What our design students learnt from their work experience with us 

Why we love welcoming young creatives into the studio

For the last few years at CRUSH, we’ve been particularly ardent about inviting GCSE, A-level and university students into our studio and giving them the opportunity to experience the world of brand, design and website development in real life.

Whilst previous years have seen a real mix of students studying different courses, this year all the students we hosted were studying art and media, and therefore spent their time with CRUSH’s team of brand strategists, designers and illustrators.

Dutifully mentored under the wing of our junior designer and illustrator, Naomi, what we loved most about having the students in the studio was witnessing just how much they progressed and developed their skills over the course of their week with us. 

The importance of nurturing the next generation of designers

Of course, a week is nowhere near enough time to completely train a designer, but it’s certainly a start.

We started by giving our students the option of a range of project briefs to choose from – tailored to the particular subjects they were studying at school – and then mentored them through the design process of exploration, research and strategy, through to design, production and final presentation.

During their time with us, each of the students had the opportunity to work with a range of design tools – some of which they already knew and loved, like Canva and Procreate, and some completely new, more industry-used platforms like Adobe and Figma. We felt it was important to let them explore and create freely within their comfort zones, as well as giving them a little push wherever they needed a little extra reassurance or confidence.

At the end of their weeks with us, the CRUSH team gathered around to give feedback, praise and advice on the students’ work. It was amazing to see what they had managed to achieve in what really was such little time. 

Some may go on to become designers. Some may not. But that’s okay. What counts is that they enjoyed their time with us and learnt some valuable skills that they can take with them, to wherever they may go in life.