The Life of a Small Firm

What working for a small firm has taught me:

Working in a small firm has taught me many things about the industry, one being that a title, mine being “graphic design intern” is a loose one, my tasks veer far past being just a graphic designer!  With a small amount of employees and no clearly defined departments, everyone truly works as a team. Therefore, no employee or intern is confined to one department, we work in all of them. Although this may seem a little overwhelming to most, it has really taught me about all different aspects of advertising, from creative work to media planning, I have done all of the in between. This experience in a small firm has taught me so much about myself that I would not have learned without this internship. For example, I have learned that I love graphic design, but really do not love copywriting and should ideally steer clear from that career path!

The Behind the Scenes:

Having no previous internships or advertising related work experience, you may question how I can compare this work environment to any others, but nonetheless I can! I would like to preface this with the fact that I think it is really important to find a career which offers a work space which fits your values and who you are as a person. For example, I am not someone who belongs in a quiet office environment…locked up in a cubicle all day.

Walking into my internship two times a week, I saw the same people and knew a lot about them, who they were, and what they liked to do. Communication was so easy, and I truly feel like we all really bonded with one another. Even though we all had endless amounts of work, the environment of the work space did not reflect this, rather there was always a fun and relaxed tone to the space.

The other positive aspect of working in a small firm is the fact that there is always someone to turn to for help or advice on your work. I have certainly realized how important the concept of “peer reviewing” is after I submitted some works with a fair share of small mistakes, oops, but long story short now I truly do believe in the idea of having others look over your work!