Day 1: The final stretch!! I spent all day working on applications for Jesse’s part of project #1. I met with James and Alyssa in the morning and then I met with Alyssa a few times throughout the rest of the day for feedback. It felt strangely normal and I had almost forgotten that my time working with all these wonderful people was coming to an end. 

Day 2: The final day!! I spent the morning sitting in on a pre-production meeting for an ad project. It was interesting to see how much planning went into shoots. I spent the rest of the day wrapping up project #1. James was busy so I just plopped the items I wanted feedback on into our Teams chat and met with Alyssa a couple of times throughout the day. I had a brief chat with Erica about wrapping up practicum and exchanged thank yous with everyone. Friday was sort of my official send-off day and so today was actually very anticlimactic. At the end of the day, I packaged my working files and posted a final thank you message in the PSDDB Teams channel. 

Final thoughts: Overall, my practicum was super fun and challenging! James was a great host, I got to meet and work with the immensely talented Jesse and I got to meet some incredible people as well! I got so many book recommendations I could start a small library and everyone was so welcoming and patient! They also accommodated my interests by letting me sit in on advertising project meetings.

Although my last year of school was done fully online/remote, I’m so grateful for the experience. It was full of struggles but without my long commute and outside distractions, I was able to really sit down and get my work done and improve my organization skills. It forced me to pay attention to my health and integrate proper self-care. It also helped that the instructors worked really hard to make the transition from in-person to online practically seamless. Everything was well organized and I felt very supported even though we were apart.

I’m extremely grateful for my class (SHOUTOUT TO IDEA 21). Since our class was already super tightly knit from our years together on campus, we were more comfortable working and meeting together online both in class and during our personal work time. We also put in the extra time to play online games together after classes or in the evening on weekends. I still miss all of the people from IDEA 21 dearly and I’m waiting for the days where we would be able to see each other in person.   

Bonus: My family and I adopted a cat! She’s officially my sister’s cat but we all play and take care of her. Her name is Luna and she’s a super photogenic ball of sunshine who loves chin scratches and says hello doing a trill + meow combo that makes her sound like a Pokemon.

Day 1: This week marks my first week since Jesse went on paternity leave! I spent most of the morning working on project #2. James, Jesse, and Monica had finalized their decision for the photography style for the overall branding and so I spent most of my time finding images that fit their vision and applying them to the project. I also made finishing touches to the layout in order to prepare for the client meeting on Wednesday at around noon. In the afternoon, I worked a bit on project #1 to prepare for the client meeting that was taking place on Wednesday in the late afternoon. It felt weird to not have Jesse around for quick feedback since James was getting busier in his absence.

Day 2: I started my morning by chatting with Toby, one of the project managers. He gave some great advice on how to sell yourself and knowing your worth. Specifically, he said “don’t be afraid to glorify your achievements and don’t hesitate to name drop clients you worked for or connections you have.” We also shared music and tv show recommendations, which caused us to go way over our scheduled time. I spend the rest of the day working on both projects #1 and #2. In the afternoon, I hopped on a quick internal check-in for project #2. We were concerned with some of the images effectively representing the information on each page. We were also worried about certain specs potentially interfering with the design. I was more concerned with the images as they were more time consuming so I worked on finalizing those for the rest of the day. With all the flipping between projects, lack of human interaction and time outside, my days were starting to blend. 

Day 3: I woke up from a wacky dream where my teeth and hair all fell out. It really set the mood for the day because my morning started in a panic!! I realized that I had made a big mistake by not testing out the specs for project #2 yesterday. The spot where we needed to punch a hole cut right into the design! I hopped on a call with James and Alyssa, rambled about the problem and James just said “ I think you got the measurements wrong”. And thank goodness he was right. I fixed my mistake, placed the marking for the hole in the right place, and finally finished project #2. Although James previously told me that he would still get nervous during presentations, he presented project #2 and communicated all of our ideas in a super effective and coherent way. The client was fairly happy, gave some feedback and I sent it off, wrapping it up nicely and throwing my anxiety away with it. My day ended with James presenting the revised project #1 to the clients, who were super happy with it! What a great end to a chaotic day.  

Day 4: I started my day with a regroup on continuing Jesse’s work on project #1 since he was on paternity leave. I had to somehow create more brand applications than I did for my part of project #1 but with much less time. It was exciting though because Jesse had created great work to build off of. I also had my end of practicum check-in with James. We talked about how it was a shame that I couldn’t be in office but how it was a great experience nonetheless. It was really interesting to get to know everyone in their homes, where they’re the most comfortable. It made it much less intimidating than going into a great big office with all these huge industry professionals. That and everyone’s great personalities at PSDDB. I was just starting to feel like I was more a part of the team and it was just hitting me that my time there was ending soon. 

Day 5: I started my morning by shadowing a casting callback for an ad campaign. It was really interesting (and funny) to watch people act things out over zoom. It was also interesting to see how the selection process happened and what factors made the actor the right fit (ex: look, personality, ability to quickly integrate feedback). I hopped out early to chat with an industry professional who found me on the grad show website and spent the rest of my day in a slight daze from screen fatigue. I ended the day by attending my final PSDDB’s Friday Shout-outs session where I almost cried happy (and sad) tears. I was (and still am) so grateful to the entire team at PSDDB for making this practicum a special experience despite all the struggles of working from home.

Day 1: I started out my morning by making revisions to Project # 1 (the logo design project) based on client feedback. I also tried to continue tweaking and applying the layouts for Project #2 in the afternoon but I found it really hard to stay productive throughout the day. I was still feeling anxious from the grad show website launch and I was still nervous about booking chats with the people at PSDDB even though it’s been going pretty well so far. I’m starting to get really tired of doubting myself. But I also think it’s important to be self-aware. It’s all really hard to balance. I’ll get there someday. Hopefully 🙂 

Day 2: I had another internal meeting to review my revisions for Project #1 in the morning. We picked the top 2 versions to present to the client. I also was assigned to create a few applications of the #1 top pick. In the afternoon, I sat in on the meeting for Jesse’s part of Project #1 (another logo) and had another internal meeting about Project #2. All the meetings were mostly meant to show James and Patty updates since they came back from their vacation week. It felt super reassuring to get more eyes on my projects and get a better sense of direction for improvements.

Day 3: This morning I met with the super lovely Rob Newell to discuss how strategy works in the industry. He gave me some great recommendations for books and people to follow on social media (I might just build a library at this point with all these amazing recs). It was also great to review what I learned in class and see what gets applied in the industry. In the afternoon, I had a chat with Asha, the project managing intern from BCIT! Although everyone has been super patient and lovely to me, it was so nice to meet another intern who could relate to my anxieties. I was mostly answering questions she asked though but we agreed to meet again though I’ll be able to turn the tables and ask the questions next time… *evil laugh* >:) 

Day 4: I spent the morning working on applications for Project #1 and met with Alyssa, one of the project managers. It was nice to chat with her since we hadn’t had the chance for a 1 on 1 until now! It was also nice to chat about our love of cooking and baking. Also got to chat with Carolyn Jia, yet another IDEA grad! We talked about the differences between agency and in-house work and the benefits and downsides of both. She also gave me some great audiobook recommendations. Today was also the last check-in I had with Jesse during my practicum/before his multi-week break. We talked about what we’ve learned from this experience, exchanged thank-yous and music recommendations!! It really hit me that practicum was ending soon and that as challenging as it was, I didn’t want it to end quite yet. 

Day 1: Continued work on project #2. Things have finally started to fall into place with this project. I got some great feedback from Jesse over Teams throughout the day. We chose the layout that we liked the most/was the easiest to read. A great start to the week! 

Day 2: Spent the morning applying the layout to the other pages of project #2. It started to get tricky on certain pages because of the huge variation in the amount of text for each page. The layouts that looked good on pages with lots of text looked weird and sparse on pages with less and it was hard to stay consistent while trying to fit everything on each page. Sought Jesse’s advice in the afternoon, got some feedback, and went right back to work. 

Day 3: Spent the morning tweaking the layouts on project #2. I also had the chance to meet with some of the other lovely team members of PSDDB throughout the day. I met with Rob Newell the strategist, Monica Martinez one of the freelance designers, and Lorill Hancock one of the project managers. They gave me some great book and movie recommendations and some even better advice. I learned that it’s important to keep an open mind and to maintain a big appetite for learning. I was also reminded of the importance of staying connected with people in the industry. 

Day 4: Spent the day making more tweaks to project #2 in order to prepare for the second internal meeting in the afternoon. I was feeling quite nervous but things were slowly but surely coming together. Everything started to feel more manageable and I could feel myself improving my typography skills. I guess practice really is the best teacher (not to discredit the incredible teachers at IDEA. I just felt myself starting to marinate a bit more in the lessons you all taught me). Had the internal meeting in the afternoon and got some great feedback on making layouts more consistent. After that, I met with the lovely project manager Erica Johnsson. She gave me a great book recommendation and told me that her husband, Markus Wreland was an IDEA alumnus. What a small world! Also the IDEA 21 GRAD SHOW SITE FINALLY LAUNCHED!!! I was so nervous and my hands got really sweaty, which made it hard to focus. Luckily it was almost 5 at that point.

Day 5: Had my weekly meeting with Jesse. We went over what I did during the week, who I met up with, and chatted about random things like what movies/shows to watch and how deadlines are a great way to cure perfectionism. We also discussed what games people at PSDDB could play together online to make up for the lack of in-person interaction. In the afternoon, I continued my work on project #2, mostly incorporating the feedback from yesterday and getting into the details a bit. I also met up with Dan O’Leary, another freelance designer. Got a great book recommendation from him as well (I might become a bookworm again with all these great recs). We also talked about how hopping from hobby to hobby had helped us with design and how exercise was also a great way to bring out creativity. 

Day 1: Had a morning meet up to go over what we were doing this week. Spent the whole day working on project #2 and met up with Jesse in the afternoon. Teams was down so it took about half an hour to get the meeting to work. Luckily we were able to meet up and I was able to get some great feedback. 

Day 2: Worked on project #2. It’s a long document so I’ve been given lots of time to design it. So far, it’s been a great exercise in text-heavy typography and user flow. 

Day 3: Spent the day hammering out layout variations for project #2. Even though I spent a lot of time on it, it wasn’t coming together. I kept trying though and made as many variations as I could. I also felt like what I currently had wasn’t good enough to show and so I refrained from sharing it until I felt a bit more satisfied. In the afternoon, I started getting affected by stuff outside of practicum which made it quite hard to focus on work. Hopefully, it’ll pass tomorrow…

Day 4: Today was a bit of a time crunch. Because of things outside of practicum, I was unable to work effectively in the afternoon. The internal meeting for project #2 was set to be this afternoon so I had to work quickly in order to get the best feedback possible to move forward. Once the afternoon came though, most of my anxieties dissolved. I got great feedback from James and Jesse and was reassured that there was nothing to worry about since I’m here to learn. After my workday was done, I took a glimpse outside and saw a gorgeous double rainbow over my neighborhood. It was a great reminder of how fleeting everything is. The bad moments will pass and so will the good. I took it all in (and I took some photos too <3 ) and decided to properly relax in the evening. 

Day 5: Today was my mid-practicum check-in with my host James and our lovely practicum coordinator Judy!! We also invited Jesse as he’s been the one overseeing most of my work. We had a lovely chat and I got some insightful feedback. They mostly told me not to put so much pressure on myself and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. They also encouraged me to book one-on-one meetings with everyone at PSDDB to supplement the lack of interaction from remote working. In the afternoon, I continued my work on project #2 and got an incredible album recommendation from a friend. Amazingly, it helped me get out of my creative block. Later, I sat in on a meeting to receive client feedback on project #1. A great end to a chaotic week.

Day 1: Continued work on the logo project (Project #1). Got briefed on a new project. PSDDB has just finished getting approval for a rebrand project for another one of their clients. My assignment was to create one of the first pieces of collateral while working closely with James and Jesse to test out how to apply the branding elements on various documents (I’ll call it Project #2). It was interesting to see how a brand is applied to such a wide variety of things, including corporate documents rather than just brand swag that I’d usually see on Behance or Instagram, etc. 

Day 2: Today, we had the client presentation day for the first logo in Project #1. Spent most of the day making final adjustments to one of the logos and laying them out in the correct format for the presentation. In the afternoon, I went to the meeting. It was an interesting experience. The clients knew what they wanted and gave great feedback. 

Day 3: We had the client presentation for the second logo in Project #1. Everyone was very engaged and involved when it came to the feedback this time. My stomach was hurting in the afternoon so I had oatmeal for lunch. I spent the rest of the day working on Project #2.  I read through and observed all the work that James and Jesse put into the rebrand in order to get more familiar with it and started creating layouts. 

Day 4: Was not feeling well today. I spent the morning working on Project #2 but sadly, working didn’t make me feel any better. I made the mistake of trying to power through and had to take the afternoon off. My assignment for the afternoon was to rest and try to get better. Oh well, Tomorrow is a new day.

Day 5: Felt a bit better than yesterday. I spent the whole day working on Project #2. It’s a print piece with lots of typography involved. I haven’t done a print piece in a while so it has been a challenge so far. But with time, I started getting used to things again. Everyone was pretty busy today so hopefully, I’ll be able to meet with James and/or Jesse on Monday for feedback. 

Day 1: SO NERVOUS! I spent the morning getting acquainted with everyone at PSDDB and getting my email and Microsoft Teams account set up. I dove in headfirst and was briefed on an extension logo project from a big rebranding project they were currently working on. I also briefly met up with art director/ designer/ IDEA18 alumnus Jesse Ellingson. Jesse and I met again in the afternoon to chat and to go over questions I had regarding the project. After work, I went for a run and was rewarded with a spectacular view. Not so bad my first day I guess :)) 

Day 2: Meetings on meetings on meetings!  Spent the morning making logo iterations. I spent the afternoon sitting in on meetings with illustrators for an advertising campaign where I saw Cheyenne Manning from IDEA 18! I’m still feeling overwhelmed from all the info and meetings but I’m getting the hang of it a bit.  

Day 3: I spent the morning working away at the logo iterations and searching for inspiration. Nothing seemed to be working today. I sat in on an illustrator briefing for the same campaign as day 2. I met with James Bateman, the creative director of PSDDB in the afternoon for some help in getting past my creative block. He suggested that I look at a variety of inspiration sources rather than fixating on things related to the client. I had fallen into a sort of tunnel vision trap and so my talk with him helped me get back on track! As soon as it hit 5, I received some lovely flowers from PSDDB!

Day 4: I Spent the morning working on logo iterations and met up with Jesse for some feedback and found a few other directions to try out. In the afternoon, I had my first internal crit session for the logo project. I was so nervous!! But it was a great experience! The team gave great feedback and briefly commented on their favourite concepts that I created. They also gave me a few more directions to try within each concept. Unfortunately, we ran out of time but James, Jesse, and I agreed to meet up tomorrow morning to discuss some more in detail. 

Day 5: I Met up with James and Jesse in the morning to discuss the logo project. With the client meeting approaching, we needed to solidify which concepts to keep exploring and which ones to drop. In the afternoon, I was plopped into “Friday Shoutouts” with no context and was barraged with compliments. It was a great way to end the week haha!