Natalie Cheng / GMD After my 3 months in Endpoint, I managed to secure a placement in Pentagram under Astrid Stavro’s team for 3 months (although I managed to extend it for 3 more). As someone who has done a couple of internships previously before stepping into UAL, (I did 2 back when I was doing my diploma in Singapore), I would like to address the elements and how essential they are in creating a healthy working environment. I will also talk about how the difference in work culture between Endpoint and Pentagram has shaped my decision makings for my future plans. My time in Endpoint was a very positive experience and it was mainly because of the people. Everybody is extremely kind and welcoming and there was hardly any sense of hierarchy in the office. Everybody had their own voice, everyone respected each other and their opinions. Breakfast Fridays are a thing where we all sit together biweekly to enjoy an array of pastries and yoghurts over a meeting. A positive energy will always be upheld– music gets played over the speakers, there will always be snacks but if there isn’t, the boss will sometimes offer to go on a biscuit run. These factors kept the teams’ morale high, and as a result it made me not minding ploughing through work even when it gets stressful. And quite often I offered to stay till late just to help ease the workload for the senior designers. Every quarterly, the office will hold a bonding activity. It can range from bake offs to paintballing. And while I was there, I was fortunate to have experienced it. We all enjoyed an afternoon of fun and ended the night with food and drinks. While I understand that not all office culture is as positive as Endpoint’s, I feel that for me, a positive work environment is a deciding factor for my future job hunts. I entered Endpoint wanting to learn more about wayfinding, to which I did and glad to have to. But I am also glad that I managed to know that it is not my priority interest to want to pursue in the future. My passion is still in graphic design and the desire to fulfil my dream of being in an agency was still prevalent. Although they were more than happy to have me stay for a longer period, I had to tell myself not to and bid goodbye in order for me to pursue my other dreams. As a result, I was fortunate to secure a placement with Pentagram under Astrid Stavro’s team. To work in Pentagram had been a longtime dream for me to work towards. It was definitely not easy to have secured this placement, but I managed to remain resilient and successfully achieve it. Stepping into the Pentagram office for the first time on my first day felt like a dream. Its office size, the large number of people, and its vibe. Everything was a total opposite in comparison to Endpoint. I don’t mean it in a negative way, but it was something to get used to. Because my previous placements in Singapore were in small studios as well, suddenly having to work in a less tight knit environment was a new experience. However, I loved it – it was everything I wanted. I love the hustle and bustle, and to describe it loosely and superficially, it made me feel like I have ‘achieved success’. Everybody was so serious and focused in their job, and unlike Endpoint, there is no music being played. And for its work quality, it is great of course. But I feel that because of all its seriousness, there is a lack of positive energy and spirit in the building. Because of how big the company is, unless its lunch time, you rarely get a chance to mingle and meet the rest of the people working in the building.
Astrid’s team is the smallest of all 13 other London partners– there is a total of 6 of us. Since we are such a small team, the amount of project workload couldn’t allow time for fun. It is constant work, work and work. However, throughout all the jobs I’m given, there has not been one where I could design, or much less input my creativity. Perhaps because I’m just an intern and they cannot risk giving me a design job due to how highly regarded the company is in the industry. Sure, I can understand that. But that got me identifying the differences between a small studio like Endpoint, and a large one like Pentagram. During my time in Endpoint, I had the opportunity to design. From coming up with visual directions and concepts for clients, to redesigning the company’s own case study templates. It was great training for me, for which I appreciate so much. I will think any intern will prefer that because that’s what we are there for. I won’t describe my time in Pentagram as one where I wasn’t learning anything (as learning could be through a lot of areas), but I will say that they had not been anything productive. A lot of my tasks were very basic, for example, looking up online for mockup templates, looking up for fonts, sometimes even google image searching. There was once where I was even tasked to go to a bookstore to purchase a magazine. I was very disappointed because my intention is to grow in Pentagram, but I clearly wasn’t. There were a lot of times when I asked for tasks that carry more responsibilities, but unfortunately, they didn’t have any for me. I’m not saying that Pentagram was a negative experience. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and I enjoy the hustle life (second week into my placement and we had to stay up till midnight as we had a dateline). Weirdly enough, I like that. I liked my team and its crazy to see how talented individuals they are. However, if I were to decide on at what I want in the long run (junior role), is this really sustainable for me? Yes, Pentagram is great for my CV, but its work culture in Endpoint surpasses. I was getting paid in Endpoint, but not in Pentagram. I suppose my dilemma here is upholding on what is truly important to me. Since I’m a graphic designer, my answer will be Pentagram, but only if money, self-worth and a work-life balance life weren’t important. All in all, I am thankful to have experienced two different ends of work cultures because if not for that, I won’t be able to have this chance to really consider what really is important for me in the long run.
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March 2022
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