Changing Pace

Shannyce Adamson

Moving from university life to working life is hard. DPS student Shannyce Adamson discusses this new change in pace.


The magnitude of DPS hadn’t had the opportunity to settle in until I managed to secure my first internship starting 24th July. Here I was, my first full time job as an intern/junior art director. I had always presumed it was much harder to find an opportunity that would incorporate both my strengths in fashion and creative design, as fashion art direction is not necessarily a clear cut path in comparison to a lot of other professions. So, when I managed to somehow get this opportunity I was so beside myself and not sure what to expect.


Never having worked full time before, I was surprised at how completely exhausting it can be, particularly mentally when you’re required to deliver one campaign idea after another.
The first two months were especially hard and after a long day of idea generation and mock up designs I couldn’t even bring myself to touch my laptop or look at my phone. I’d had enough of screens, images and design.

As much as I love what I do at work on a day to day basis, I have learned that it is very important to consistently keep pursuing and working on your own personal projects. This is something I have always done and is what actually enabled me to enrol at UAL in the first place as I was previously at Reading university studying BSc Biological Sciences. It is the personal projects that got me into UAL and it’s the personal projects that landed me my current work placement, the senior creative director valued the amount of work I had put in to make my ideas come to life and as I wa­s adjusting to my new work hours, I r­ealised that this was not an aspect of myself I was willing to let go of.
I came to the realisation that I had to manage my time much better, no moment was to be idol, I had to learn (and I’m still learning) how to maximise my time in order to be able to give my best foot forward at work and still express creativity in my own way.
I’ve learned that this is especially important because no matter how great a campaign idea is, the client (for valid reasons) will always tweak it slightly in order for it to fit in more with their company and their ideals because at the end of the day they’re are interested in sales and this is especially true for successful international and national fashion brands.


It’s a fine line between a creative campaign on its own and a creative idea that an international company with different political structures can utilise successfully. Sometimes this can lead you to a creative slump hence the importance in making time for yourself and your projects that allow you complete creative freedom and expression.


This is what I’ve found makes a great creative/art director and is also a key piece of advice that the senior creative director whom I work with was wonderful enough to share.


Being originally contracted to work for only one month, I’ve been blessed enough to have the opportunity to extend my contract until the new year with an opportunity to extend further if I so wish to.