Self Doubt and Paid Internships

Hanah Ahmed
Graphic and Media Design 

Something I have realised throughout my 2 years on this course is that technology is becoming so much more increasingly important when you want a career in design, I’ve had to adapt my work and learn new skills to become more of a ‘digital’ designer. Its taken me a while to realise what i’m good at and what I enjoy about design, as silly as that sounds. I started uni surrounded by people who already know exactly what their skills are and exactly what they want to do with their careers, and i’ve always felt like I have a lack of clear direction.

I know that I am passionate about design, but I think that the passion mainly lies with the idea of creative problem solving. I enjoy coming up with creative ideas that look good but will also make a mark and stick with people somehow, whether it's innovative social design, rebranding something in a really exciting way, or creating something for an easier user experience. Nowadays I just refer to myself as a ‘multidisciplinary’ designer, with various projects showcasing my skills in editorial design and typography.

I decided to only really apply for paid internships for a few reasons. 1. its an incentive to actually do your best work. 2. I figured if a company doesn't pay interns, chances are they won't be great contacts to keep after graduating and probably don't pay their junior designers well either. 3. We all  have rent, food and travel to pay for!!

I originally wanted to work for a big in-house branding or motion design company, however after applications went out and rejections came in, I realised I don’t really currently have enough branding and motion design in my current portfolio to secure an internship in one of those fields, which is what i’ve realised i’d like to go into. This has made me realise that if I want to improve on my portfolio and skill sets, this is something i’m going to have to work on before third year starts.

After giving it some thought, I figured that I might be best suited to a design company that has a focus on social design, as that is what a lot of my current projects in my portfolio focus on. About three weeks into applying to various social design companies, and I was finally successful. I’ve been offered internships at Design102, the in-house design agency for the government, and WaterAid. This offers me some great experience working for two different very well respected companies, which I am really happy about. (AND THEY’RE BOTH WELL PAID!)

Despite this, my year is definitely going a little different to how I imagined it. I’m not going to be at some hipster agency or doing briefs for huge brands, but I feel content that i’ve got my year sorted until April and that i’m getting some great experience to put on my cv, whether its exactly what I want to do in the future or not. DPS is going to be a year of new experiences and LOTS of learning for me.

So, currently, this is my year plan:

October - December: 
Design102 internship, working in-house for the government, helping create social design for public sectors. (2-3 month placement)

January - April:
Internship with WaterAid on the design and branding team. (4 month placement)

April - September:
Spend time learning and expanding on my skills in motion graphics, and create more motion based design work for my portfolio, including a self initiated project. Start researching and writing my thesis. 

October:
Come back to uni being more skilled in motion graphics, and being (hopefully) prepped for writing a dissertation.