Life as a Filament Intern
Let me start by saying that landing a design internship in this competitive industry is just that—extremely competitive. I left my school, Parsons The New School for Design, and that network in New York City behind to move home to Toronto to start my career without any industry connections. It was an interesting search, and I quickly learned not to judge a book by its cover, or in this case, judge an agency by its website (we are in the process of a total redesign of the Filament website). Many agencies I met with were nothing like I imagined, and I quickly got a feel for the type of place I could see myself working. After countless applications, multiple interviews, and a few options to consider, I accepted Filament’s offer. From the moment I arrived for my interview, I knew that this team would challenge me professionally; I also knew it would be a lot of fun coming into work everyday—not to mention all the fun activities we do together outside of the office. I am lucky to be working with a team of extremely smart, talented, and hilarious people who have taught me a TON.
I set my sights on smaller agencies early on in my search. An internship at Filament has proven my assumption that the best experience is found at smaller companies that treat you as one of their own rather than like an intern. I was immediately assigned tasks for real clients, with real deadlines. Since the Filament team is small, I was involved in every step of the process of every project I worked on. Over the course of my twelve week internship, this was the most crucial aspect of my learning. The team never let me waste any time, and had me dive in head first, which was the best thing they could have done for me. It was a great experience working among other team members who they, themselves, came on board as interns and knew what would help me succeed, and were keen to help me learn.
One of the most interesting and exciting things about a design internship is the exposure to the inner-workings of a professional agency. It has been amazing seeing all of the steps of the creative process come to life. I am fortunate because this company’s refined process is extremely effective and successful. They are totally involved with and maintain close relationships with every client they take on, which is clear in the type of work they produce. To me, this is a reflection of their passion for the work that they do, which is the reason they are so selective about the types of projects they take on. Being open to learning about how and why they do things the way they do has really helped me become better at what I do. I have sat in on audience interviews, client design review meetings, completed part of a competitive landscape analysis report, helped design style tiles, and participated in countless wire framing sessions.
During one of my first weeks at Filament, I was lucky enough to be asked what my dream client or project would be if I had my choice. Little did I know that they planned to make my dreams a reality. I was assigned two fictitious projects over the subsequent weeks where I worked through the design process from start to finish as the client-facing designer, with our strategy or design director stepping in as my client. I had total creative freedom over both projects, which was such an amazing opportunity as a designer just getting my feet wet in the industry.
An issue I sometimes had at Parsons was that I was not receiving enough critical feedback to help me improve. Steve told me early on that this would not be an issue on this team. He assured me that by not shying away from critique, I would be more likely to grow and succeed. Learning how to accept critical feedback without taking it personally is one of the biggest challenges I have faced as a young designer. Although, if you aren’t willing to learn this skill, this industry may not be right for you. You can’t be afraid of what others think of you. Keep in mind that your bosses and colleagues are on your side, working with you not against you, and they want you to succeed because your success is their success. I am slowly learning to get out of my own head, get my work out there, and build confidence in my designs.
Like school, an internship is a learning experience, and you need to see it that way. One can hope to be perfect and awesome at everything from the get-go, but the truth of the matter is, that is rarely the case. Even if you are awesome, no one member of the team can succeed on their own as well as the team working as a whole. This is the beauty of a collaborative work environment. There is certainly value in being resourceful, and pushing yourself to come up with solutions on your own. This is important for your own personal growth and learning, and helpful if you can teach other team members a thing or two in the process. Although, at a certain point, when you get totally stuck, you do yourself and the team more favours to reel in others for support. By asking for fresh eyes or tips, you will reach quicker conclusions and learn more in the process. I have also learned to never be afraid to go back to the drawing board as there is no sense beating yourself up over something that just isn’t working.
Throughout the course of my two made-up projects, I quickly learned that failure really is the key to success. The change I saw in my thinking and skills from the first project to the second was incredible, and this improvement was the result of many challenges and failures. My mistakes taught me the most because as I made mistakes, or missed certain cues in a project, I figured out what steps I should have taken. I also discovered the value in asking the right questions at the beginning to help shape a project and make sure that no client goals are missed. These are lessons I carry with me into each new project I take on.
One of the biggest adjustments coming from Parsons, and one of my greatest challenges so far, is working on someone else’s time. At school, deadlines are relatively relaxed—a project assigned today is due a week or even weeks later. Becoming conscious of the amount of time things are taking you is not easy, and I find that with design especially, I easily get lost in a project for hours without realizing—I suppose this is proof that I am doing something that I really love. Even so, getting into the habit of setting stricter deadlines for myself has helped me evaluate which parts of my personal process are inefficient.
One question I asked during my interview at Filament was whether there was a course I could take that would help make me a more valuable team member, and to my surprise, our design director’s response was no. He said that the best way to learn is just to do, to immerse yourself in the industry, and become a sponge soaking up as much knowledge as you possibly can every day. I now understand where he was coming from. School definitely equips you with tools that prepare you to work in the industry, but there is no question that the most valuable skills you can learn are on the job. I believe I learned more during my three month internship than I could ever have learned in a semester of school. This is also why it is increasingly clear to me that it was not the execution of my designs, but my ability to prove my design thinking skills, to explain my thought process and back up my decisions, that counted most during the internship. Our design director repeatedly reinforces how the quality of the execution and design polish is something that can more easily be taught, however it was the thinking behind it that they were looking for.
My time at Filament has been the most challenging experience of my professional career thus far, but also by far the most valuable and rewarding. Internships are challenging because there is so much to learn in such a short period of time, and expectations are high because people are putting the time and effort into helping you learn. My willingness to learn and work hard at it is definitely paying off. I have so much fun at Filament and I am excited to get up every day and go to work, but it is also really hard work! Now that my internship has come to an end, it amazes me how much I have grown as a designer, but this is only the beginning. As I continue my time at Filament as a Junior Designer, I know that I have a life-long learning journey ahead of me. I am extremely fortunate, and so thankful that I have the chance to continue my career with such a supportive team of people who are excited to help me learn, and who inspire me to be better and work harder every day.
