*out of office*

August 2019
​by Dan Ioannou

​My time so far has been spent mostly trying to get a hussle on with applications before the beginning of the new school year. I've mostly been responded with *out of office* emails as most respectable well-paid individuals are on holiday with their families for most of the summer! However, I managed to fill my time working part-time for ual's REF department (Reseach Excellence Framework) and a 1 day a week unpaid internship for Agora Arts Circle. 

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Early in July, an internship opportunity popped up on LinkedIn for a company called Mrs. Wordsmith. An international company that supplies educational books with fun and exciting exercises to help children learn school subjects. The business has won multiple awards and sells around 200,000 products worldwide. Looking at the Mrs. Wordsmiths fun use of typography and illustrative elements I imagined my portfolio would get a good response, and it did. Two weeks after my initial application I got a reply thanking me for my interest and outlining a series of steps in the application process.​

1. An introductory e-mail with one questions following your application (this one)
2. Online test on graphic design. This will involve the creation of an asset to understand how you would approach certain design problems. 
3. Quick call (15 min) with myself or our Head of Operations to understand your goals and role expectations
4. On-site interview with various team members (~1 hour)
5. Offer​

My initial response was that this seemed like a very long-winded process! However, with little responses from my other applications, I thought just do as requested and see if anything comes from this. It was nice to know my portfolio was good enough for some and just nice to get a response!

After agreeing to the application process, I got forwarded a folder with a series of illustrations and a text file. A brief for the task was attached where I was required to design a page or spread in a fictional magazine for kids containing the text and visuals provided. I was advised to feel free with adding or editing words and images as you see fit. The deadline for the finalised design was in 3 days! I got busy organising the content in an a5 size magazine format. Arranging the spread to have an appealing, fun layout. I was happy with the final draft and thought it showcased my use of narrative in layout and understanding of the demographics of the business clientele. ​

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Following my application failures an email drop into my inbox from Sarah informing me of a chance to do a mural for the new Samsung shop (but not a shop) in the new King's Cross shopping area of The Coal Drop. I jumped at the opportunity immediately as I've been putting the feelers out to expand my murals portfolio. I was fortunate enough to be considered for the role and was asked to design a few draft ideas in response to a brief set by Taylor Herring. Their brief was to have a selection of "instagramable" ideas that would draw in the crowds to interact with the site. The murals would change each month giving more opportunity to a variety of artists. I got quickly to work with a selection of draft ideas that I thought would work. Some classic patterns which work well as backgrounds some typographic and some more comedic illustrative ideas. I really wanted to impress these guys with a variety of ideas and presented them in a pdf presentation... to no response or feedback... I come from a background of acting and am used to a life of auditions. The rejection part is something I have grown accustomed to, however, I have a low tolerance of poor communications. I really could have used the money too!

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Thrilled to announce now that I'm about to start a 4-month internship working for WaterAid. Working in the brand and editorial department I'll have my time filled working in events and getting to grips with working in a professional work environment. I've had to put all my part-time jobs on hold for a while until I have a few more gaps in my schedule. That's me for the rest of the year!