The past four weeks in my second internship position at Forever Unique have been quite intense, hence the backlog of journal entries as I haven't managed to keep on top of my blog week by week.
I've been quite caught up in the stress and demands of a 40 hour week so I am really appreciative for this time where I can sit and reflect on how my skill-set is developing as my internship progresses. I've just reread through my first month's journal entries with Forever Unique which has actually been so valuable in reminding myself about how much can change during a month. I still feel just as overwhelmed and anxious a lot of the time during the week because so much is expected of me, although at this stage I do recognise that I have the capability to achieve difficult tasks - if only I wasn't limited by a lack of time, communication, budget and man power at the company. I am really struggling to adapt to the working environment which I'm finding to be unprofessional at times, and often incredibly bitchy. Communication falters on a daily basis and I often feel like I'm being deliberately left in the dark about things that would actually help me to know more about. I don't fully know how I'm supposed to approach this kind of problem as an intern, where I'm very cautious about not overstepping the mark and fully aware that I am a representative of the uni and the course above all else. I don't want to feel uncomfortable in a place I spend most of my week in for the entirety of my placement year, so this is just one of the many reasons which brings me back to the big debate inside my head about whether I'm going to be able to stick out a whole year here.
Nevertheless, looking back on the work I produced in my first month has made me really appreciate how much I've enhanced so many skills since then. There have been some issues with the allocation of my tasks and the rest of the team not being clear that my time is limited and tasks that they would like me to complete aren't especially my priority. I've had to adjust to prioritising my tasks very quickly, which was hard during the first month (and still is to some extent even now) because I have never been given an extensive list of my tasks or a job description to refer to. My roles in the past four weeks have included creating GIFs for social media stories, producing content like quotes for social media posts, assisting on shoots, researching into ideas for the recently launched AW17 campaign, producing flat lay compositions to be photographed for content across all social media and website/email-newsletter assets, and generally undertaking any other creative task asked of me which this month, has included painting suitcases to be sent as press packs to various department stores, organising the jewellery in the studio, arranging sets, renaming hundreds of files, designing e-flyers for the US wholesale side of the company and even making an impromptu trip to IKEA for some showroom furniture!
I have attached a variety of my favourite creations from the past month onto this post - many of which were only created this week, which is a good sign that I am progressing well even if I've often been feeling like I haven't. I definitely feel like I have a greater understanding of the brand and I can see that I'm beginning to develop my own personal style to express the brand's personality. Finding a voice for the brand on social media was something I really wanted to do during my first month so I'm glad that I have begun this process and feedback from the management team has been positive.
The past four weeks in my second internship position at Forever Unique have been quite intense, hence the backlog of journal entries as I haven't managed to keep on top of my blog week by week. 
I've been quite caught up in the stress and demands of a 40 hour week so I am really appreciative for this time where I can sit and reflect on how my skill-set is developing as my internship progresses. I've just reread through my first month's journal entries with Forever Unique which has actually been so valuable in reminding myself about how much can change during a month. I still feel just as overwhelmed and anxious a lot of the time during the week because so much is expected of me, although at this stage I do recognise that I have the capability to achieve difficult tasks - if only I wasn't limited by a lack of time, communication, budget and man power at the company. I am really struggling to adapt to the working environment which I'm finding to be unprofessional at times, and often incredibly bitchy. Communication falters on a daily basis and I often feel like I'm being deliberately left in the dark about things that would actually help me to know more about. I don't fully know how I'm supposed to approach this kind of problem as an intern, where I'm very cautious about not overstepping the mark and fully aware that I am a representative of the uni and the course above all else. I don't want to feel uncomfortable in a place I spend most of my week in for the entirety of my placement year, so this is just one of the many reasons which brings me back to the big debate inside my head about whether I'm going to be able to stick out a whole year here. 
Nevertheless, looking back on the work I produced in my first month has made me really appreciate how much I've enhanced so many skills since then. There have been some issues with the allocation of my tasks and the rest of the team not being clear that my time is limited and tasks that they would like me to complete aren't especially my priority. I've had to adjust to prioritising my tasks very quickly, which was hard during the first month (and still is to some extent even now) because I have never been given an extensive list of my tasks or a job description to refer to. My roles in the past four weeks have included creating GIFs for social media stories, producing content like quotes for social media posts, assisting on shoots, researching into ideas for the recently launched AW17 campaign, producing flat lay compositions to be photographed for content across all social media and website/email-newsletter assets, and generally undertaking any other creative task asked of me which this month, has included painting suitcases to be sent as press packs to various department stores, organising the jewellery in the studio, arranging sets, renaming hundreds of files, designing e-flyers for the US wholesale side of the company and even making an impromptu trip to IKEA for some showroom furniture! 
I have attached a variety of my favourite creations from the past month onto this post - many of which were only created this week, which is a good sign that I am progressing well even if I've often been feeling like I haven't. I definitely feel like I have a greater understanding of the brand and I can see that I'm beginning to develop my own personal style to express the brand's personality. Finding a voice for the brand on social media was something I really wanted to do during my first month so I'm glad that I have begun this process and feedback from the management team has been positive.
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