Whilst I was interning with Sadie Williams, I was lucky enough to manage a special project in collaboration with Google & Selfridges for the launch of their new Pixel 2 smartphone. Sadie was one of ten designers that were asked to design a phone case that would be sold at Selfridges stores across the country.
I was asked to produce twelve designs using archive prints and Sadie's traditional graphic branding. This was a really exciting task, as not only do my strengths lie in digital work, but working in collaboration with such an iconic company was a real 'pinch-me' moment. I spent many late nights producing dozens of ideas, some from archive prints, some from Sadie's own ideas and sketches.
But whilst it was exciting, the project didn't come without its challenges. Firstly, day to day life at Sadie's studio is extremely busy, so finding time to work on this as well as the 'usual' stuff was tough. Google had strict deadlines, and I was also needed in the studio, as this project landed right before LFW. Secondly, producing work to industry standards was a huge learning curve. There's pressure involved when you are producing work that will be put next to someone else's name, and when a company like Google offer an opportunity like this, I'm sure they expect the results to be good. And thirdly, the brief I was given was, well... brief. I didn't recognise a lot of the graphic design lingo being used around file types/formats (I had to Google it, how ironic) and so I was forced to learn on the spot. The best lesson I learnt was to say 'yes' first, and then make it happen.
All in all, the case turned out great. It may seem insignificant to some, but seeing a product that I'd worked on alone being sold in Selfridges was kind of amazing. I learned so much from this one project.