A creative placement - One year on
Hilda is studying Interior Architecture and Design at Nottingham Trent University and joined us in May 2021 to get hands on experience of working within an interior design agency. After a year of working in our retail and interiors design team we talk to her about her experience of working at CK, what it's like to be new, the culture and how working here has taught her about the world of design.
What has been your favourite project to work on whilst at Checkland Kindleysides?
It's hard to pick a favourite when you have the opportunity to dip in and out of many exciting projects!
But you may be surprised to hear that working on a ‘monster’ of a store manual (over 800 pages long) for one of our clients was a highlight from my time at CK. Working on the manual from start to finish gave me a real sense of achievement and provided me with an insight into the level of detail required to achieve a premium in-store experience. A challenge, but one I grew quite attached to.
"From the projects to the amazing people, a year out of University has really done more good than I thought it would"
How would you describe your overall experience at Checkland Kindleysides?
From start to finish I only have positive things to report. When I joined instead of being chucked in the deep end I was given a brief for a 2 week design sprint, this slow but creative beginning to CK allowed me the time to learn about the ways of working, the culture and the people which set the lovely tone for the rest of my time.
What's the one big thing you've learned that you'll take away with you?
To not compare yourself.
CK has taught me to be confident in my own ideas/creative process and everyone has different preferences when it comes to expressing their visual ideas. Some prefer to model straight away, others prefer to research. Some work best at night, others prefer an early start. A level of freedom that needs to be seen more in Universities.
What's next?
CK is all about character, stories, and the experience, characteristics I will be looking for in my next adventure. I’d love to work on more scenic/experiential based projects similar to Michael Mauro or Es Devlin, with the hopes of working outside the UK.
Are you the next generation of retail design?
Looking for an award winning retail and interiors design agency to work with on your placement year, let's talk. You can also head over to our work page and get inspired by our creative teams latest retail interior designs and brand experience case studies.
You can also keep up to date with what we’re up to by connecting with us in LinkedIn.