The biggest thing I think is different from school is our work is going to a real client! Also, our instructors and student peers have been replaced with creative/art directors and co-workers! I’ve learned the most from the impact of a real client, in communicating, what to do/show each time we present the ideas, and managing time.

I mentioned in other posts about Rethink’s process that I got exposed to (eg. shallow holes, deep dive). From sketches, digital boards, mockups, and presentation slides, I got a chance to walk through the work I did for the team, the creative directors and saw it being presented to the clients! I loved showing the progression and story I tried to put into the brand. Also, during team meetings, we might do some on-the-spot digital changes. You definitely will get more comfortable with showing your work in progress and navigating everyone with what was the before, what you tried, and what is different.

Getting more mileage presenting work in progress and on the spot digitizing to see new ideas!

Each time we met with the client, I got to see/prepare the work into the templates used to present the story. It’s rewarding to see how slick everything looks on the presentation decks! In the second meeting with the client, it was important to show the work previous and the new changes recommended, plus enough of the exploration you did! We make sure we test out the feedback the client gives and also try and then show them what you also came up with. The decks tell the story and you can show what you’ve incorporated and where you’ve gone beyond into new, improved directions! I love how there is room to still iterate until we get there!

Example of what we might present to client to mockup how the concept looks like applied.

The last piece that is newer is preparing and shipping files to the client. It’s a new element that in doing it, we are exposed to knowing more how much time things might take to get things packaged out!

I can’t share the dentist branding project yet but…how do you make something stand out from these?

As this practicum experience wraps up, it’s gone beyond what I expected! The access to the people/mentorship at Rethink was really valuable as it mimics the networking you need to keep doing in the industry to create connections! You get exposed to a variety of projects with different teams, so it’s a nice taste of what would happen when you work in an agency. When we send something, even updates to a client it’s like a little team celebration! The last piece of news is I found out that the dentists are going with my concept! I would have loved to add some images here but not yet ready to publish! I’m thrilled to work on it a few more days and see it…going somewhere real in the future!