This month I started working on my DPS presentation. I knew I didn’t want the presentation to feel overly formal so I decided to create a day in the life vlog. The vlog follows how I manage my time across university work, creative projects, placements and other personal commitments. I thought this would be the best topic to base my presentation on as time management has been one of the biggest learning curves I have faced this year.
At the beginning of the month I found it difficult to get into the flow of writing my reflective report because I found it hard to balance writing academically with personal reflection. I often pressure myself to include deep analysis and sound academic which made the writing process feel overwhelming. To help me I attended more academic support meetings and allowed myself to approach the report in a more honest way rather than pressuring myself to sound like a theorist.
Alongside trying to finish my assignments, I worked another day as a student ambassador supporting a group of college students. This type of work is always my favourite because I remember what it felt like at their age when I was deciding what I wanted to do at university. Because of this I always try and be honest and create a welcoming environment as I understand that some students might find the university environment intimidating. Doing these ambassador days over my DPS year has really improved my confidence in speaking to the public.
Reflecting on this year as a whole I genuinely feel that choosing to do this DPS year was one of the best things I could have done for myself both creatively and personally. I can see a real growth in my people skills and confidence in my decision making and technical skills. This year has also given me a real taste of what working in the creative industry is really like, better preparing me for life after university. I have become more aware of the kind of creative field I wish to work in also. I really enjoyed my time at Labrum London because no two days were the same and in the end I learnt to enjoy the fast paced fashion environment. I found the unpredictability exciting whereas at Bang each day felt very repetative. This made me realise that I am more motivated in spaces which feel collaborative and inclusive. Hopefully in the future I can work in a similar environment.
This month marked the end of 2 major commitments. I finished my 100 DPS days and my placement at the gallery officially ended. Finishing the 100 days felt like a huge accomplishment and gave me time to reflect on how important it is to maintain creativity outside of work. Throughout this year I have found it hard to juggle working while finding the time to still have some sort of creative outlet. After spending so much time producing academic outcomes I realised I had not given myself enough space to enjoy creativity without pressure. Because of this I decided to start a six week beginners ceramic course at Ceramic Deptford.
I found ceramics much harder than I expected. Working with clay is a lot more physical than photography and required a completely different skill set than what I was used to. Initially I struggled with the techniques such as centering and coning but I enjoyed the challenge of trying something new. This uncertainty is something I would have shied away from at the beginning of my DPS which shows the growth of my self confidence. Instead of becoming frustrated when pieces didn;t turn out as a I planned I reminded myself that this is a part of the learning process.
Attending this course consistently helped me maintain a healthier creative / university work balance as I had to improve my organisation skill so I could commit to these weekly classes. I also started to schedule in meetings with academic support to get feedback on my reflective report. Although the ceramics course was informal, I found it really nice to be in a collaborative creative space without the pressure. Sometimes at university the academic pressure makes the environment feel to intense whereas at the ceramic studio as we were all learning together it felt very inclusive.
In contrast to the last few months March hasn’t been the best. The rumours at work were confirmed and my contract wasn’t extended unfortunately. My colleague told me the gallery is shutting down end of April and Exhibition hub is not going to renew the lease. Although this was disappointing, I was right to feel uncertain throughout February.
A lot of this month was spent applying frantically to jobs, which inevitably started to feel quite repetitive and draining. I could feel myself falling into application fatigue and I was starting to think about what life after university would look like. I did have one interview with a company called Immersive Brands for a Design Studio Operations Assistant role, but I wasn’t successful.
Towards the end of the month I went away to Morocco for my friend’s birthday, I allowed myself this time to have a break from the constant job searching. It was nice to have a break and step away from the constant stress of trying to find a new job. I shifted my focus from applying to starting the DPS assignments. When I arrived back I started organising my blog entries and thinking about what I would want to cover in my reflective report. Even though this was a small task it was an important step as it made me feel more proactive.
February has mostly been spent working at the gallery. The gallery still hasn’t been doing well unfortunately. The low visitor numbers have meant that management has reduced opening times to soften the blow. I think it is such a shock to everyone because the Van Gogh exhibition did so well. The change in hours has made everything felt a lot more unsettled and uncertain the permanent staff have been spending time on shift looking for different jobs which is a bit alarming. I’ve started to worry about whether my contract will be extended in March like I had hoped. Despite this I was in a better position than the permanent workers as they had already faced redundancy before. Seeing this worry first hand made me more aware of how badly job insecurity affects people.
I also realised how much I don’t wish to go through the whole interview process again. I finally felt like I had come up for air so the thought of doing it all again was disheartening.
January felt a lot more settled compared to my DPS journey so far. I continued at the gallery and started to feel more comfortable. I really like having a routine it keeps me focused and busy. Moving between the different gallery positions felt more natural, and I wasn’t other thinking customer interacts the same way I had before.
In the gallery things were going well in terms of my confidence but there were lots of conversations about the success of the gallery. It was not doing as well as the company had hoped, mainly due to poor advertising which had led to low visitor numbers. Even though this wasn’t ideal it was interesting to see this side of things. As a customer visiting galleries, I have never paid attention to how popular it is as I often enjoy the space more when it’s not as busy. But as a worker it is completely different. The way an exhibition is marketed directly impacts the success of the space overall.
On the 17th of January I had an interview at the V&A for an exhibition assistant role. I had to go around the museum and find specific objects before I had my 1-1 interview. This was much more engaging that the other group interviews I have been doing. I was able to exhibit my critical thinking while doing the task. I wasn’t successful again, but it didn’t get me as down as it has in the past. This reinforced the progress I had made when it comes to how I receive rejection. I am very proud that I now am able to take it in a constructive way.
On the 27th I worked a day at university as a student ambassador for an undergraduate open day. It was nice to catch up with the people on my course after being away for the year. Seeing them again reminded me how important to stay connected to other creatives even while on your own journey as it helps to keep the community around you strong.
I also finished my internship at Bang on the 30th. I wasn’t sad to be leaving as I was with Labrum. The lack of structure was still there, and I didn’t really feel important to the team. Everyone was so busy with their own work that I never felt as if I was really being taught anything. Clear direction and mentorship is really important to me at this early stage in my career. My time at Bang has solidified that I like to feel integrated within a team and that I also work best in environments where there is structure and creative freedom.
Overall, January felt more stable. I feel like my confidence, resilience and my independence is growing. I’m starting to understand more what kind of worker I am.
This month has been my favourite so far it felt like a breath of fresh air. After a very difficult November, I was offered a role at Exhibition hub working their new 7 Wonders of the World immersive experience. My official job role being ‘Guest Assistant’, I worked across box office, gift shop, cloakroom, VR and gallery attending. This meant that there was lots of opportunity to move across different responsibilities and interact with a wide range of visitors. Alongside this I continued my internship at Bang all while still applying to other opportunities. I had an interview with a company called HERE design which I wasn’t successful in.
Moving into a paid role after a long time of being unpaid made a noticeable difference. It honestly made me feel more valued and sort after. I was starting to rethink if I would do unpaid work again. I am very grateful for all the work experience I have had to date but working unpaid for a long period of time isn’t feasible in this economy.
While working at the gallery I noticed that I naturally paid attention to how people moved around the space and interacted with the visuals. Maybe I was looking subconsciously from the perspective of a curator, I was using this time to gain some tips and tricks for myself. I’m used to thinking how images and artwork are seen but this has now extended to how people experience environments.
advertisement I found at the stationdownstairs gallery my walkie talkie
During my shift, my manager Chris told me that “I picked things up quickly”. At first, I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not because he had that kind of sarcastic personality, but he wasn’t. That stayed with me, especially as I often overthought if I was doing the right things and using my initiative correctly.
One of the main challenges I faced this month was balancing my new gallery job while still fulfilling my commitment to Bang. At times it did feel quite full on not having two days at the same place. This lack of routine initially did overwhelm me and I am someone who thrives off of consistency. I dealt with this by becoming more organised and buying a physical planner to I could visually see what I’m doing when. Using a planner helped me to prioritise the tasks which I had to complete. Being more intentional with my time helped me to stay on top of things and gave me a greater sense of control over my time. I also started to input my schedule into my phone calendar, I set up reminders so that I had time to mentally prepare what I was doing the following days. This experience made me realise how important it is to be organised. Working in this way also helped to free up space in my mind, something I will definitely carry forward to my final year.
My calendar for December
I was also still applying for other opportunities and had an interview with HERE. This was for a 6-week open internship opportunity. I wasn’t successful which was disappointing, but I noticed that I handled this no a lot better compared to the beginning of my DPS journey. I was less affected by the outcome and more focused on getting more interview experience.
Although I wasn’t selected, I received such positive feedback that it reinforced that rejection is just redirection. The interviewers mentioned they were “really impressed” by my zine that I made for a 2nd year final project and acknowledged that I have an eye for design and photography.
This gave me a great sense of stability, relief and motivation to carry on. I began to value the feedback and experience gained through the interview process more than the outcome which is a big step from where I started in September. They also connected me with another photographer in the industry which was very nice of them.
November felt like the most significant shift. My time at Labrum had sadly come to an end. I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I did, but the people and environment had really become a part of my routine. Stepping away from this made me realise how much I value structure and a clear role within a team. So far on my DPS journey I had only done unpaid work, and it was starting to have an effect. This was my motivation to persevere with the interview process and keep looking for new roles.
I had a number of interviews throughout the month, but most didn’t lead anywhere. That was difficult and it took a serious knock on my confidence. It also was the wake-up call I needed to realise just how competitive the industry is. To reframe the rejection I forced myself to see this as part of the process and ultimately an opportunity for me to improve my interview skills. Thinking in this way helped me build up my resilience and to not take rejections personally.
At Bang, things felt slightly better as new interns from Boston university had joined. It was nice to be around people my age and connect with people that looked like me, especially in an environment which wasn’t very diverse. It made me realise how important that sense of familiarity is in the workplace and perhaps why I felt far more comfortable at Labrum. I also learned how to use Mailchimp which is a platform used to send mass emails to viewers. I was trusted to manage this on my own.
At Bang, things felt slightly better as new interns from Boston university had joined. It was refreshing to be around people my age and connect with people that looked like me, especially in an environment which lacked diversity. It made me realise how much I valued representation and a sense of belonging in the workplace. Feeling comfortable at work directly impacted my confidence and overall experience. The feeling of being the other was something that I never felt at Labrum and perhaps that was why I felt so comfortable to quickly.
During this month, I also learned a new skill of how to use Mailchimp. Mailchimp is a software Bang used to create emails of a summary of the days top stories to send to their customers. Once being shown how to do this from another intern I was trusted to manage this on my own. I built on my existing design skills to create something which flowed and read easily. Through this task I got a better understanding of how visual communication works within marketing and how important the layout of something is for maximum engagement. Even small things like what time of day the Mailchimp was posted had an impact on the emails engagement. Being given this level of responsibility again increased my confidence when working independently. I found that I didnt have as much anxiety when it came to starting the task and similarly to when I created the press grab I started the task and then asked for feedback after.
To give myself from the constant interview stress I decided to take some time away and enrol in a two-week workshop course at university. One week was focused on Adobe Photoshop and the other week Adobe Premier pro. I found that Photoshop came easily to me as it was mostly going over my existing photography knowledge. But the Premier Pro side was very challenging. I had used this software for a project during first year and had already had trouble with remembering all the steps for sequencing a video. At first, I found it very frustrating as the second week was such a contrast to the first and I was noticing a real gap in my knowledge. However, instead of letting this get me down as I would have done in the beginning of my dps journey I reframed this set back as a positive learning experience. I f everything this year was easy I wouldn’t push myself to learn something new. This made me realise that discomfort is the key step to learning. Instead of struggling in silence I went into the creative suite outside of class and asked for extra help.
I started also talking to other DPS student about putting together an exhibition for ASC. Some of the student went to visit the venue and we started discussing the layout and subject matter for the show. It’s always nice to speak to other creative students, something I have missed over DPS so far. This really reminded me the importance of maintaining my own practice while also completing professional work.
Towards the end of the month, I had an interview with Exhibition hub for a new immersive gallery opening in Shoreditch. I have always liked the idea of working in an art gallery so this felt like a positive step forward after a series of setbacks.
November has been more challenging for me that the previous months. I am a person who thrives in a routine and the constant change has been something that I need to get used to. On a brighter note this whole experience had made me aware of the sort of working environments I wish to work in the future- one that feels supportive, structured and diverse.
October, I began an internship at Bang media. I found this opportunity on UAL creative opportunities, I was honestly surprised to hear back from them as I had been struggling to find new placements. Bang media is a specialised entertainment news service and publishing platform operated by BANG Showbiz. Working at Bang felt very different to my time at Labrum as if they were on two completely opposite ends of the glamour spectrum. I had become used to working in 180 Studio offices surrounded by the fashion industry people and other creatives. In contrast my work experience at bang felt less structured, and I was often left to manage my own time and direction.
Labrum officeBang office
At Bang, my job role as “Digital Content Assistant” initially involved supporting and managing the company’s social media presence across X, Instagram and Youtube. They were very eager for me to bring my perspective as a young person to their online content. I started by looking over the existing content and making notes of any issues I saw. I identified specific issues such as the use of unengaging background audio and the overuse of text.
However, I soon realised that I had limited creative control, the team wanted me to work with the pre-existing content from Bang Premier and be the person to upload it to the different social media platforms. I found this challenging at times as the issue wasn’t the execution but the content itself. This meant that even after I applied my design and social media knowledge, it was difficult to produce numbers the team hoped for. I wanted to create engaging content that I knew people would stay to watch but as I wasn’t the one creating it this was difficult.
Instead of letting this get me down, I shifted my focus to what I could control. I experimented with different captions using my prior course knowledge of call to action techniques. With some posts I would ask the audience a question to try and get conversation going in the comments and I started consistently putting links to Bang premier urging people to click to read the full story. Despite the lack of creative control, I did see improvements of the views across platforms especially on Instagram and X.
I often also felt unsure of how to contribute meaningfully without clear instruction. This made me feel frustrated at myself sometimes and unproductive. I also helped by using my knowledge of up and coming artists to help pull together new potential client lists. This experience made me realise how important strong creative direction is within a team.
Throughout October I continued working at Labrum supporting them through the post show period. I worked with the team to put on a pop-up sample sale to try and shift some old stock. I was able to see where garments were stored and how quickly temporary retail spaces were set up and transformed. This challenged my perception of fashion being purely glamorous, revealing the physical labour and organisation needed behind the scenes. Working at the sample sale also allowed me to develop my customer service skills. I interacted with clients and tried my best to show my sales skills to impress the rest of the team.
I was also given an independent task to compile press coverage from the show. I had to collect headlines and articles that featured Labrum and create a document so that the team could use this for future reference. This allowed me to see how the show was received by the public, I was understanding more and more how that the success of a brand is ultimately proven by its media representation. Being given this task initially felt daunting as I knew it would be seen by the whole team including Foday, but having worked on the look book in September I had already begun to overcome the fear of working on tasks independently. This time instead of asking Aneta, my manager, every few minutes if I was doing it correctly I used my own judgement to complete the task and then asked for feedback at the end. I chose to break the task down into sections, first doing my research and then putting it all into one document after. The structure that I created for this document was later continued by the team even after I had left which made me realise I had actually left some sort of lasting positive impact.
Aneta told me that the document I created was “really clear and useful” and would be a good example to show other interns in the future. Hearing this verbally boosted my confidence within the studio and made me believe in the power of using my initiative. This is something that I really want to try and take forward into my final year, especially when it comes to working on my final major project.
Outside of my placements, I had my work exhibited at the V&A as part of a summer course project I did titles ‘A Moment in Time’. Seeing my work in such an establishment was lovely and gave me a creative boost as I had not had the time to do much photography recently as I had been so busy.
my photohtaphy
Overall October really taught me the spectrum of creative environments. While Labrum felt very structured and at times stressful Bang highlighted the challenges which can arise without direction. I don’t want to be spoon-fed but leaving me to my own devices so early on in a placement was very daunting. Although I found parts of this frustrating, it did push me to think more independently and reflect on the type of working environments that would best suit me post university.
I began my DPS year interning at Labrum London on the 9th of September. Labrum This was just 10 days before Spring/Summer 2026 show. I was thrown straight into the deep end, as everyone was so busy, giving me very little time to adjust.
My role as “studio admin assistant” was purely supportive. I spent most of my time packing orders, assisting with the guest list and running errands for the styling team. At first these tasks felt quite minor and I felt unsure of my place in such a busy and important environment. However, I quickly realised how important these details were in supporting the overall production of the show.
packing orderswriting thank you cardsrunning errandsshopping for belts
On the 16th of September, I was given a mood board of colour swatches and asked to take the company card and source socks for the entire male and female modelling team. I wasn’t given much else than this and I really had to use my own initiative and knowledge of central London to go out and find the best material. This was one of the first moments where I felt trusted within the team rather than supervised. This new found independence pushed me to be more confident in my decision making.
At this point also I noticed the tension between the design and admin team, so I really didn’t want to add to this by not delivering what I was asked for. This made me more conscious of how I fit within the team, I wanted to be reliable and not create additional stress in an already tense environment.
colour mood boardshopping for socks
All though on face value the task of finding socks seems insignificant, in the grand scheme of things these little tasks really make up the show. Small styling details that most wouldn’t bat an eyelid over I learnt was important for putting on a cohesive show.
I also created lookbooks for friends and family attending the show so they could select which Labrum clothing they wanted to wear. This task allowed me to apply my design and presentation skills which I have developed my course. I didn’t have to be taught how to create the lookbook, which made me feel confident. This showed me however small the task my academic knowledge can be translated into a professional setting.
Show day on the 19th of September was one of the most exciting workdays I have ever had. The energy around was chaotic but in the best way. It was really rewarding to see everything come together after such an intense period of preparation. I really enjoyed how fast paced the day was. I prefer working in a busy environment where I must make quick decisions on my own. It made me feel purposeful and trustworthy. The main task I was given was to organise the rails for each models look. I also had too seal the envelopes for all the VIP guests thank you cards with a custom stamp. I needed to make sure that my attention to detail was perfect as I was being trusted to this all on my own.
runway show piece vip envelopes
At the end of the month, we had a team dinner where the company director Foday Dumbuya thanked everyone for their hard work over the show period. It was really nice for all of us to connect outside the pressure of the work environment and
Reflecting on September, I initially did feel very out of place but focusing on the task at hand and being reliable helped me to feel more confident. The initial discomfort showed me the importance of adapting quickly to new environments as it forces you to grow. This month in the fashion industry really highlighted the importance of attention to detail, being adaptable and the ability to work under pressure.
