Following a whirlwind first week at Premier Print, I am writing this blog post having just finished my second week at the company. I feel just as excited and enthusiastic about the job as I did at the end of last week and feel that this has really been the best possible step to have taken following my eight month placement in Lewisham. I have been introduced to new staff members, given new responsibilities and settled well into what I see as a role that has furthered my design thinking and creative practice.

As I wrote about in my previous blog posts, my mains tasks on the first week were to examine logos, re-format artwork and check supplier proofs. I hit the ground running at the start of this week as I was able to just carry on with these tasks by constantly keeping on top of my e-mails and the company Trello boards. My boss seems happy for me to keep plugging away and has given me the opportunity to get on with my work with far less guidance than I required last week. I feel comfortable to sending e-mails around the office and even just walking up to new peoples’ desks to discuss artwork and the usability of certain files. I can appreciate that this is great experience for the future, where there is every chance that I could end up working for a company with multiple departments and have to communicate my thoughts and ideas on a daily basis. The South London Club had a much smaller team -there was only three of us, so I’ve really had to rise to the challenge of dealing with many different new people each day. I have always been a sociable person and find it comes naturally to lead University groups, so I am applying the communication skills I gained in those first two years as much as possible.

Aside from just carrying on with the daily tasks mentioned above, I have been set some design-based projects to work on when I have spare time. I was given these tasks at the start if the week and felt an immense sense of pride that they were willing to trust me with design work after only one week at the company. Below I have detailed the tasks that I have been set and have worked on in the last seven days:

Sales Executive Slideshows – I was asked by my boss Charlotte to continue working on a slideshow presentation that had been started by some of the other members of the studio team. The idea of the slideshow is that it will serve as a reminder to the sales executives of what to say on the phone when selling products to potential clients. The slideshow will eventually be played on a loop all day long on digital photo frames that will be placed on the sales teams’ desks. I have been carrying on creating the slideshow in Illustrator, making sure to refer to the company design guidelines when selecting colours and imagery. The presentation is bright and up-beat, full of inspiring quotes and uplifting imagery. I have been able to transfer some of the presentation creation skills that I acquired at the South London Club, where I produced promotional presentations for GrowPro Digital. The project has been fun so far and I was given good feedback by the company MD Jamie Marshall, who really likes the style of the slideshow so far.

Thomas Cook Pitch Presentation – Premier Print do a lot of work for Thomas Cook, and on Wednesday they were asked by the travel company to give a pitch on the following Monday about a range of new products they are interested in. There was going to have to be a quick turn around as they had only had a few days to prepare for the pitch. I was told that I was going to be needed to help in the creation of a presentation to aid the sales team for when they go to pitch on Monday. The company leaders and sales team drew up a basic ida of what they wanted to say on each slide and gave some rough information to my boss who started to create a professional powerpoint in Illustrator. I was asked to create four slides of the presentation  which included a mind map, chart and infographic. Like the slideshow I mentioned above, I have been able to draw on the skills I gained creating work for GrowPro Digital, especially with the infographics. I feel privileged to have been asked to help on the project and I hope the pitch goes well on Monday!

The Great British Promotional Show – Finally, and in my opinion the most exciting opportunity that has presented itself this week as been my inclusion in ‘The Great British Promotional Show’ that the company are planning on putting on in the summer. This will be a chance for Premier’s clients to all get together to discuss all things print, give presentations and make new connections. I was ‘CC’ed into an e-mail from company MD Jamie, who outlined exactly what the show is going to be about and most importantly for me- the aesthetic that they are going for. Jamie wants the show to be British, retro and punk – think Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the Sex Pistols. My boss informed that she would like me to be a part of the project and to start drawing up some early ideas for logos. I was honoured to have been asked to be a part of the show and excited at the opportunity to brand a high-profile event. I have started creating some early ideas for the logo which have been approved by some of the company’s leaders and I cannot wait to get back to it next week!