In this first of a series where we meet the team behind Right Angle, we catch up with placement student Charlie Pigrome.
University College London student Charlie is spending his year in industry as Right Angle’s marketing assistant. As his time in the studio comes to a natural conclusion we asked him about his placement.
“Having had the chance to intern within financial services I wanted to do something that was more creative. What appealed to me about the Information Management for Business degree I am studying was the opportunity to do a year in industry. We cover a lot of theory in the course, such as web development, database system and business analytics but I wanted to see what the practice is like. I had already had a fair amount of experience editing video and using photoshop but working here has helped in lots of different ways.
I don’t come from a design background so I’ve learned lots. In terms of software, I knew my way around illustrator and had HTML experience but this has really helped expand on that as well so now I’m hugely confident.
“The key factor about working for a boutique agency like Right Angle is that it’s absolutely sink or swim and they really treated me like a grown up from day one and threw me in at the deep end. In my first week I was emailing and interacting with high priority clients.”
I‘d undertaken placements before but for shorter periods. What’s different about a year in industry is that you have to get up and get on with it every day. That takes a bit of getting used to, and certainly makes you appreciate the student life, but it’s also excellent preparation for the real world in a year. I’ve loved being treated as an equal member of the team here.
There have been challenges, I’ve enjoyed learning how to interact with clients. So for example, if you get an email from a client that wants changes – learning the importance of using the right language – often, a phone call is better than trying to reply on email. It’s been invaluable learning how to manage my own time and tasks.
I discovered that I find problem solving (such as working my way through Wordpress challenges) particularly satisfying. Taking the time to work out what’s involved in different tasks has meant that one product that we used to regularly outsource, is now something that we do in-house and can offer our clients. I’ve also contributed to this blog, and worked with our social media too.
Being part of a team and the social element has been really good fun. The design studio is a really great work environment, interesting and friendly. It’s made me really determined to get back to the lectures and work really hard so I can be part of something like this when I graduate.
In terms of what I have brought to Right Angle, I definitely think that having a “lay” opinion as opposed to a designer opinion is helpful.
“I’ve learned loads about design while here but my background is more marketing and I think it’s helpful for the rest of the team to have another point of view.”
My advice to someone else looking to undertake a work placement in a design agency?
Prepare for any quieter times – always be proactive. Make sure you’re a quick learner, capable of being able to work under pressure, manage your time well and you will be fine.
Creative Director Tony Whitehead explains, “Having a placement student is brilliant for Right Angle. Historically, we helped with school work experience but having such a young student for such a short time meant that it was hard to find appropriate and meaningful tasks. Moving to working with older students and taking an apprentice under our wings has given us an opportunity to really develop young talent like Charlie and we’re looking forward to our next candidate.
If you’re interested in joining our team we’re always on the look out for the right people: (contact us)
