4 min read
Charlie Seal: Work Experience at MadeByShape
Hi! I’m Charlie and I graduated nearly two years ago from Leeds Art university with a first in graphic design. Since then I’ve been trying my best to gain experience through internships , work experience and small jobs. Having graduated and studied through most of the pandemic it’s been a bit of struggle to get experience due to the hard competition out there, so I've really appreciated any experience I could get.
During my job application/ internship search process I would often google cities I had an interest in living in and would search through the agencies there. If I found one I particularly liked the look of and could see myself fitting in well there I would apply. I found shape through this process, looking like a really cool company that made some fun work. I also came across a blog on someone who previously did their work experience at shape and loved the project they did. So I hoped my emailing and asking if they still offered experience if I could take on something similar, which they did.
Before interning at shape I had previously had some experience in the design industry but was very eager to gain some more. Before shape I have had two other internships one also remote and one in person and I also had a kick starter design role for 6 months.
Before interning at shape I had previously had some experience in the design industry but was very eager to gain some more. Before shape I have had two other internships one also remote and one in person and I also had a kick starter design role for 6 months.
I wasn’t too shocked with the experience of working remotely as I had done it lots previously in one of other internships. I also had to work remotely a lot throughout university so I found it quite easy to get to grips with. I expected and hoped to be supported along the way and that was exactly l what I had from shape, particularly with Ella. She was very supportive and would often quickly reply to my emails if I needed guidance or we would have a video call. I particularly enjoyed our video calls as it was really great to talk face to face and bounce ideas off each other. I also took this time to find out more about shape and Ella, such as with her career journey and the work she does which I found really interesting and inspiring.
I was working on a really fun brief , which was to create a logo, packaging and an advert for a kids fruit juice brand named Juno juice. It was right up my alley because I love playful design and making things aimed at kids. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to designing stuff for social media, but I think the extra day used working on the packaging allowed me to create some really good work that I’m proud of. I love the typography work I did for this which I usually stray away from so I’m super happy that I pushed myself with this. I also love the colours, illustration and overall concept I picked too. I think it looks really professional. I think I will definitely expand on this project and make the over flavours and create the advertisements so I can have a fully fledged project for my portfolio. I’m also very grateful to shape for purchasing the mock up for me as well as it really helps it to bring my design to life.
I think the project ran fairly successfully, I think it took a while for me to get into it but I feel like that is the case with most projects, once you have an idea your pleased with it's then easy to get on with and develop.
I honestly found it quite nice being at home, I feel like it's very comforting and allows you to feel a bit more relaxed. It’s also easy to contact people and communicate through video and email. However I would say I do prefer being able to talk and communicate to people in person, I feel like it’s a lot easier and quicker to do.
I think what I learnt the most is that you can’t always stick to a plan. I made one before I started the brief and felt like I struggled to stick to it fully. Which resulted in myself not being able to produce promotional content for the product. However I feel like this can’t always be helped as sometimes an idea doesn’t always work or needs more time for the finishing touches. I’m also aware that in real agency I’m probably not the only person working on the project so that would have helped goals be met. I’m also not use to working this quickly, in university I would be used to having a month or so for a project so having a week to do logo packaging and extras was hard to stick to.
I think because I’ve been out of university for quite a while and also hadn’t undertaken bigger briefs for some time on my own I found it a bit hard to get into at first. However this was really great to do and with the help of Ella and Andy I am really pleased with my final outcome and am looking forward to showing it off in my portfolio.
