Design Intern Review

A fascinating insight into another culture, this being my first time visiting Spain. The head of the company was easy to get on with, and the work was interesting. Whilst the placement itself was good, the really enjoyable part was the beautiful location in central Barcelona, which is only a short walk from the office.

I felt like I was relied on quite a lot, left for long periods to assess designs, and come up with my own ideas. I was also present when these ideas were in turn presented to clients, and asked my personal opinions quite frequently. The boss was fairly easy to get on with too.

As stated, I was left for long periods so had to use my own judgement a lot of the time. The boss was often absent, although fairly clear instructions were left in most cases. The times when they were there they gave an appropriate level of guidance, and seemed generally pleased with the results.

The placement was not a huge help to my studies, as I was using the skills I had developed whilst on my course to do the tasks I was presented, not developing them as such. However, there were elements of practical model-making that I gained new information from, and being involved in client meetings was also a useful insight.

It was not structured as such, more like being thrown straight in to a working environment. There were no learning goals or teaching opportunities, I was simply asked to carry on as if I had been working there from the start. This was not necessarily bad, but in terms of gaining useful experience it could have been better.

The atmosphere was generally friendly, in a professional if laid-back environment. As there were long periods of me being the only person there, it could get lonely, especially as I had only just gotten to the country, never having been there before and with no real knowledge of the language, but the boss was friendly and spoke perfect English, so this was not as huge problem.

Not much, in all honesty. As far as they were concerned, it was very simply a short work placement, nothing more. As I have said, there were interesting moments which I gained experience from, but in terms of training or development there was relatively little. However, it certainly increased my independent ability, to some extent.

It was exactly like having a role in the company, with real responsibilities and tasks that needed completing to a time and budget, developing ideas, making prototypes as well as client meetings and sales pitches. It was also structured in the same way as a normal working day, and treated as such.

As an independent design company it showed me exactly what it was like to approach big businesses to see what they needed and try to design products to fit their briefs, as well as what needed to be done when they gave feedback, how to process information and generally how to function in a design-related career.

As all design companies will be different, especially smaller companies,I could not base future jobs purely on my experience here. However, the working experience I got was fairly similar to what I expected based on work done on my university course, and was not enjoyable, so the content was fairly useful to decide on future jobs.

I was paid, but sadly not adequately enough to cover travel expenses and accommodation, let alone food, so i was out of pocket for the trip. However, I did get to travel to Barcelona and enjoy my free time exploring the surrounding area, so all in all it wasn't too much of an issue.

Not really, being that I was the sole employee at the time, aside from the boss. It was an interesting experince, but as far as contacts and networking go, it was severely lacking, and not entirely useful, as even the clients we were working for spoke a different language to me and therefore were unlikely to approach me on a personal front.

As I have previously stated, it was a very small working environment with only one other person, in a country I did not speak the language fluently, and with no one I knew well. In the entirety of the placement I think we went for one beer outside of work hours.

Yes, I was always on the lookout for what to do in the surrounding area. Barcelona is a wonderful place to explore, with an abundance of bars, tapas restaurants, museums, shops and parks, and the ones I visited were all very enjoyable. Whether you are alone or in a group of people, there is plenty to enjoy.

Yes, mainly for the excellent location, but also for the interesting experience that actually working abroad gives, and for the artistic scope of the main designer at the company, whose designs are very sculptural and interesting. It was a worthwhile experience and, whilst it may have cost me more to go than I made whilst I was there, I would still recommend it.