We would like to introduce you to Sam who interned with us for November and December.
He was over from the USA where he studies Marketing at Elon University and spent seven weeks with us developing a new estimating tool. We have quizzed Sam about his time with us; read on to find out what he has to say.
A bit about you
I am Sam Wagner, a student at Elon University in North Carolina studying Marketing with minors in both fine art and computer science. I specialise in digital marketing and new technology. I am originally from Westchester, New York and have lived there my entire life.
In my free time I enjoy painting and exercising. I spent the last four months traveling Europe and enjoying all the amazing things the city of London has to offer.
What were your expectations of working at an information design agency? Did your expectations align with reality?
I expected to be surrounded by extremely creative people who would push me to be as creative as they were. Information design was a new concept to me and I went in to Richmond with an open mind. TDL-Creative exceeded any expectation I could have had. The designs that come out of TDL-Creative are more than just functional; they are also very creative and beautiful. That being said, the team pushed me to implement the same creative mentality.
What did you do at TDL-Creative?
During my seven weeks at TDL-Creative I developed the pillars for an estimating tool that TDL-Creative can accurately estimate the time spent on a project. No matter the project type or complexity, this tool should be able to take in to account not only the diagrams but also the format in which they are used, such as PowerPoint or A4 documents. This tool can be used by the team to estimate project costs now and in the future.
What are the tools you have used at TDL-Creative?
During my time at TDL-Creative I used Excel and equations to create my spreadsheets, in turn producing my final project. I also used the extremely useful and detailed project logs, which date to before the company’s big bang.
What have you learnt about clients whilst at TDL-Creative?
TDL’s clients range in size and industry, but what I have come to understand while working at TDL is that every company, no matter their size or industry, could use the creative expertise that TDL-Creative has to offer.
What have you learnt about information designers whilst at TDL-Creative?
Information design was not part of my rhetoric before I came to TDL. I feel like in the short time that I was there I gained an extremely comprehensive understanding of the subject, due to the fact that I had to discuss in great detail with each designer working at TDL what they were doing on a day to day basis as well as why they were doing it.
From the numerous discussions I had, I can now understand what the goals of information design are:
- to provide the viewer with all the information they need to know.
- to make the information easy to understand and use.
- to presented the information in an aesthetically pleasing way.
All three of these parts must work together flawlessly.
What are the three key things you have learnt about the information design sector whilst at TDL-Creative?
I learnt a lot during my seven weeks at TDL-Creative!
- Information Design is for Everyone – I learnt that every industry could use information design and visuals to their benefit due to the nature of quantitative information intertwined with marketing.
- Simplification is the Key – I learnt that even the most complex of projects or problems can be simplified enough for any individual to understand; but, in order to simplify any project, a lot of time and creative thinking is necessary.
- Ask the right questions – We all know how to ask questions, but it can be extremely difficult to ask the right ones. I learnt this the hard way by wasting time asking various questions pertaining to my projects and what the designers do rather than doing all the research I could beforehand and only asking a handful of well researched and thought-out questions. Ultimately, I realized that asking the right; pointed questions gave me the most useful answers. This skill will prove to be applicable in any interview, job, and personal interaction I will have going forward. Overall, it was a pleasure learning these lessons amongst the TDL-Creative employees.