Project Details
- Student
- Noor Ali
- Team
- Digital Design | Graphic Design
- Supervisor
- Dr A. Freddie Page
- Role
- Design Intern
- Sector
- Consultancies
- Links
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Portfolio
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LinkedIn
Within two Design Internships for Coolr, a Digital Agency, and 3 Colours Rule, a Branding and Marketing Agency, I have built an understanding of contrasting agency structures and optimised my contribution towards them. My design processes have gained both adaptability and proficiency for various applications across Social Media, Advertising, Web and Print Design. This has enabled me to support meaningful projects from pitching to publication stages for a diverse clientele; a key aim of mine having previously undertaken In-House Design roles. Both my personal and professional skills have been developed, advancing my confidence, drive and enthusiasm towards future career aspirations.
Demonstration of Design Engineering Thinking and Skills
At both Coolr and 3 Colours Rule, theoretical design processes have been implemented and refined to tackle client briefs in distinct phases of research, ideation, feedback and iteration. My background in human-centred design has particularly enabled me to build meaningful insights from research of client industry trends and competitor analyses to develop innovative proposals for visual identities, website, and product designs. The differing nature of both agencies has developed my adaptability within this process to emphasise certain phases depending on project-specific requirements. For example, when producing an interactive children’s book at 3 Colours Rule, a significant amount of time was spent in the iteration phase to closely edit and test the book for consistency and maximum visual impact in accordance to industry printing standards. This task, among others, also called on my close attention to detail and analytical evaluation methods, created from the uncompromising demand of precision for Design Engineers.
Design Engineering tools have been used to recognise and resolve problems with translating creative ideas into plausible designs while the development of technical software skills has enabled me to overcome preconceived limitations. Across both placements, my proficiency of the Adobe and Microsoft Suites has improved and expanded to include new software skills for graphic and video content creation, UI design, mock-up rendering, photo retouching, copy writing, audio editing and organisation. My knowledge of strategic brand development and implementation has been enhanced through practical case-studies providing me with core enterprise skills.
I have also responded to live briefs for the clients shown below to produce individual content pieces. This has enabled Coolr to rapidly pitch reactive client content, maintaining their reputation as a quick-thinking agency optimised for the digital age. The short turnaround times developed my mental and technical agility. One particular achievement involved supporting the agency in contracting Biotiful Dairy during a pitch against competing agencies by producing mock content. My productivity and engagement as Coolr’s first ever Design Intern has led to the company recognising the value of a permanent Internship role.
At 3 Colours Rule, my main project involved designing a creative children’s book, ‘The Voices In The Shadow’, to be donated to 300 schools for the TLA Black Women in Tech. As the Lead Designer, I have guaranteed an appropriate timeline was followed to secure publication during Black History Month through effective communication with over 100 contributors, suppliers, printers and internal team members. By developing and testing the book’s interactive QR code features, I have ensured it can fulfil its purpose of showcasing 51 Black women’s journeys in an engaging way. Most significantly, my innovative redesign of the front cover reduced printing costs by over £2000 (10% of the crowdfunding budget), enabling more funds to be allocated towards accompanying resources for schools. I have independently created an accompanying mindfulness journal, ‘The Blossom Journal’, overcoming challenges to keep the product appealing, understandable, and beneficial for children. Through innovative software use, I achieved digital adaptation which is likely to increase product uptake due to convenience. Supporting materials for the book launch event were also created.
I also supported web design projects for two clients by directing grounding research, homepage ideation and constructive critiques vital to future project phases. To further assist the agency, I gained audio editing skills to produce our internal podcast: Tech Brains Talk. I have improved my Photoshop rendering skills to generate mock-ups for previously designed client work to be published on our website, enabling viewers to understand the agency’s services more tangibly.
