placement

FEREF WORK PLACEMENT:

This was the agency that I did a one week work placement at, in London.  I thought it was a really beneficial and exciting experience where I now feel more knowledgable about working in the industry.  This placement has taught me valuable lessons that I could of only learnt whilst engaging with the Feref team and experiencing two weeks in a professional studio.

I was able to get a feel for the professional environment, look at various briefs the agency were working on, complete research tasks and learn about members of the Ferefs team journey after graduating.

REFLECTING ON THE PLACEMENT IN RELATION TO MY PRACTICE NOW

 When I applied for a placement I was more interested in branding than I am now.  I feel my practice has become a lot more focused this year, especially in the last two terms, after we handed in COP.  Although I have always been interested in editorial and publishing it has become a lot more focused, which is why my next step would be to apply for a placement with a stronger link to the general direction of my practice.  At the time, however, this was part of what I was interested in and so still see the whole experience as a great opportunity to gain a clearer understanding of graphic design outside of education.

Whilst being on placement I spoke to the team at Feref and they told me about how they got to work for the agency and the journey they took, either after graduating or going straight into work.  For most of the time I was there I was part of the design team upstairs, I was given past briefs to work on to see what kind of approach I would of taken and also involved in current briefs that were yet to be released.  It was good to see the similarities and contrasts between working on a brief on the course and working on a brief in the industry.  I also learnt quite a lot of technical skills as most things were digital as opposed to anything print based.  

I think at the time doing the placement was really beneficial as I was more interested in branding than I currently am, as my direction in practice hasn't changed but has become more focused, I now feel like if I would of done a placement this summer at the same place it wouldn't of been as suited.  I will now look to find a placement a little more focused on what I have done this year, I think it was really important to have done one in second year but now that I am more focused I think the next placement will be more suited and hopefully lead to another opportunity.

TASKS:

I was set some tasks throughout the week, giving examples of successful advertising campaigns, coming up with ideas for PR stunts and researching topics to help inform the brief and clients.  We also had to pitch various ideas and receive feedback on what we'd done and how it could possibly be improved.  I found getting feedback from people in the industry really encouraging and a good experience as its giving you a feel for what the industries actually like.