A day in the life of a Design Intern
Curious what a day in the life of an US intern is like? Cole describes what it is like to work with and learn from the creative team.
What made you decide on a career in graphic design?
Like a lot of children growing up, I developed an early love and appreciation for drawing, painting and crafts, but my journey into graphic design has been rather unconventional to say the least. Having picked up a guitar aged 10 after hearing Sweet Child O’ Mine for the first time, the majority of my artistic pursuits have been musical for most of my life.
After playing in bands for years and studying Professional Musicianship at BIMM Brighton, I assumed that ‘rockstar’ would be the next logical step in my career. However, upon returning home and realising the limited amount of consistent, full-time work for a professional musician in Jersey, the world was suddenly turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing in to question everyone’s plans for the foreseeable future.
I always knew that I wanted a career in the creative industries so kept seeking out opportunities. Us Creatives would end up reaching out when an intern position became available and I have been working in the studio ever since. They chose me for my keen attitude, adaptable skills and ear for music.
Describe your typical day...
One of the things about working for a creative agency is that no two working days are the same, although it does come in handy to keep track of a routine. Typically, my day begins by maintaining the upkeep of the studio. This includes wheeling the Us Creatives branded bike outside, watering the plants and becoming aware of any meetings with clients and expected deliveries for that day.
As a Junior, not only is my job to assist the other designers when needed, but also to learn and understand what it is they are doing and why they are doing it. The majority of the time, this is regarding the various Adobe software used by designers. Having studied photography in secondary school, I was familiar with Photoshop before joining the studio (being a millennial didn’t hurt either), but I had no experience working with InDesign, Illustrator or After Effects.
During my time at Us Creatives, I have learnt the fundamentals of graphic design as well as some advanced skills in Adobe. I have also come to understand that the software can open up so many doors of opportunity for what a designer can do for both artistic and corporate projects. Whilst a lot of what I learnt is on the job, Adobe also offer courses and tutorials specialising in the different skills and methods used in their software; such as typography, logo design, vector files etc, so a fair amount of my time is spent training online as well as with my colleagues in studio.
In the last five months not only have I got to build my own personal brand from concept to realisation, but my days have ranged from learning about Digital Marketing at Digital Jersey to manning a pop-up store in Liberty Wharf with a local artist and being filmed playing guitar to a backing track in the studio for a promotional film.
Any words of advice for a budding graphic designer?
There are a few important things for someone looking to get into a creative industry to consider;
1) You’ll be working with other people or as part of a team for a project so communication and team-skills are essential. It’s true what they say, two heads are often better than one.
2) Refrain from just sitting on ideas and work (finished and unfinished), if you don’t publish your projects, how will people know what you are doing and more importantly, what you are capable of?
3) Finally, a passion for creativity and the human imagination is a must-have. Art, design, music and movement are integrated into all aspects of our lives and if we all remember to take the time to appreciate them, maybe even understand them, then the possibilities of what we are able to achieve, truly become limitless.
