I am extremely fascinated by social design which has become a popular and important topic over the past few years. I believe it has grown from the need to change our ever- growing society and has thus pushed design beyond it’s traditional core and scope. It is therefore hard to say where the limits of social design go and how to draw a line between activism, advertising and social design. 
 
My interest in social design developed during the second year of my course which was also the time of DPS lectures. By the time our placement year proposals were due, I had a clear vision of where I wish to be in couple of months. Following my portfolio approval from Sarah, I was ready for applications- or so I thought. I decided not to go crazy with sending emails and selected all the companies very carefully. Which was also the reason of being heartbroken after my first ‘your portfolio is really good, however, we are not looking for interns at the moment…’.  
 
Soon after, Sarah sent out the very first WOW email listing with an internship opportunity at Pentagram. A world’s largest independently-owned design studio working across four different countries and with various different clients. (It also happened to be my top choice.) The opportunity allowed an intern to join Angus Hyland’s team whose work covers different mediums and combines his personal interests with working at Pentagram. I remember thinking my portfolio would fit in perfectly and I would therefore be a valuable part of the team. Within a week of my application I was invited for an interview. Next thing I remember was me walking out of the office happier than ever- I was asked to join the team from September onwards. I couldn’t believe my luck!
 
On my first day, I arrived 15 mins early (just in case!) and felt a bit more stressed than necessary. I was seated at the reception, patiently waiting for someone to come and take me upstairs. Luckily, there was nothing to worry about as straight away I was introduced to my colleagues and therefore got to meet the whole team. I spent my first day figuring out where things were and how the team works.
 
I have now finished my second week at Pentagram and I could not have asked for a better start to my DPS year. My fear of not being able to contribute to the design process as much as I would love has always turned me away from working in big companies, however, Pentagram has so far proved me wrong. From the first day until now, I have been working on real projects and have already assisted Marisa and Alice (who are both brilliant designers and really lovely people!). As well as having a wonderful team, I am treated as a proper part of it. I am given responsibilities that will contribute to the final outcome. I can also see what others on my team are working on, which gives me an excellent opportunity to be part of the whole design process (essentially I see how the magic happens). So far so good and even better than I expected- I love Pentagram and cannot wait to see what next three months will bring! 
 
Overall, I have been very pleased with DPS course, Pentagram and my two other secured placements. I will be staying in London for six months (Pentagram + Think Birch Studio) and moving to Berlin to work in an advertising agency (DieckertSchmidt) soon after. 
 
 
Interesting facts about Pentagram that I’ve noticed so far:
 
- My team consists of women only- amazing!
- It is very quiet in the office during the day
- We always have lunch with the whole team and never talk about work during our breaks!
- Lady managing the canteen is scary
- Drinks every Friday with the whole office at local pub sound amazing
- I have seen several familiar faces from LCC!

Outside of Pentagram's office, there's a street named after them!

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!)

I am Marylin Chiaverina, Illustration and Visual Media student.
My Experience with searching for a job is still at the beginning: this is because I am insecure, and I am having a hard time looking and finding job listings for my profession.  I am currently looking for jobs by using websites such as The Dotts, LinkedIn, Reed.co.uk and Zoek.

The lower points in this experience is how hard it is to find Illustration Internships. For this reason, I have been applying also for Graphic Design Internships which will not have ‘moving images’ under my responsibilities, as I do not have experience with animation software. I also noticed that there are quite a few jobs as an illustrator but those do not include internships, I am not applying to them as they require experience in the industry.

The high points of this experience for now is my plan, if I didn’t find a placement for September, I would have created a self-initiated project. I talked to Laura Vent, who helped me to create a plan and structure for the project and she explained me how to search for internships in the graphic narrative’s world. She also gave me websites for future contacts, Galleries and Festivals revolving around comics. I met up with her as a follow up from last year to make sure I was on the right path. Thanks to Laura’s help, my project is now on its way to be properly written down. I am planning to create a webcomic which will be based on funny stories of my life intitled Lin Trips; I decided to create this project because it has been a while since I wanted to create a webcomic and I like sharing funny stories with people. I chose Lin Trips as a title as I love puns and word plays: I wanted the title to be a joke about my clumsiness, it is also a reference to the videogame ‘Death Trips’ by Alberto Navarro which I found hilarious. The webcomic will be published on Webtoon because it is a platform I am familiar with, since I follow creators and their comics on it. Lin Trips will also be under a pen name as I am uncomfortable using my real name on the Internet, I was thinking about using Kaylin Hunter, so I would still have my favourite part of my name in it, this might change depending on its availability. The webcomic will be in a Tim Burton’s style mixed with my own as I believe this will make the webcomic peculiar enough to be noticed and will also represent me as a person and push my art skills further as I usually not use this style of drawing. I also choose a Tim Burton style because he is one of my favourite creators and his style quite encapsulates my love for creepy stuff like horror stories. This project will run throughout the year in between placements or other self-initiated projects so I will not lose days of experience.

Francesca Adani
Illustration and Visual Media
 
I think nowadays design plays a crucial role in society; indeed, creativity is considered the most important leadership quality by most employers because it triumphs over other characteristics. Creative leaders are comfortable with ambiguity and experimentation and they lead and interact in entirely new ways, to connect with and inspire a new generation.
Over the past several years, we have seen a rising emphasis on design to help us deal with an increasingly complex world.
 
I’ve always considered myself as a creative individual, so when it came to choose what I wanted to study at university I knew it was art & design. However, during the past 2 years, I’ve always had some doubts, wondering if I made the right decision. 
Since the start of my first internship here in London, I’ve realized that I had made the right choice because I like my job and I know this is what I want to do, even though I’m just an intern!
I’m glad I decided to take part in the DPS program because for the first time I realised what is it like to work in the design world.
I feel like my ambitions have changed so much during the past few months, at first all I wanted to do was a finding placement in London, but now I want to travel, work in different places, work on my projects and learn new things. 
I’m happy where I am now because I have an internship that I like, and I already have another one lined up after this. 
However, arriving at this stage wasn’t easy.
I’ve spent months wondering if I would ever find a job, but you know things happen at the moment you stop looking for them…
 
I started applying for an internship at the beginning of May and believed me I think I’ve sent about 50 application before finding the internship I have now. 
It was very stressful, so many people don’t even bother replying to you, and the ones that do reply are probably going to reject you.
I think what was very hard for me was the fact that there aren’t that many illustration internships as the majority of employers look for graphic design interns. Therefore, since I didn’t have enough graphic design examples in my portfolio to apply for a graphic design position, I missed a lot of potential jobs. 
Any advice I could give to anyone studying illustration is to start including text in the works they create, so at least you can show potential employers how you deal with images and text together.
 
The place I’m working right now it’s called Partcile6Productions, it’s a company that creates mainly video for the BBC. When I got offered the position, I was very reluctant on accepting it because I didn’t think I would fit in the work that the company does, plus it was not a paid. However, this was the only job I found after 50 applications, so I decided to accept it and I signed a contract for one month.
I’m very glad I decided to join this company because they made me work on so many important projects. I had the opportunity to do to both graphic design works and more illustration ones. I also had the opportunity to be on set during filming. 
It’s been such a great experience that made me improve my skills. I really thought I was not going to like it, but it was the opposite. 
Certainly, I’ve learned to consider every opportunity I’m offered because you never know how it is going to be like.
 
After finding the internship I have now I kept sending applications, and after about other 20, I’ve found another placement.
It a graphic design/art direction internship in Berlin for 4 months. The company it’s an advertising agency called Dieckertschmidt. 
I never thought I would be going to Germany, but I concluded that I was limiting myself in finding placement just in London, so I started applying everywhere.
I’m very excited about this placement in Berlin as I’m very interested in art direction and advertising.
 
Next week is going to be my last week here in London, after I’ll move back to Italy for a month to work on a self-initiated project, and then Berlin in November. 

Zuzanna Milancej
Illustration and Visual Media.
Design is not noticeable with ones bare eye. But once you look at the world through a magnifying glass, you realise design is what makes our world. Everything we see, touch and experience has been thought through and created for the purpose to attract or engage by designers. Looking at jobs and finding internships I have learned more about my own style and practice unlike ever before, as well as finding new approaches to illustration and the discipline this carries nowadays. Although there are a lot of creative jobs out there, it is impossible to do something that is 100% you, something that I knew was true at the back of my mind but something I never acknowledged. This really put a comma in my motivation and naivety I had when thinking about the DPS year. One of the hardest parts was having to overcome this and moving forward, trying to find a job that is more of what I want to do and learn, something that I would enjoy and not be asleep at my desk each morning. As well as this, I have learnt a lot about the industry, people and how to be resilient even in the hardest times when you need to find the will to get up in the morning and send another 100 emails that you know that no one will answer except for the odd few saying they don’t want you. Design seems to be everywhere like bees. You see it everywhere when you’re not looking, and once its actually an important part of your life and you need to find it, turns out its pretty much extinct.

Being in an arts university you forget about the outside world and the naivety of people towards design. You struggle to explain what you do. You try showing them but they just tell you to put your phone away and they don’t care. You’re just a children’s book illustrator or a website designer and everything else is just empty words that come in one ear and leave the other straight away. It is hard to not become just an “artist” or “hobbyist” in other people’s eyes. But just like the bees, your motivation will have a come back and we will escape the feeling of dread and unfulfillment and will join the rest of the world and create for the Earth.
​
We can despair for our unstable lifestyles, but we will always know that design is needed everywhere and everything is design. Even if the rest of the world doesn’t know. We are like the silent heroes of our age. Ones that only now start to be slowly recognised, and ones that will always be needed and used. I will always try to carry on doing something that is in line with my manifesto and belief to fulfill my ambitions throughout this year and I know it is going to be hard, but I know that it will be worth it in the very end.

by Katie Scott (IVM)

​Today, technology and globalisation created us a well-networked but complex world. The economy is shifting from attention economy to emotion economy, and human-centred design becomes significant and noticeable in different sectors such as financial, built environment, branding and marketing. It is by setting the target audience as the core of the design and aims to contribute a good user experience. Being a creative nowadays in this society, We have been requested not just be creative but also open-minded, adaptive, and curiosity. We need to understand the challenge in-depth to create a human-centred solution; human insights and culture is an essential part of it. 

Due to this, it develops my eagerness to experience and understand how the London creative industry plays its role in this complex world. And aim to practice my skills and learn within the UK and Europe market after graduate, to enhance my working experience multiculturally that would hugely beneficial my future career. However, in a competitive and fast speed, London society, have a chance to work in the creative industry is not easy. Be an international graduate looking for an opportunity to work in the London creative industry is even harder because of the Visa issue. 

As the above reasons, I decided to join the DPS program and minded not just study but also experience and practice in the London creative industry. And expect to build-up some network that may help my future career growth. During our course, we have been trained as a thinker by learning and practising not same problem-solving methodologies and identity analysis skills. This discipline is broad and adaptable to various sectors. At the beginning of DPS, my goal wasn't that clear and only want to explore the UK and Europe creative industry. 

Since June, I have been planning to seek placement and aim to get an offer before I returned to my home town for switching my Visa. However, It wasn't an easy job, and I couldn't manage to do it. While I back to my home town, I still kept searching for different placement such as project management, brand strategy and creative intern in London. During this period, it made me doubt about my portfolio and works. I was kept in touch with Sarah for the portfolio advice. 

Following with portfolio approval with Sarah, she advised me to applicate for a year-long internship that would be working at Arup FRI team (Foresight, Research and Innovation). Arup is a global design film mainly focusing on the built environment market. And FRI team is an internal research team at Arup, it responses to provide business insights for internal projects or clients. I have been contacted by them for an interview after the application, but I failed the application. A week after, surprisingly, I got an email from Arup global research team leader for another interview, and presently at the final stage of the application. With a hope that I able to work and learn from them. 

During these times, I am learning to get over been rejected and be organised without planing. Also, I have been motivated since I examine more about research role. I am passionate about understanding the challenge and change in our everyday lives. And research it helps to inform our understanding in-depth, as key themes that are currently affecting or we thing it may affect our future. It provides insights, so we are understanding practically what we can do about these things. As a researcher, the role is not only to unpack the challenges, gives inspiration and helps designer for innovation and creative solutions. It also has a responsibility to present and convince business leaders to be aware of or take action to be up-to-date in our society. It such a motivative and meaningful role to be, as key themes that are our action then contributes to a resilient and ultimately much more sustainable world. 

August 2019
​by Dan Ioannou