Posted on January 23, 2017

Amber George, a final year student at University of South Wales BA (Hons) Advertising Design provides an insight to her time as an intern here at Sugar.

I found out about Sugar on my train journey back to Cardiff after the Christmas holiday (on my birthday.) Knowing I had two weeks off from University I wanted to use this to get some much needed experience in the industry. I saw their website and saw how bright and friendly it looked, I liked the style and the cool work on Augmented Reality and branding, so I thought I’d give them an email.

I got an email back from Will a few days later asking me to give them a call and then a week or so after that I received an email saying they were willing for me to come in for a week. So the night before starting, I was very excited but nervous. I was worried that my skills weren’t good enough to go into industry and that I’d turn up, they’d see my level of work, laugh and tell me to go home or something. But I turned up and was introduced to the lovely team and given a tour of the building. I was surprised to be given my own Apple Mac to work on in a room with all the team and found that they made me a lovely little welcome card with all the staff names, along with a sketchbook and pencil, I felt really welcomed.

My first task was to research into a deep and complex project, but I loved it. I’d heard stories of people going on internships and spending a week doing tasks that didn’t contribute and they didn’t learn anything so I was happy that I got to work on a project straight away. Then I thought, wow, I have a research project to do IN ONE DAY! At industry standard!? How am I going to do this?! I’d normally spend two weeks researching something at University.

Everything felt very real but this was something I needed, the timescale motivated me and I got stuck in. I even somehow came up with a few ideas from the research, I was very nervous for the team to review the work, but it turned out totally different to how I expected, they were very supportive and gave me lots of useful advice. My sketchbook was half way filled within 24 hours with both work and advice. 

The next few days were also full of tasks that were slightly out of my comfort zone, but feeling confident after the first day, I threw myself into them.

From finding useful contact details to attempting to design a website for the first time (I say attempted because to me, it was a disaster) but again, the team were very supportive and learned that it was okay for things to go wrong, to step away from it and come back at a later time. Each task came with a heap full of helpful advice that has equipped me for the future and I’m so thankful for this opportunity I’ve been given.

During the week, I have learnt how to do things properly using Illustrator and built upon my very basic knowledge of After Effects. The amount of things I’ve learnt in a week feels like a whole term worth at Uni, I’m still astonished it’s been a week, It feels like I’ve been here for months because of the amount of stuff I’ve learnt but it’s also gone so fast it doesn’t even feel like a week. I feel like I’m going back to Uni. with a whole section of my brain filled with new things to help me and I feel excited to get started on projects again. I also feel way more equipped with skills and knowledge ready for industry.

My experience here was a lot different than I expected, I thought I would be put into a room by myself doing tasks that wouldn’t amount to much whilst fetching tea and coffee for serious staff working on serious things. Instead, I was given the opportunity to work on real life projects and contribute to a very helpful team. I’ve been given copious amounts of tea instead of making it, so much so I’ve had to start drinking hot chocolate at home.

The team made me feel comfortable enough to have a joke with them and to ask for help when it’s needed. (Even after accidentally insulting Graham when telling him my Nan likes ‘Guns N’ Roses’). It’s given me confidence and restored my excitement for design and advertising. It’s crazy to think how nervous and underprepared I felt at the start of the week to how comfortable and confident I feel at the end of the week. I’m going to leave here wanting to learn more about design and feel excited to brush up my skills instead of not feeling good enough, and it’s all down to the team here at Sugar.

For anyone like me looking to go into the design industry I can’t tell you how invaluable this opportunity is and I wish I did it earlier.

Thanks Sugar!

Amber