Design interns
double interview

Niklas: “I am finishing my bachelor in media design, in Germany. We are required to validate our diploma with an internship during the last semester. I have always been very fond of Danish, Dutch and Flemish design, I think it’s where the best creative minds are nowadays. I was following a great Instagram account called Antwerpart – a curation of contemporary creations in the city – it naturally led me to look for an agency here. SKINN came out as the best one. I started mid-October and just finished now."

Rosanne: “I am also finishing my diploma in Media Design, in the Netherlands. This internship will allow me to validate the end of my studies as well. The choice of Antwerp was probably more obvious as far as I’m concerned, because I come from the Maastricht area, close to the Belgian border. I have been following SKINN on social media for three years now, for me, it’s one of the best branding agencies in Europe. I only started four weeks ago, but I’m very excited and happy to be here for another three months.”

Rosanne: “I wouldn’t say I had specific expectations. Seeing how an agency works from the inside and understanding the creative process behind every project are my main interests. Getting used to the structure and the time management has been a bit of a struggle in the beginning. I often have creative ideas at night or after hours, now I’m learning to adjust to a strict time schedule. But I’m also learning to ask for help. People at SKINN have a strong team-spirit and they are passionate about their job. The emulation plays a big part in the building up of all the projects.”

Niklas: “Exchanging and being part of collective projects has been the best experience of the past months. Here at SKINN, I was confronted with the reality of our job. In school, you have a lot of time to work on a project, you can make mistakes, you can have a lot of try-outs and spend extra hours on small details. Now I know what it means to deliver quality results in a strict timeframe, on a short deadline, and how to deconstruct input to be more efficient. The well-organized structure of the agency carries us, as does the workflow process. It gives us many opportunities to prove ourselves.”

Niklas: “Definitely. In many companies, interns are used as an extra free workforce, without sufficient guidance. My experience at SKINN was totally different. I have indeed been working on real cases, but with a double running. It means that we do the same as the main designer, working on the same project in parallel, but without the fear of messing it up. We empower the process with our input, and we don’t endanger the client relationship.”

Rosanne: “With this double running system, we can learn from our mistakes and at the same time still be an added value to the projects. During my first internship, I was main designer for a client’s case. Not only was it too much responsibility, but it also deprived me of the chance to really be involved with the other designers.”

Niklas: “We have creative jobs; interactions moments are essential to feed that creativity. Being part of a crowd of designers and brand specialist as innovative as SKINN’s has brought a lot of new perspectives to my career. Everyone’s Instagram feed is full of ideas and you feel the passion whenever we discuss design together. SKINN actually promotes those exchange moments, they are built-up in the agency’s DNA.”

Rosanne: “The opportunities for mingling and sharing insights are indeed very frequent. I have already participated in my first ‘lunch and learn’, a monthly keynote talk by one of SKINN’s experts, with the whole team. One of the creative directors shared his point of view on design trends, it was enlightening. I want to grow and open my horizon during this internship, but I also want to bring my fresh ideas to the agency. The enrichment can go both ways.”

Rosanne: “First, making the most of the coming months at SKINN. I like to understand how other people think, it feeds and stimulates my own creativity. Will I work as a freelance in an agency in the future? I don’t know yet, but it will have to be in a creative environment and with a variety of projects.”

Niklas: “I have been part of buoyant and challenging projects in the past months at SKINN. I particularly appreciated the possibility to use and develop my skills in motion design. Back in Germany, I will finish my thesis and then decide if I pursue my studies further or if I start looking for a job. I’m still hesitating, but I’m sure of one thing: my future is not in a big corporate company, it is in an agency like SKINN, where I can feel the passion and the interest for design and for creativity.”