Product Design Internship at Bluw Group

My internship has just recently come to an end, but it was fantastic!

I have learnt so much through this experience and feel far more proficient in software such as Adobe suite. Shadowing the experienced product designers allowed me to work across a whole range of products. I enjoyed the variety of work from one day to the next and it gave me the chance to see how many different areas need to be refined to complete a successful product.

Brand awareness and understanding how important it is that the product always considers this was something I recognised early on. Briefs provided were specific in their focus and always outlined what the product had to achieve in order to be a success among customers.

Amongst other work, I took part in two briefs, producing conceptual ideas and designs, which went on to be selected. A company called 'Spencers' has chosen to send one of my designs to be sampled. And if its proves to be a success they would like to take on two more designs!

Mothercare/ELC selected two designs from a separate design brief completed recently. I have however come to learn that from the concept stage to completion, the design will adapt and develop in many ways. So I am very excited to see the samples of my designs, but also understand that these will most likely develop before final samples are produced :)

I experienced altering a product many many times before the final design was selected! But I viewed all these changes as positive and something that would add to the success of the product.

My skills in both Photoshop and Illustrator have developed very well. I feel very competent in these and find it very enjoyable producing artwork this way. Further to this, I often photographed and edited photos for sales sheets and packaging artwork, which has also helped develop my skills.

In terms of packaging, I had never ventured into this area at all! But at Bluw, I was immediately introduced to this side of the product design world and loved it! I came to realise it plays a huge part in the design role and is essential. I began by mocking up packaging and understanding how nets are designed. The product designers also took time to demonstrate how they can alter packaging shapes whilst still maintaining optimum function, and also to add artwork to these. I am very much looking forward to developing my own packaging now I know how to!

Towards the end of my internship, I worked on a product which required photographing models made by myself and one of the product designers. Along with these models, I helped design some of the inner packaging, including instruction booklets, and I am really looking forward to the release of the product next year to see my work in the shops :) I will definitely be purchasing one!!!

Overall, an excellent experience which I feel has given me the opportunity to experience product design in the real world! The variety has allowed me to view all different stages of the design process and see exactly what goes into producing a successful product!

It was brilliant!