A week with Burning Red

Last week I had the privilege of  a week's work experience with Burning Red, A design agency in Cardiff Bay who tackle briefs ranging from identity and print to web and animation. It has been a while since my previous placement with Brand Union in London so to have some more 'real-world' industry experience was fantastic. This time the studio was 5 strong instead of 80, and I  enjoyed making new friends with some great people. The difference between the projects in the real-world and university are noticeably different.

Most obvious is the team element. This changes the whole dynamic. Suddenly your not just working on your own and essentially for yourself but with colleagues for a real client. Therefore work must be completed more swiftly with a certain selflessness not required in constructing  our student portfolios. This is hard to let go of at first, which I found when doing some work for CLIC, a government organisation providing information for 11-25 yr olds. Suddenly your not the sole creator and effectively your own client, but someone elses, and you're design must appeal to them and their audience, who often have very little design knowledge. 

The week helped me to see more through the eyes of others and not just my own, and I think this is one of the most important skills a designer can have.