Diary of a Designer Intern

Diary of a Designer Intern

In the weeks leading up to my work experience at Reborn, the anticipation was increasing rapidly. Was I ready to enter the working world? I couldn’t decide if I was more nervous or excited, but now I know that there was no need for all the nerves, as this past week has been nothing but amazing. This small insight into the advertising industry has given me so much knowledge and inspiration, and I can now truly envisage myself pursuing a career in this direction. Not only have I learned where Chippendale is actually located, I also know how to properly hang Christmas lights on a staircase and how to efficiently resize an image in Photoshop! All jokes aside, I have had the time of my life this past week at Reborn, and the knowledge and experience I have gained is sure to stay with me forever.

Monday

My week started out a little rough. I somehow managed to miss three buses and frantically tried to get in touch (mid mental breakdown) with someone at the office to inform them I was going to be late on my very first day, which is specifically the one thing my Year Advisor at school told us NOT to do. (Sorry Ms Colby!) When I actually arrived at the office, a mere 30 minutes late, I first met all of my new ‘colleagues’, who were incredibly kind and welcoming. I was almost immediately whisked away into a meeting room, where the start-of-week-meeting was taking place. A giant spreadsheet with various brand names and tasks was displayed on the TV, and everyone was talking in what seemed like a whole different language. I had no clue what was going on, but I enjoyed it nonetheless!  After a quick coffee break with David, I was introduced to the world of community management on social media by Amy, which proved to be a very entertaining task. Commenting from Revlon’s Instagram account with over 20,000 followers may be one of my greatest achievements to date! Next I indulged in the world of project management, and learnt how complicated organising all the behind-the-scenes of an advertisement is (kudos to Carol).

Tuesday

Tuesday was my account service overview day, and what a day it was! After a smooth travel trip to the office (hallelujah), I began by researching competitors of one of Reborn’s clients, and created competitor reviews based off the research. Next, I was taught all about creating estimates, client reports and timelines by Emma and Mon, and even wrote my very own EDM brief! (Electronic Direct Mail). It was extremely fun and I learnt a lot from it. By this point I had finally remembered everyone’s names, and was already getting used to this new ‘office environment’, which plays 24/7 ambient music, has countless indoor plants, and actually has aircon. (A nice change from my sweltering hot school.)

Wednesday

After being introduced to social media management by Sam, I worked on image sourcing for a range of clients’ Instagram pages, which was actually quite an enjoyable task. What more could a girl want than scrolling through hundreds of pictures of the beautiful Stradbroke Island? After this, I got the opportunity to attend a meeting with clients in Surry Hills regarding an upcoming video advertisement campaign. On top of experiencing what a proper fancy meeting in the working world is like, I was also given free chips and a Tim Tam! (perks of working). After a quick walk back to the Reborn office, I began the notable job of resizing the images in Photoshop that I had sourced earlier.

Thursday

After quickly finishing up my image resizing, I began the day by properly decorating the office for Christmas with Amy. This involved meticulous planning of the positioning of each bauble on the Christmas tree, and plenty of critical thinking while debating whether to use lights or tinsel going down the stairs. It really utilised our refined design skills to the max! Following a quick lunch break, I spent the rest of the day working with Louis and Jenny from One Rise East, who taught me the works the ins and outs of the advertising industry from a design perspective. This was super fun, and I learnt a lot about creative thinking and the processes of design. I was asked to brainstorm the word ‘Movement’, and create a mind-map and Pinterest board on it, which proved to be great fun.

Friday

Friday was when the jealousy really hit. How is it fair that everyone here gets to come back next week and continue having the best time working, while I have to go back to boring old school? Throughout the day I made a PowerPoint presentation on everything I have done and learnt during my work experience and presented it to everybody at the end of the day. I also sourced some images for another client and was taught about project managing by Iasmim. On top of that, I wrote this article which has really made me reflect on everything I’ve done in my time at Reborn, and realise that this is definitely something I could see myself enjoying as a career in the future.

All in all, in just one short week working here at Reborn I have learnt so much and had such a great time, and I am sad to be leaving. The time went so fast and I can already tell I’m going to miss working here (even though it was just for a week). I am so thankful for everything I’ve learnt, all the people I’ve met, and all the experience I’ve gained, and I hope to stay in touch with everyone and maybe even come back after I finish university!

Written by Claire Kaldor

Intern at REBORN