#imm733

As a current digital visual content intern, I have been assigned to multiple one-off projects thus far.  My responsibilities so far have ranged from designing social media content and infographics, to usability testing for new websites and apps.  One of the challenges I will have to overcome is being adaptable and flexible to projects that vary in size, time and budget.  As a creative thinker and a fresh intern, I tend to bring grand ideas to every project I am faced with.  While some of those ideas are great for long-term solutions (e.g. implementing VR or AR within existing media, developing new apps), they are not always the most feasible short-term solutions.  This is something I will continue to learn as I become more familiar with the COC’s workflow and thought processes.  Overall, my field placement experience so far has been great, and I expect it to become even better as I get more involved within the new websites and app development!

Every day is an opportunity to make a new happy ending. This quote from an unknown author reflects my spirit as I prepare to begin my internship at Digital Howard. As part of my program in Interactive Media Management, at Centennial College, our class has a field placement during the last semester. The idea is to prepare us with a real world experience before we graduate and I couldn’t be more excited. When I first started looking for internships, my goal was to find something meaningful for my career. I am an international student, so I have a limited time to live and work in Canada and I want to make the most of it with the best opportunities. So far, I was really happy with the program I chose to study and now even happier with the opportunity given by Digital Howard. I want to create digital experiences that people have fun with, that they like so much they share with friends. I want to write with a strategic purpose. I want to experiment making content for emerging technologies, like VR and AR. I want to have fun while working. These are some of my goals and I believe they match what my future internship has to offer.   I also start this internship with questions. During the last year in our classes, I was able to get a taste of the User Experience Design world. Although I am a content person, with background in journalism, I really enjoy creating experiences having the user in the center of the action, and this includes wireframes, personas and user narratives. So I believe I am trying to find with this internship if there is a way to be both content and UX design and, if not, which one I like most and should follow. I want to learn about strategies and trends, how people divide work and how much time they have for each task, things we did in class as a collaborative lab now in real life. Because my years working as a reporter, I love writing, but I also developed skills like structuring information and researching, and I always tried to put myself in the reader shoes. So maybe I was always a UX professional, just didn’t know that. Now I believe with the experience at a fast paced digital agency I will see deeply how these professionals work. I also think I can contribute with the agency because I am good at getting a concept and creating narratives and strategies and this will be good for their work in transmedia, not to mention they love pop culture like me. I really believe this will be a chance to make happy endings every day.