4 weeks at True North - Manchester

From the 16th August - 10th September 2010, I did 4 weeks at Manchester based design agency True North. Initially I applied for 2 main reasons; their location and the work that they produce. Being from down south, I wanted to make the most of being in the Leeds area and experiencing as much as I could in regards to the design industry in the north. Manchester, particularly more recently has become a prominent interest in terms of the location mainly because the healthy number of design studios that are currently producing work that I'm really interested in myself.

The work produced by True North from their site shows that they are an experienced multidisciplinary design agency, who have produced work for a variety of different applications and clients ranging from the more cultural sector to commercial names. They show that they like to emphasise on ideas and concepts and work closely with their clients, which is something I like to practice more myself and also really wanted to experience in a design studio. Although I'm not clear where I would like to end up after finishing the course, there were clear areas that I could learn from doing a short placement there.

During the 4 weeks there, I've helped out with a range of different briefs, (unfortunately these are still confidential as they have been released properly yet) that ranged from generating ideas, visualising things, making mock ups and research materials etc. The time there seemed have flown by and 4 weeks definitely seems too short to get to know people properly and know my way round how the studio works. However, I feel that I have picked up some skills and experience towards the way I could consider working, which I'll definitely put towards my design practice in the 3rd year and beyond. Also, what I did witness and experience there has influenced my decisions for the type of work I have decided to work on for the 3rd year. Being in a busy studio environment definitely has altered my views on what I would like to do, if anything this has questioned where I would like to end up, the type of work I would like to produce and the 'ideal' clients that I would like to work for.

But all in all, it has been a good experience, both working in Manchester and at True North itself. Although it has been short, the experienced gained was invaluable, it was good to meet and work with industry professionals and the whole time spent there has kept my head design orientated and still alive ready to take on the final year!