Bristol’s young creatives are being invited to take part in a weekend studio experience in the city aimed at giving them a valuable insight into working in an agency.
Werkhouse was co-founded in 2017 a small group of design professionals from Bristol and Bath as a deep dive into the creative and interpersonal skills required to succeed in a design studio.
Taking place this year in November, it will include 30 over-18s looking to pursue a career in the industry regardless of whether they are self-taught or have any formal design training.
It focuses on fast-paced, real-time client briefs and team-oriented tasks to show participants a real studio environment.
Werkhouse co-founder and design strategist at Bristol agency Design Rally, Lynne Elvins, said: “One of the main reasons we co-founded Werkhouse was because we saw that graduates left university unprepared for the reality of working in a design studio.
“I wanted to give something back to the design community, show aspiring creatives the strategic side of projects, and help better prepare our future designers.
“I’m hoping that other regions across the UK – particularly other creative hubs like Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Hull – will get inspired so Werkhouse can become the blueprint for similar initiatives.”
Organisers are particularly seeking ‘under-represented’ creatives in the industry as they want to engage with a diverse group of applicants from different backgrounds, design disciplines and locations across the UK and beyond.
Participants will receive a brief from a charitable organisation before being invited to work in teams with creative directors, senior designers, account managers, copywriters and strategists from creative agencies across the South West.
As a result, they will gain a unique understanding of fast-pace of ‘real life’ studio working and access to industry professionals as a helping-hand towards their careers.
The Werkhouse will take place on 19 and 20 November at Bristol design agency Taxi Studio.
Among other Bristol professionals taking part this year will be representatives from gaming native integrated agency Diva Agency, ethical brand marketing agency Enviral, employee experience agency Home, independent creative agency Halo Studio, and Mr B & Friends, the brand strategy and design agency.
Taxi Studio Creative Director Stu Tallis said: “We are proud to have co-organised and hosted Werkhouse since its inception.
“It’s a great opportunity for up-and-coming designers from all walks of life to gain experience of what it’s like working within a real agency environment, for real clients and collaborating with like-minded people.
“Through Werkhouse, we’re providing valuable insight into how we work and introducing people to roles they might not even know exist – from creative roles to project managers, PR experts and strategists.
“But we, as professionals, also reap the benefits – senior designers can take on the role of managing a team and learn more about the next generation of designers.”
Laura Medlicott, part of the 2019 Werkhouse Cohort and now a middleweight designer at Bath brand and packaging design agency Sunhouse Creative, added: “At the end of my degree I felt underprepared for starting a career in design and was looking for insight into the industry.
“Werkhouse was a great opportunity to get first-hand experience in how agencies think and work. It was a fun, rewarding way of meeting with other fellow graduates as well as professionals, and led to me being introduced to the wonderful people at Sunhouse and my current job as a graphic designer.”
Applications are open until 14 October. For more information visit https://www.werkhouse.co.uk/
