Anita and the Rockstars (Work Experience//Day One)
NB:
Hi, I’m Anita, currently completing my work experience hours here at the fantastic Rockstar Memoirs! I only managed to get my guest WordPress account activated today (i.e. Thursday). A little late, seeing as how my work experience shift is almost over, but that’s ok! Hopefully.
Thus, every single crazy thing I’ve rambled on about below was from Monday. Previously it was sitting in a little Word document… xD
Excuse my lame title (and my general cheesy, lame writing).
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So, I’m standing in front of 247 Pacific Highway, straightening out my blouse. I idle around the building, deciding on the perfect time to enter. It’s 9.40. I’m 20 minutes early, and I still don’t know how the hell I managed to arrive on time- my mind flashbacks to only an hour before, when an ATM decided to swallow my key card (great timing, I know).
However, I decide to brush away my slight nerves- after all, I was ecstatic just the day before- and make my way up the stairs.
To be honest, I have never worked before, so I had absolutely no idea what to do once arriving at North Sydney. How should I walk in the studio? Name card clip or no name card clip? It didn’t take a genius to realise that the working world was vastly different to school life. Even though if it was just for a moment, my ‘foolproof’ plan of “I’ll-get-around-to-working-after-my-commitments-to-school” didn’t seem so bright. I couldn’t help but wonder how my other classmates were doing at their respective work placements. Then again, the whole point of work experience is to learn. No?
Here begins what would no doubt be 5 days of awesome.
After a very warm welcome from Amelia Walkley, one of the Yearbook Consultants, I was introduced to the rest of the team at Rockstar Memoirs. I had most certainly picked a busy time to drop into the studio, as this time of the year was full of finalisations of the many yearbooks the company had under its wing. Nevertheless, I was still greeted with a smile and an orientation to Rockstar HQ. Everyone seemed friendly, and I must say, there was a great atmosphere going around. Must be the smell of all that creativity. Or the freshly printed yearbooks. Loved the music though haha. ‘Twas a nice touch.
After passing through that initiation of sorts, I was granted the use of a magical Mac, bestowed my own Rockstar account, and received a program sheet, which outlined what I would be carrying out throughout my tenure at the studio. They were small notions (ok, maybe they weren’t small), but they still made me feel rather welcomed to the team, and I appreciated them very much. After spending some time browsing the intranet, which covered various topics, from the usual OH&S regulations (I’m pretty sure the whole social-alcohol thing doesn’t apply to me haha), to links to new inspirations. I found myself poring through those, and even took some notes along the way, especially with the baseline grid and start up tips in Adobe InDesign.
I was then introduced to the Rockstar library! It was amazing how many clients the studio had, and gave me the chance to understand how wide the scope of the company was. Rockstar has clients from all over Australia, and combined with actually seeing how hard everyone was working first hand, I had a rejuvenated and strengthened appreciation of the work that is completed here. It’s just brilliant. I could come up with a whole metaphorically reinforced elaborate phrase to describe it, but that might be a little cheesy.
Unfortunately, the library, I was told, was in desperate need of rearrangement. A mission, it was! So I set forth, sorting samples from those already inducted into the Rockstar Library (of Fame), DIY projects from Rockstar designed projects, and whatnot. And can I tell you, there were a lot of yearbooks. During my time sorting I also had to familiarise myself with the library, and pick out interesting aspects and themes of the different yearbooks. This would later link to my next task, but first I went out for lunch with Amelia. Teriyaki chicken obento, yum! Thank you for that 
Content with my midday meal, I returned to the studio and was able to take a break with sorting yearbooks, and sit in on a meeting with Amelia and Chris on one of the yearbooks they were soon to complete. Talks of pagination and HDDs immediately brought me back to the enriching experience I was able to be part of last year as a member of my own school’s yearbook team (working together with Rockstar), but observing the process from the side of the designers rather than the clients proved to be…fascinating. It really broke down that wall between the client and employer that is so often present in many workplace situations. I used to be a client, and now I was able to peer at it from the other side. I saw the issues that could arise from delivery, with communication, and just how much designers have to juggle- finishing off a yearbook isn’t the only job they carry at one time. Often the designers and freelancers are also university students or are participating in other commitments, and also are contracted to other design jobs, so you could really take in just how much work and dedication working in this field can be. I kowtow to you all!
Also, Chris’ wallpaper was epic. I didn’t mention it at the time because I noticed it halfway through the meeting, and didn’t really want to interrupt the productive flow they had going on, but if you ever read this Chris and I still haven’t gotten around to telling you: Loving the wallpaper 8D.
Rockstar makes it a point to vlog each and every yearbook they produce. It’s just a short, thirty second to a minute presentation on the look of the yearbook and any interesting aspects. Amelia wanted me to write short scripts for some of the yearbooks, and if I wanted to, even film some of them. I haven’t gotten around to the filming, but that should be entertaining!
I spent the remainder of the afternoon browsing through lists and yearbooks, trying to sort out unique and creative design aspects from a number of yearbooks, taking notes along the way. I wrote out a number of scripts, a task that I may have slightly underestimated, because coming up with new and innovative ways to say ‘Well done!’ is harder than you think! Not sure if scripts are a little long though- I think I’m going to review them again.
The close of the day came around soon enough, however I felt like I barely did anything by then! Nathan also graciously took the time to give me a couple of words of support and welcome to the studio, which I greatly appreciated! Thank you Nathan- I can tell you are an amazing leader and truly are a passionate and reliable member of the team!
Once again, I would like to thank everyone for being so welcoming and cordial for agreeing to host me for this week! Can’t wait for the rest of the program!
Gosh, I wrote a lot.