Impressive design skills from Isabelle & Dellen during their work experience week
It was an exciting return for work experience placements this summer and we were delighted to welcome local students Isabelle and Dellen from Penrice Academy to join our team.
St Austell Printing Company has offered work experience placements to students from local secondary schools for many years. We know how valuable it is for students to gain experience in a working environment and perhaps help to shape their academic choices and career plans.
This year’s students were put to work with a fully packed schedule for the week, learning about our business, designing their own business cards and working in each department to follow their business cards throughout the print process.
Dellen and Isabelle made a great impression on our team and we were extremely impressed with their work ethic and design skills. We asked them to write about their experience here at St Austell Printing Company.
Dellen & Isabelle’s work experience blog:
Before the placement we both felt nervous, but excited. This is because it was a new working environment for both of us. We were most nervous about meeting new people but once we got to know everyone it was great. St Austell printing company offers a safe and happy working environment.
On our first day we went on a tour of the offices and factory to get to know the company. We then spent our day in the digital print department, where we designed logos for our imaginary businesses. These logos would be used on business cards that we were to design, print and finish later on.
We got to use our creative skills and imagination to come up with a logo that symbolises our “business” and interests. We finalised our business card designs using ProCreate and Adobe InDesign and gained an understanding of pantone colour swatches.
We found a favourite place for our lunch break – on the balcony in the Conference Centre, on the top floor of the print factory, overlooking St Austell Bay!
On day 2 we worked in the Pre-press department, which we really enjoyed, particularly. seeing the process of how the printing plates were made for our business cards.
On day 3 we spent our morning in the litho printing factor to watch our business cards being printed. It was very interesting to see how the printer’s work and learn that litho print presses can print 15,000 sheets per hour and the LED UV drying technology can dry the sheets instantly.
When our business cards were printed, we followed them to the Bindery and Dispatch department for finishing. We were also given the task to package books for delivery. It was interesting to have an insight into the less noticeable jobs in the factory.
On day 4 we printed our business cards in the digital print department. These were printed double-sided and laminated; ready for cutting. Following our cards through each process up to this point was a really fascinating journey as we were able to understand each stage of the printing process throughout the factory. The guillotine was quite scary at first but after seeing how safe it was, we then got enjoy the satisfying look of our cards being cut to size.
On our final day, we were introduced to the mailing room which was one of our favourite parts of the factory as we were able to put together hard book covers for universities.