Work experience @IE Design Consultancy

I was doing a one-week placement strictly after New Designer. It was my first work placement in my design journey. IE Design Consultancy is a design agency who mainly work for charity, education and health organisation who based in Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. I was curious about how creativity can work for these non-commercial sectors. 

On the first day, I was a bit disappointed to know that an interesting brief is going to present in the next day and I did not have a chance to get involve in it because of the time limit. However, I was given a new brief to redesign the identity of IE office, which I could walk around the office and read over their case studies to know more about their business. I really enjoy reading their case studies to gain knowledge on a live design project scope, schedule and budget.

On the second day, I was happy to hear that the presentation of that interesting brief was postponed. I was asked to design a recipe book for a local Michelin Star restaurant. Pascaline, the designer I was working with, gave me some suggestion on the design and kindly sent off her research to me. A bold, modern but elegant recipe book was finally done, I was happy with the result.

On the other day, I saw Pascaline was still working on the restaurant brief, she picked an ink jar and some brushes upstair. I was curious about how she got on the brief so I followed her and asked what she was doing. She kindly explained her ideas for the branding, shared her work with me and asked for my opinion. After some conversation, I tried to redesign the wine menu for the restaurant.

Throughout the week, I kept working on the identity brief for IE office. To keep things within budget, I designed some posters to tell visitors about IE's work, which is for hanging in the office entrance. I also thought of some decorating ideas to make the office 'green'.

A week after my placement, I received Pascaline's email. She said the client for the restaurant brief was really impressed with their approach and is going to launch the design. She thanked for my help throughout the week, and mentioned I really helped her to complete the project. I was so impressed with the feedback, and I could see how valuable my contribution was.

I'm satisfied with this work experience, thanks my tutor Jane for giving me a chance.

It is worth to ask if people need any helps during your work placement!

New Designers

It was the hottest week in the UK throughout the year, but it was one of the most unforgettable week in my life.

New Designers is an event showing off UK's fresh-graduated designers' work. I'm pleased to be one of the exhibitors in New Designers 2015, which celebrated 30 years at the Business Design Centre, London.

We travelled from Birmingham to London, built up our booth, exhibited our work for four days and broke down the booth...Took part in the build up process is the most important stage because it is our responsibility to handle and present our work nicely. 

Birmingham City University booth, illustration on the left and graphics on the right.

It was a great opportunity for me to meet new people from the industry and gain some job experience. It was fun to catch the right person for the right chance throughout the days. I also had the chance to know more about my BCU fellows, which sometimes, I need to introduce their work if the they were away. 

Apart from the exhibition, New Designers also provide some interesting events for exhibitors and visitors, such as Talks, Design competitions and Portfolio reviews.

New designers brought me to a new stage, let me knew that I'm not a student anymore. I'm a well-trained designer who is ready for the industry. 

It's a great end of my education, and a wonderful start of my career.

Thank you New Designers, my tutor and those visitors who listened to my presentation and took my business card :)

Date: July 01-04 2015 @ London