Jack Blog
By Jack Morton
Have you ever wondered what an internship in a global experiential agency would be like? What cool clients would you get to work on, and what kind of projects you would see come to life?
We chatted to Bryan Emerson Tay, 2D Design Intern, who recently finished a three-month internship in our Singapore office. He gave us insight into how he participated in solving big-name client briefs, executed key design deliverables, and his three key learnings from working beside design, strategy and creative teams.
Jack Morton (JM): Bryan tell us a about your internship?
Bryan Emerson Tay (BET): My internship started with a Google project in which we were briefed with developing a sandbox experience to demonstrate Google AI. The aim was to promote Google as an AI pioneer by showcasing demos in a fun and engaging way for Google Marketing Live attendees. I participated in the process from brainstorming, planning, executing event assets to setting up the event room. Seeing my work printed and displayed was a memorable and interesting experience. I also learned how to manage my time due to the short turnaround for each iteration before it went into production.
JM: What else did you work on?
BET: My second assignment was for a global entertainment brand, where we designed a red carpet, movie premiere event for a show – ensuring no spoilers for fans, influencers, and press. The project’s focus was proposal brainstorming and ideation. The client challenged us to come up with original ideas so we chose characteristics from the shows that we thought were engaging. I loved not being constrained like in school, so I could go wild with ideas.
Even though I was a 2D designer, I got expertise in a variety of roles within the design department, including the strategy and creative. I learned how to conduct appropriate client-specific research and to take in the specifics of briefs to produce more pertinent and useful insights. My time was very rewarding because I could fully comprehend the entire project.
JM: Tell us about Jack Morton’s culture?
BET: The team’s freedom, respect, and equality. Everyone was warm and welcoming from the time I walked in. Throughout my internship, everyone treated me equally. They valued my opinions, which encouraged me to propose new ideas without fear. The team were also exceedingly patient and gave me freedom to control my schedule.
JM: What are the key things you learned?
BET: Three key things come to mind:
- Collaboration. Teamwork is vital for keeping a project going forward. I learnt how to collaborate with other designers and producers to generate assets.
- Communication. Mostly how to communicate superiors in a corporate context, I learnt how to effectively communicate with my coworkers and adapt to the culture. I believe that good communication skills are just as important as hard skills because they make working and chatting with one another more fun for others.
- Versatility and Agility. Being quick on your feet is important to provide suggestions or make adjustments in a fast-paced setting
Bryan is a 3rd year student from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, currently pursuing his Bachelor in Design Communications, who has now joined Jack Morton as a freelance Graphic Designer.