Courtesy of Ellie

In May 2011, shortly after beginning my NVQ in Design & Print, I started my placement as a Junior Designer at Signals Ltd. I'm now not far from the end of this fantastic experience which I am thoroughly enjoying. Doing the NVQ course alongside this placement has really built up the skills I need in the workplace and will leave me with a recognised qualification.

The NVQ consists of several aspects, from understanding the design / print industry to hands-on designing and producing creative, colorful artwork. I have been working my way through all aspects of the criteria with the help of Signals Ltd and of my training provider who has set my course work over monthly onsite meetings. I have also been up to London to meet with another training provider who is helping me and a number of other NVQ students along our way, gathering all the knowledge required for our final exam. Fingers crossed the hard work pays off!

I have worked on numerous jobs for Signals Ltd in the past few months and, as I have become far more familiar with it, have developed quite a passion for working with the Adobe software I've been using: Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign.

Of all the projects I have worked on the one that stands out the most would have to be Signals Case Studies. Helping with the design of the case studies was most enjoyable and has led to more tasks for me to help with such as case study icons and banners. I think this project stands out to me as this is probably the first one I worked on where I felt I was a helpful part of a team, putting my newly aquired skills to good use.

None of this would have been possible without the design team at Signals which I am so grateful to have been part of. In fact it's been a great opportunity to have the chance of working with everyone at Signals Ltd and this post is my big thank you to you all for the encouragement and support you've given me.