For my week of work experience I wanted to go to an advertising agency, because it’s an area I’m interested in. It’s also a future career I would consider. I was lucky enough to get a placement at Banana Kick.
I arrived at Banana Kick not really knowing what to expect. I haven’t been in an office environment before so I visualized an intimidating skyscraper and people in stiff black suits. I was pleasantly surprised upon arrival that the Banana Kick office is spacious, light and not intimidating. Gary, the director, welcomed me to Banana Kick and introduced me to the rest of the team. Throughout the week I learned that the team are very passionate about what they do and are dedicated to their work; they are also perfectionists.
After being shown around, I was shown to a desk that was to be mine for the week. After the excitement of knowing I would get to work on a Mac for the week, I was ready to start. The first jobs I did involved admin such as binding and putting together a folder, I also sat in a brief between Jordan, Emma and Gavin about the content of the folder I put together. I also did some research for a major pitch involving Scottish Premier League clubs. This is when my lack of knowledge about football became apparent, all I can say is I am grateful for the Internet.
Throughout the week I preformed various researching tasks for the projects the staff were working on, and I got to observe the office environment. On Tuesday I shadowed Andy and watched how he perfected the designs on his Mac. It was really fascinating watching how precise he was with the design, making sure that he was happy with every single detail. I finally appreciated just how much work goes into creating these designs and how thorough everyone is in making sure whatever they produce is to the best of their ability.
One of my teachers came to visit on Tuesday and I think she was thoroughly impressed by the company and by Gary’s enthusiasm, as he talked non-stop to her.
In no doubt the most exciting part of the week was when I designed my own logo and this was great since it’s what I wanted to do because I could be creative. In the process I learned the basics of in-design software. I finally decided on doing a logo for a toy company and I called it ‘The little rocking horse.’ I had fun going through the process the design team go through when designing a new logo; it gave me a taste of their job.
On my last day Nick talked to be about the process they go through from getting a brief on paper to having the finished product. I found it interesting and I understood how important advertising is to the consumer without them realizing it.
The most important lesson I learned at Banana Kick is to write down everything you are told and not to just rely on your memory, because you will forget what you’ve just been asked to do and then you will have to go through the embarrassment of asking someone what you were supposed to do all over again.
After this experience I have a Banana Kick memory stick and an amazing knowledge of Scottish Premier League clubs and their captains; I’m sure that the information will come in useful in a future pub quiz! I really enjoyed my time at Banana Kick because I feel I got a lot out of it. It was an amazing opportunity so thank you to everyone, because you were all friendly, talented and made my time more fun.
