Our recent work experience student (Holly) spent a few days with us discovering what it takes to be part of a design team…
My Work Experience
My name is Holly Leech and over the past 8 days I have been working at Lingo Design for my work experience. On my first day I woke up feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehension. I didn’t know what my temporary colleagues would be like. Would they ignore me? Would they accept me? In the end, these negative thoughts were completely unnecessary. Everyone at Lingo is helpful, cheery and happy to share their knowledge.
Throughout my work experience I have expanded my understanding of graphic/web design in a way that school could never teach me. I have achieved so much more than I first expected, such as publishing five articles to downhamweb.co.uk, with more on the waiting list. I also got a chance to use my drawing skills and Adobe PhotoShop to design a header which was actually featured on the DMA Zone section of downhamweb. I’ve even managed to get my head round a spot of coding! Who would have thought?!

My favourite part of working at Lingo was the designing. I found that I was suddenly bursting with ideas that just had to be transferred onto paper. After I had squeezed every last idea out of my brain, it was time to bring my favourite design to life. After a very informative tutorial on PhotoShop, I began to create my design. By the end, I had pretty much investigated every tool PhotoShop had to offer, giving me an outcome I was proud of.

There was no point during my work experience where I thought ‘I don’t want to do this’. I even enjoyed shredding! In fact, the only time I felt boredom was at lunch time, which is strange. Working here has definitely inspired me to pursue a career in design – whether it be graphic design or website design I am yet to find out. I now know that there are many jobs on offer in workplaces such as Lingo. There are designers, code developers, administrators, project managers, creative directors, studio supporters and more. There are so many opportunities out there and it makes me giddy with excitement just thinking about it!
Everyday I had to write a brief summary of my day in a blue diary. The diary would ask me questions like ‘How did you feel by the end of the day?’, ‘How did you use your communication skills today?’ and ‘What new things have you done today?’. If you were to read through these accounts of my day you would surely see how well everything went. The space to write was fairly limited and I regularly ran out of space!
In conclusion, thank you so much to the people at Lingo Design: Liz, Vicki, Steve, Pip, Christine and Sam! I am extremely grateful for all the help I received. From understanding WordPress to learning how to make coffee (a long overdue lesson!). From grasping the basics of PhotoShop to expanding my knowledge of what happens after school. Lingo has helped me lots over the past 8 days and I will be sad to say goodbye.
WELL DONE HOLLY!
We are glad you enjoyed your time in the studio
and that you have learnt so much in such a small amount of time!
Team Lingo