My name is Aaron Somerville, I am a Creative and Digital Media student working at globalbridge for my Foundation Apprenticeship whilst studying in Scotland.
A Foundation Apprenticeship is a work-based learning opportunity for senior-phase secondary school pupils in Scotland lasting one or two years. The apprenticeships are linked to growth sectors of the Scottish economy, so young people are getting industry experience which will help them kick-start a successful career in their chosen field and my chosen sector was Creative and Digital Media.
Creative and Digital Media is a catch-all term that describes all kinds of audio-visual medium, including online platforms, TV, radio and more. People in all these areas are responsible for creating content, testing websites and much more.
When I started this course I was unsure what this apprenticeship would entail or whether it would be beneficial to me but all my doubts were soon answered after my first week working with globalbridge. Myself and Russell Paterson met over an online meeting and discussed what the plan for the year was.
My first task was to produce a design for the Hero Challenge that was sent out to all globalbridge users. This gave me the opportunity to experiment with the online design and publishing tool, Canva. It was a new and exciting experience to try out this revolutionary design software and opened up many new opportunities for graphic design.
Later in the course I was given a design brief in order to simulate what it would feel like to produce a design for a company. The brief asked me to create 10 infographics that reflected the 10 skills within globalbridge to be given to schools and teachers. I tried multiple different shapes and styles but one thing that stuck throughout the process was matching the colours of the skills with the background of the poster which created unity throughout all the designs. Overall, the task taught me a lot about the importance of communication between the designer and the client.
Going forwards with my foundation apprenticeship at globalbridge, I’m able to talk about the experience I’ve acquired. Over my time, I’ve gained the skills of working in a team that I’m not able to get from my daily school life and see how the academic skills I’ve learnt are actually put into practice. I’ve also gained a greater picture as to how the whole company works — from the business side, design, marketing and the development.
Hopefully as we progress onwards, we’ll see more and more businesses showcase their opportunities available and provide students with the much-needed industry experience just like this.
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