Work Influences

Work experience is a vital part of becoming ready for the outside world! 


Another part to my reflective journal is to write about any work experience I have managed to get whilst studying at Cardiff School of Art and Design. This is to reveal how they have contributed to my development as a designer.

I will start with the first placement I received, which was with the franchise company ‘Prontaprint’. A Dublin based print shop, made up of two buildings one print and design and the other purely for print and print management. This experience, as a whole, built my confidence up about who I am as a designer because I found that I settled in as part of the team. Being a small company I found myself able to cope with the demand of the workforce. I spent 3 day in the print building then for the forth I was able to venture into the design studio where the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed but only having one graphic designer (Student) the work load was at a fast pace. What I got from this experience was that, as a designer in the creative industry you have to keep an open mind to the kinds of projects given to you. Also being thrown in at the deep end can benefit your learning curve to a much faster pace. I would like to thank David and Gayle Foulds co-managers of Dublin, Prontaprint for both the work experience and a home to live in for my time there. 

The second line of work I was lucky to experience was with Matt Cant a freelance Advertising/lifestyle Photographer. He has been in the creative industry for 20 years now, spending most of those years in London. He has recently moved back to his home country to get his teeth into the creative scene in South Wales. With a photographic background in sports, corporate, interiors, leisure and travel industries, he has a vast knowledge into more than just how to take a good photograph that’s for sure!

I worked with Matt on a couple of jobs for the Saracen rugby team. The main experience was when I was Matt’s (second shooter) second photographer at the Wembley Stadium for a big match that saw the Saracens beat the Harlequins 37 - 18. The knowledge I gained from this was that, being put into the deep end makes you learn a lot faster and work a lot quicker when there is a task to be done in a matter of hours. The time scale in which to complete you task is highly important to meet. Also being confident and taking risks in order to get the job done is an important factor. When the pressure is on your shoulders to fulfil the task at hand you become focused and structured. Matt also gave me very useful tips into how a photograph can be shot to maximise its potential through lighting, positioning, scale, exposure and reflections to name a few.  I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and took a lot from it. This experience made me realize that as a designer there are many routes to take to fulfil what you want in life. The good comes with the bad but as long as you enjoying what you are doing you will be a happy individual.