Junior Digital and Graphic Designer Review

The role is working as a junior graphic and digital designer, creating designs that support the work of the scientists, engineers, and other staff working at STFC. It has comprised of both individual and collaborative work. I would use programs such as InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop and PowerPoint to create a range of graphic design work such as multi-page reports as interactive PDFs, logos, posters (both print and digital with incorporated video) booklets, stickers, notepad covers, contact cards, digital assets, and icons, and identity design, comprised of logos and icons, campaign pattern, banners, flags, lanyards, apparel, signage and email signatures. I would keep track of my work, both solo and collaborative, through a program called Asana, which other team members can also check to see the progress and status of different jobs. I would liaise with clients, who are members of staff from other parts of the organisation, to ensure I have the information required to complete their brief correctly, and to keep them updated with progress. I would also liaise with printers when required and ensure designs are produced correctly and delivered to the client successfully. I’ve also been involved in helping demonstrate graphic design techniques to other industrial placement students who are doing non-graphic design placements at the organisation, but who wanted to learn some basics to help them when presenting their work.

Yes, it has helped me develop the graphic design skills I've learned at university, particularly around using InDesign and Illustrator, but also Photoshop. I've learned new skills around accessibility, and how to make my designs accessible to WCAG standards. I've gained experience communicating directly with clients and printers, as well as seeing my designs through from obtaining the brief, to designing, to the design being physically produced. I've had experience working individually and as a team, as well as practicing remote working, as I was unable to move to the location of my placement, so worked from home. I also was able to become more experienced at managing my workload with several jobs assigned to me at one time, which I would need to manage to ensure all were completed by their required deadlines.

Yes, I was given responsibilities for jobs from start to finish, which involved obtaining a brief, liaising with clients to ensure I understood the brief and to obtain any additional information needed, producing the design, where relevant preparing and supplying the design to the print company, and ensuring the client receives the finished product within the timeframe required. I was also responsible for managing my time to ensure deadlines were met, updating Asana with the progress and status of the jobs I was assigned, managing sickness, annual leave and timekeeping.

I received a good level of support and guidance. As my placement was remote as I was unable to move to the location of the placement, this was probably more limited than the level of support and guidance that would be available to someone physically at the placement, but we used Zoom, screen sharing and email to communicate and for any support I needed. I was able to get help from both my manager, as well as other team members. There were times when support from one person took a little while, but usually in such instances I was able to obtain help from someone else, so didn't feel alone.

The culture was good. The company was enthusiastic about the research and innovation work their staff were doing, and my team were passionate about supporting this through our graphic design work. My teammates encouraged me to ask questions, experiment with design choices and learn from these. It's difficult for me to comment too much on this as my placement involved remote working, but placements usually take place in person, so I expect IP students who did the placement in person would get a better idea of this.

I really enjoyed my placement. The work felt meaningful and like I was contributing to a good cause, which is what I would like to be able to do through graphic design once I graduate. I was able to build on what I learned at university and practice these skills, as well as learn new ones. It gave me a good insight into what working as a graphic designer would be like, and I feel more confident going into the final year of university for having done this placement.

Yes

I'd definitely recommend that you apply. The work you'll do will be meaningful and will allow you to contribute to exciting projects relating to science and technology, through graphic design. The scope of the different types of jobs you'll receive will likely be very wide, and it'll allow you to work on a good range of projects that you can add to your portfolio. As far as advice, I'd probably recommend looking into what the organisation does ahead of the application process, so you understand the sort of work STFC does. This will allow you to compare this to your own interests and ambitions, so you can talk about the reasons you're wanting to apply to STFC in particular and what you like about them, and in turn what relevant things you can bring to the organisation too if they choose you.