Alec Dudson; editor-in-chief of Intern Magazine came into Huddersfield University to discuss ways which can help you get into industries and a look into internship work and what it is like.
Before establishing Intern magazine, Alec had never working in any creative field. Having no skills related to the area he found himself interested in he opted to try an internship position. These are often considered daunting as an intern may not be paid and there is no guarantee that there will be a job at the end of the internship.The upside is it gives a good sense of what the company or area of work is like to gain valuable insight into a company or field.
Alec took two different internships. The first internship was a two month placement in Milan with a large architectural magazine company called 'Domus'. He found the magazine creation process interesting, but less so the subject matter. With it being a short term placement Alec soon moved onto another internship in london with Boat magazine. He was fond of how it differed from most magazines with better quality paper and interesting layouts. He worked in a small team of six people helping with photojournalism work and within a month and a half of his placement watched the team create an issue of the magazine. At the end of his well enjoyed placement he was sadly laid off as a small independent business couldn't afford to hire him.
Time passed and out of an act of desperation Alec decided he would make his own job doing what he loved. He wanted to make a small independent magazine similar to where he worked. Before doing anything he has to ask a few questions on what, who would it be about and why would it be different?
Knowing the experience and stuggles of young interns traped in a cycle of uneployment and intern placements he set out to make a magazine that informs people about the world of work in internships. This magazine doesn't showcase artists already known but people still fighting for the spotlight. An important part of this project is that any work that is contribute is paid for as Alec stated " All contributers should be paid for their work, exposure for work is bollocks."
Alec also gave us some tips on CVs and how pursuing your interests will help in finding the kind of work that you are passionate about.
go viral - CV's are boring and repetitive. Trying to be distinguishable can soon be difficult in a wave of other designers. Søren Danielsen decided to up his chances and made a short 60 second animation in the form of a digital CV. It didn't take long for him to get the exposure he rightly deserved. It shows his previous experience as well as a sense of hims personality.
Your New Intern Søren from SorenWorks on Vimeo.
Another project he mentioned was a group project called the Cool bus. This was a combined bought school bus that had been renovated into a moving graphic design studio. These students drove around finding their own clients by turn up at music venues and doing design work for people on site. This project was short term but the impact on the project allowed the participants better offers on their work as it shows extra lengths of effort beyond that of a simple CV.
Issue 4 of his intern based magazine has recently come out and can be bought online here for £10 along with previous issues and a few goodies. If you wish to contact Intern Magazine they are always looking for new artists and designers to join in their work.
