Reflection on my time at Tin Racer Design

The two days I spent shadowing the Tin Racer team were very helpful in a number of ways.

It really opened my eyes to the process between a client and the designer, which is a very long winded and frustrating process for a designer. But the most successful designers are the ones that take arguments and changes against their work and their creative vision within their stride and use the feedback to develop successful products and happy customers.

I also learnt about how important it is to consider the audience, the third party, especially when in relation to creating a product which has a sole purpose to advertise or inform.

There is a lot of work, especially when you are a self-employed designer. The end to end process of graphic design is long winded and often complicated especially when there are a lot of jobs to be done in a short period of time. As I mentioned previously, I hadn't considered tasks such as completing the admin.

It was explained to me that this line of work can involved unsociable hours. Simone told me that she has had to work through the night before to get briefs fulfilled against deadlines after having power cuts and computers crashing.

I hadn't realised before that, sometimes it is a hard sector to work in, this is particularly true of those working outside of major cities. You are in competition with other local companies and those in major cities like London constantly. As a small company this is a big challenge that Tin Racer face.

By engaging in the task that Simone and Steve gave me I was able to understand the stress of the end to end process and the impact of tight deadlines and having to work with topics and briefs that you don't connect with in a creative way and also that my Photoshop skills were not as polished as my skills with other softwares.

This experience helped me to develop my social and communication skills both in a personal and professional way. I was skeptical at first, visiting an unfamiliar area and meeting new people on a professional level. I didn't realise how outgoing and calm I was! (ha) . I am now a lot more comfortable talking with people in person and also on the phone in a professional way and will be able to transfer this skill across in the future when trying to find an appropriate placement or position. This can also be said of my ability to email people I don't know to ask for a favour. I feel more comfortable addressing people I don't know after speaking with one of Tin Racer's clients in a meeting.

I have gained an understanding of what tasks this job involves and the reality of how un-creative and motivating some of them are, which was a key realisation for me that in any job there are going to be less glamorous and stimulating.

On a professional level I found that self presentation is an essential skill, along with an eagerness to learn. I developed my software skills and have learnt a lesson in organising my time according to deadlines. These all seem like significant skills which are required across most professions.