Here are some images from my trip to Comic Con at the NEC in Birmingham

Work Placement

My placement was an independent one, I worked alongside Nathan O’Connor, one of Adtrak’s web designers, as I was doing visual design I thought a placement such as this would be relevant. Nathan showed me his personal, professional blog and taught me how I could improve my current blog and spoke to me about how creating my own blog would look more professional as I could make it unique and it would be a perfect platform to showcase my work. I also watched him design a business card from scratch, I saw how clients contacted him asking for a business card to be designed and Nathan was given only a few details of what the client wanted however it was his job to create something innovative while meeting the client’s needs. I showed Nathan the business cards I had designed and he gave me constructive criticism and told me how I could improve my designs, we compared our business cards and I saw how much more advanced his were to mine however I took some useful ideas away with me and began to put this into my work. Nathan also asked me to write a small piece for his blog simply using my words and no one else’s, I had to undertake a lot of research whilst not copying anything from any websites, this task was difficult however I managed to meet the requirements and he posted this piece onto his blog and said he would contact me in the future if he wanted any other pieces writing. My role fit within the organization because I was learning firsthand what level my work and skills would need to be at in order to potentially pursue a career in the media industry, I got a feel of what it was like having to research and write something that I wasn’t entirely interested in but knowing it could potentially be posted online for everyone to see pushed me to complete it. From this I learnt skills such as creativity, problem-solving, the ability to pay attention to detail, and I gained some knowledge of web design and these are skills I will continue to develop through my work. In terms of my performance I would say I worked quite efficiently, a lot of the placement was me watching and learning but I made sure I was 100% focused and that I was taking in everything that Nathan was saying to me, Nathan used InDesign CC when creating business cards, I also created some small designs using InDesign, that Nathan looked over and told me how I could make them better and how to incorporate a company name into the logo/business card, to reflect their business and what type of company they are. During one of the days at my placement, I went into Adtrak and was able to look around and see the different type of people who work there, how big the team was, the different roles everyone played and how the company worked together as a team to ensure they were delivering the best service. I realized that it wasn’t just designers and managers that built up the team but there were many other positions I was unfamiliar with, for example, copywriting, telecoms, creative director and more. It was really useful looking around the offices, I learnt that Adtrak are a company that also looks after its employees as well as its clients, and the work space is a relaxing environment with a pool table and vending machines, the employees said they felt this space allows creativity and It is a place they can take a break where a calm atmosphere is maintained. It was also interesting to find out that there were more female roles than I expected, web design is often stated as being a male dominated profession however even some manager roles were female dominated, for example, operations director, head of accounts, head of telecoms, head of graphic design, etc. This was surprising yet very pleasing.

 

From my placement, it definitely added to my knowledge of the media industry as I was able to see how a media company runs and works and the different types of roles and people it takes to make the company work, I learnt that it is important for the employees of the company to bond therefore the cooperation and teamwork becomes more natural and the work that is produced is of higher quality and everyone just works well together, it also creates a positive working environment and the company then sees a rise in success. It was interesting to get a real feel for the industry, to see the production side of things and see how things are created and how the ideas come together, how websites are created, how the company makes connections and uses their own website to showcase their work and the different companies they are in business with. Adtrak’s website provides a lot of information, it tells you who is a part of the team and what they do for the company, however meeting some of them was a useful experience, although pursuing a career in the industry is difficult, maintaining it is just as challenging, the work load is very high and the demand to get the work done on time is even higher. During my placement, I spent the majority of it with Nathan, watching him work from home and seeing how that it is no different from that of being in the office, although being at home allowed him to take as many breaks as he wanted, the work still had to be done and just as efficiently. It was very helpful spending my placement with Nathan because he was able to work with me independently and we were able to talk one to one about my work and how I am going to achieve a job in the industry after I leave university. Nathan told me his journey and how he landed his job role, he worked hard for many years and like me, attended university where he learnt much of his skills, he was fortunate enough to get a job interview and due to his high standard of work, he was successful and has been a web designer for the last 6 years. It was refreshing to know that he was once where I am now and that it is more than possible to achieve your dream job with hard work and dedication.

In comparison to the rest of the course, my placement was definitely more of a learning experience although the course allows me to create media products and showcase them, actually visiting a media company and seeing the process is far more of an experience. This course has taught me a lot about media that I will put forward in the future when obtaining a career in the industry, I have gained new skills and developed them and I hope to continue developing them but a work placement provided me with a lot more and I was able to learn further skills with someone who is currently a part of the industry therefore could give me and show me an insight into the work he does and this experience is something I will take with me into my final years of study.