Having just embarked on a year’s internship with us, Flynn shares his thoughts on how it’s going so far.
Working at Magpie has been a big part of my life for the past year, as a member of the Ideas & Imagination Team as well as being part of the design team for one afternoon a week – both of which has added a bit of organisation and order to my rather relaxed, if a little jumbled uni life! The fixed few hours every week gave me an introduction to agency life and the design process, and as I watched everyone work together on projects, I knew Magpie was where I wanted to learn more.
This led to where I am now, at the beginning of a full-time internship at Magpie, where I’m sad to say I have yet to make a tea round, despite having received many (this seems to only be a poor reflection of personal etiquette, so I’ll make one soon, I promise). In the short period of time I’ve been here, I’ve been involved more extensively in the whole process rather than just on small aspects of projects, I’ve seen artworks printed up, campaigns started and new projects initiated, which has changed the way I see studio practices. I previously had an idea about how studios work – client services, who’d manage projects, organise the briefs and set everything up for the designers to work on. But without being in the environment and living it, it does all appear to be an abstract idea, something I couldn’t quite see.
Working on briefs over a couple of days rather than a couple of hours has changed the way I view projects, as I can now really see how my role plays an important part in making our campaigns a success.
This work flow is probably the main change I’ve seen since I began my internship as I’ve shifted from organising my uni work which, while it does have some input from lecturers, remains a practically individual form of design, to the collaborative approach of working in a close-knit team like Magpie.
Something drives the studios designs into different routes right from the beginning of a project. For example, Magpie’s Ideas Hack brought everyone in the studio together for idea generation, playing to their strengths but also having the freedom to try new things and push the best ideas forward.
Working full time at Magpie also gives a perspective on my own horizons, with this internship being a sort of a window into my prospective future. This is really optimistic, as days at work are enjoyable and interesting and each day I have different clients, projects and designs to work on – the whole point of an internship! I’m really looking forward to see what the next year will bring and the new skills I’ll learn.
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