Reflecting on One Year as an In-House Graphic Designer in the Education Sector
This week, I mark one year in the calendar since I started working as an In-house Graphic Designer in the education sector, and to celebrate it, I want to reflect on the professional growth and experience this role has brought me. As someone who has worked in the design industry for a few years, mainly as a freelancer, there was a day that I decided to look for something more. I wanted to be a part of a brand or organisation's long-term growth rather than just working on individual periodical projects. That's why I decided to seek out an in-house graphic designer position. I was fortunate enough to find myself working in the education industry for Bayside International English College , Danford College , and Danford Higher Education.
Transitioning from a self-employed practice to a more traditional workplace was a significant challenge. The education sector wasn't initially my first choice, but when this opportunity was presented to me by a trustful designer colleague, I was eager to take the leap and offer all my commitment and skills to the Star Gazers Education team. I was ready to put into practice my thesis of being an active part of this organisation's growth and success through my design work. Being an in-house designer here meant I could be a part of the creatives team, working closely with the marketing and sales departments to ensure that all materials were consistent with the brands and conveyed the right message. It was the perfect chance to use my skills to make a real impact.
Poster Design - 16 Years Celebration of Star Gazers Education.
Even when in the design industry, there are well-known benefits of working as an In-house Graphic Designer, such as getting a deep understanding of the brand and its values through working on a variety of projects for the same organisation, bringing a greater sense of job security, and my favourite: being a part of a team that allows for collaboration and sharing of ideas (working solo may get quite lonely sometimes) which can lead to better outcomes, I still questioned if my background and my restless curious nature was going to find monotonous working for the same brand on a long term.
Bayside English and Danford Higher Education Programs Pull-up Banners.
Embracing New Challenges and Opportunities in a Dynamic Industry
Happily, it was a pleasant surprise to discover what my new role had to offer. I quickly found out that boredom was something I didn't have to worry about. Here it was when I had to learn the first lesson my professional transition was giving me: being open to new experiences and scenarios can bring unexpected and surprisingly positive outcomes. The Australian education industry is closely linked with a dynamic immigration system, presenting both challenges and opportunities for teams like mine to practice adaptability and creativity. With this factor alone, I was sure that there would rarely be a lack of novelty in my practice. Providing support with my creative work to a marketing team that constantly faces challenges related to targeting audiences from many different countries and coming up with strategies to be relevant in a very competitive market has made my working experience quite stimulating.
Folder and Notebook Danford College.
To add to the point of keeping an open mind and allowing myself to be pleasantly surprised by my new position, I found myself having to quickly adjust to the organisational challenges that the company presented. This gave me the chance to share my ideas and suggest solutions to the problems that I was able to identify. Star Gazers Education manages three separate brands, each with its own brand identities, styles, audiences, and needs. Receiving project requests from three different teams with somewhat different processes and practices required me to be quick on my feet and rapidly adapt to provide results to diverse needs, perceptions and preferences, all while keeping a constant visual identity and finding a balance to aesthetically linking the three brands in one way or another. No doubt, this event is where my previous experience as a freelancer working for very different types of clients helped me the most.
Trifold Brochures
Improving Organisational Efficiency through Streamlined Design Processes
Certainly, after this year working there, other than my design work, I'm also proud to see that my initiatives to solve organisational and process-related difficulties have been part of the team's improvement. To provide a straightforward example, when I started working in the organisation, there wasn't a formal process to request a graphic design project, and everything was mainly informal without properly provided goals, timelines or even descriptions, which I think sometimes can work and even be necessary when simple tasks are needed, but for the significant amount of work and the management and control of more extensive requests provided by there different solicitors, implementing and testing a simple Graphic Design Project Brief form and a projects management tool was something I found to be more than needed. Today, even when challenges are still presented and worked on, I can confirm my initial hypothesis: seeing how my work is directly reflected in a longer-term organisation's improvement, growth and journey is very satisfying.
Danford College and Danford Higher Education Programs Flyers.
Over the course of a year, I contributed to numerous projects and campaigns and saw firsthand the growth of these institutions. It has been a rewarding experience and one that I am grateful for. Working in education may not have been my original plan, but I'm so glad that I took the chance and pursued it. It taught me that sometimes, the most unexpected opportunities can lead to the most fulfilling experiences. Looking forward, I am excited to see where my experience and position in this role will bring me. I am always ready to open new opportunities, embrace new challenges and provide relevant and effective work.
Posters Danford College & Bayside English.
