time at Fifteen, but rather than making this sound like a holiday, I have worked very hard, learnt a lot about being a Graphic Designer in the industry and improving my skills and expertise.
The pace at which this agency works is far faster than I had expected, or had experienced elsewhere. The turnaround time on some of the projects I worked on was challenging. For instance, I had within the hour to design a quarter page advert for a local school, a client I had not done any work for previously. In a previous role as a designer, I would have laboured on this for twice, perhaps three times the amount of time. Here, I had to work fast and without compromising quality to meet the deadline.
That’s not to say every job is like that. I have also learnt to allow time for research, and sketch out ideas and layouts with a pen and paper (which I used to love doing back in Art class) before I even began to work on the Mac.
The later weeks were used to pull together everything I had worked on since I started my placement. The direct mailer I designed for my first project has now been printed, mocked up and sent out to potential new clients.
The final week has been self indulgent, finalising and printing my work, trimming and collating each piece for a portfolio ready to share with employers.
I won’t forget my time at Fifteen and would like to thank everyone for making me feel welcome, investing time with me and moulding me into a better designer.