1. What is Industrial experience?
- An opportunity to gain an insight into your chosen field of practice and learn about how professionals in that particular line of work carry out their businesses and interact with each each other.
- Being able to work along side with and learn from professionals who are specialized in a particular field of design in order to gain an understanding in how they fit into the general market / commercial world . eg. commercial printing, publication house, packaging design, cooperate branding and etc.
- A networking opportunity where you can meet professionals and potential clients. The more people you meet the higher chance there is of one of them may be becoming your future employer or someone you may want to work with. Eg. if you need to find a printer for a particular project, it may be a good idea to know a few who you can trust and rely on.
- Gaining more practical skills that you may need to have in order to operate in the 'real world' that you may not have had a chance to learn at college. Eg, pitching ideas to actual clients, proofing, business skills etc.
- A chance to clarify the type of practice you would want to have from seeing already existing ones work in context. It might allow to you figure out your values, mission and vision in your future practice or the design studio you would want to work for.
2. What can you learn from industrial experience?
- Skills and knowledge that you may be unable to gain fully from a classroom.eg. pitching ideas to real clients, working with printers/publication houses etc.
- How the different types of design industries interact with each other when a project concerns more that one. ( externally)
- How design studio operates internally and the different roles each person takes in order to complete a project.
- You can also gain a better understand about yourself and how you may wish to operate in a design practice once the time comes. What kind of designer are you- a collaborator? a project manager? etc.
- How to interact with different types of people which may or may not be in your particular field of work. They may not even be working within a design industry at all.
3. What form/format could industrial experience take?
- Internship
- Work Placement
- Self directed - freelancing
- A Part time job
- Studio Visit
- Design competitions
4. What areas of industry are you interested in?
- Editorial Design
- Sustainable (Graphic) Design
- Sustainable Packaging
- Branding / logo design
- Typography
- Web Design ( a growing interest but not experience )
- Design with a social responsibility
5. What are your concerns about industrial experience?
- Not being able to find one.
- Not being to find one that will be internationally recognized enough as I will be in Thailand for most of the time where we will be doing internships.
- Not making the most out of the particular industrial experience because designers are not willing to teach but only giving make use of me for jobs they don't want to do.
- Doing one and realizing that.....may be I can't do this.
- Being given too much responsibilities that I might not be able to manage....or the opposite...not given any and treated as a kid.
The sooner you start looking for a work experience the more likely you will get one timetables and don't worry about the Thailand situation-there must be some very interesting companies out there. Try and get an assortment of placements to be able to assess the similarities/differences in size/client/ approach to design/studio ethos etc.This will help you to see where you fit in and make sure you find one that makes you feel that you are capable and can contribute.
ReplyDeleteThey will give you jobs that stretch you and some that don't but that's true of all jobs at all stages.Be vocal-ask for better jobs and ask if you need advice.
Don't behave as a kid as you shouldn't be treated like one-be mature,positive and professional.