A lovely blog from our work experience student, Joe
I have always wanted to try something creative like graphic design. Ever since I ventured into the world of the Adobe Suite I knew it was for me. Why graphic design? Well, I like graphic design for two reasons;
1.) It’s everywhere you look. Take a look around now, someone has to have designed this website that you are viewing this on. And the logo for whatever electronic device you are looking at this on? Yeah, that had to be designed by somebody too.
2.) I love the fact that you are able to create anything you want, however you want to. In other words, I cherish that you can be however creative you desire. So anyways, back to how I got to writing this very blog.
I currently attend a school in Warwickshire and I am going into my last year of secondary school (Year 11), I know; GCSE’s, I can’t wait…
But nevertheless, it is now the summer holidays which means, finally, some time away from school.
At school I am taking a class called Creative Media. It is a BTEC meaning I could receive a fail, pass, merit or distinction. During the course students receive a small project every couple of terms that they must complete and satisfy the terms of the brief. To date, I have finished five projects and am currently 3/4 of the way through my last assignment. This needs to be handed in on the first week back. These projects have ranged from a logo for a zombie convention in Brighton to a remix of a song which, admittedly, may be the worst song of the decade.
Although looking back on the first few tasks I have completed I cringe at how bad I think they were, I still received a distinction for every assignment. So far, I have a forecast grade of a distinction star overall which I am very pleased with.
It was the last week of school when I emailed a few companies to see if they would be able to facilitate a work experience placement. Attached to the emails was a link to a portfolio of my work. Expecting to have to wait a week or two for a reply, I was surprised when I woke up the next morning to find my inbox with unread messages. Among the fast responses was Littlefish Creative. The previous night I had taken a look at their website and loved every aspect of it. This was the one company that I really wanted a response from.
A couple of weeks later, after arranging dates and times, I found myself buzzing the door of a large building. I stood there in a somewhat presentable manner and waited. After a few seconds, the door swung open revealing Mat; one of the most friendly people I have ever met. Once exchanging handshakes, we headed upstairs to the studio. Mat started the day with introductions, a chat about what I wanted to achieve during my placement and a bit of background on Littlefish. Following this I started to make a few different animations using Adobe After Effects. I really enjoyed the rest of the day and couldn’t wait to get back for round two.
On day two, Mat set me work the challenge of animating a recent logo he was working on for a client. The problem was, I finished this animation within half an hour with a couple of different versions for Mat to look at. Once he got over his initial shock at how quickly I had finished the animation, he asked me to try to animate the Littlefish logo. This took me the rest of the day and I created a few different choices once again.
I woke up on day three and cycled to the studio ready and raring to go. Mat set me work to design a logo idea for a client. He showed me how both he and Matt approach different projects and how to meet the brief’s expectations. I went away and sketched a few ideas and also tried to think of original ideas for the Littlefish logo too.
That brings me to today. It’s crazy to think that before all this, I didn’t even know how to create a new document on Illustrator and Photoshop! I would like to say to Mat, Faye and Matt, thanks very much for taking me on and helping to build my self-confidence with other people.
