From University to Agency Life

Graphic Design student Lucy Holland spent a week with Alliance, getting an insight into agency life, working on live projects and experiencing everything from client work and social media design to networking. Here, she shares what she learnt from her week with the team.

My interest in graphic design really started when I was at college. I began experimenting with photography and Photoshop, combining my photographs with different text, images and graphic elements. I enjoyed seeing how those different elements could work together to create something new, and it encouraged me to explore graphic design further.

I am now studying Graphic Design at university, with a particular interest in editorial design. Spending a week at Alliance gave me an opportunity to take that interest outside the university environment and see how design works within a real agency.

Getting an insight into agency life

Before starting my placement, I expected agency life to be fast paced, with lots of creativity and a variety of different client projects happening at the same time. I particularly wanted to understand what happens when you are designing for a real client and how a project develops from the initial idea through to the finished outcome.

At university, you often have much more control over the direction a project takes. Working with clients is different. I have learnt that communication and being able to adapt are a big part of the process. You need to understand what the client wants to achieve and be prepared to change or develop your ideas in response to feedback.

That has been one of the most useful differences to experience during my week.

Working on live projects

Throughout my placement I have been able to get involved in a range of work, including creating graphics for social media advertising and helping with other design tasks.

The project I enjoyed most, though, was working on The Alliance, the agency’s own newspaper.

As someone already interested in editorial design, being able to work on a real newspaper project was particularly relevant to me. It gave me the chance to think about how content, typography, imagery and layouts work together across a larger publication rather than as individual pieces of design.

There is also something different about designing something that will eventually exist as a physical object. Seeing work that you have helped create actually printed makes it feel like a real accomplishment.

Design beyond the screen

One of the things I did not fully appreciate before the placement was how much of agency life happens beyond simply creating designs.

During the week I was able to see more of the day to day process of working with clients and also experience what a business networking event looks like.

It showed me how important networking can be for a graphic design and marketing business. Building relationships with other businesses, understanding what they do and making connections within the local business community are all important parts of developing an agency.

Finding faster ways to develop ideas

The placement has also introduced me to different ways of approaching the creative process.

I have seen how AI tools such as Claude and ChatGPT can be used to support research and speed up parts of the creative process when working in a busy agency. Rather than replacing the design process, they can help you explore ideas, research subjects and get to a starting point more quickly.

That relates to one of the biggest things I will take back to my university work.

I have sometimes spent too long thinking about an idea before actually starting to create it. During my week at Alliance, I have seen how quickly ideas can be developed by getting something down and then improving it.

Creating an initial idea straight away does not mean it has to be the final answer. It gives you something to respond to, change and develop. That can often lead to a better outcome while helping you work much more efficiently.

Looking ahead

Spending a week at Alliance has made the idea of working in an agency after university feel much more realistic and achievable.

Being involved with different projects and particularly having the opportunity to work on editorial design has helped confirm that this is an area I would like to pursue after university.

Most importantly, the week has given me an insight into what happens beyond the university brief. I have seen the importance of communicating with clients, responding to feedback, developing ideas quickly, building business relationships and ultimately turning an idea into something that has a real purpose.