BA (Hons) Visual Communication alumni, Imogen Joyce, tells us about her micro-internship with Mindless Academy.
During my time at Mindless Academy, I was given the role to create a series of blog posts for the company’s website. The blog posts covered important topics in line with the magazines monthly campaigns, including: consumerism, climate change, sexuality, and refugees.
I loved that the magazine focused on making a difference in the world and shared how each individual reader has the power to help and take action relating to each month’s big topics too.
The week started off with some training, for example: learning the importance of SEO, the power of LinkedIn, storytelling and how to follow the companies’ branding guidelines. After the skills training, we had a weekly mindset class where we would learn the importance of creating a work life balance and how to handle stress.
The rest of the week was down to me where I took the skills I learnt from each class and applied them to my articles. I followed a weekly routine where I spent a day researching the weekly topic and planning the angle and viewpoint that I wanted to share. After creating a content plan, I spent the rest of the week creating my article, and editing the content and layout. 
Image: Imogen Joyce
I loved how the internship was a personal experience full of possibilities. Each week I challenged myself as an illustrator to create weekly illustrations to accompany my articles. This helped me gain work experience in editorial illustration and helped create visual content that I could share on social media to promote the release of each article.
At the end of the internship, we had the opportunity to work with the Liverpool charity, Refugee Women Connect. This was a fantastic opportunity to work with another client and to see how our work could directly help other companies and charities that need help.
Image: Imogen Joyce
What I learnt
Being a part of the Mindless Academy internship was a fantastic opportunity for me to connect with other interns, as well as creating new contacts and growing my network on LinkedIn.
The whole experience challenged me to step out of my comfort zone as an illustrator, I never really explored the possibility of writing until this opportunity allowed me to explore a new way of expressing myself.
It gave me the confidence to share my opinions and voice my thoughts on topics that are important to me.
Image: Imogen Joyce
What’s next?
As a recent graduate from Leeds Arts University, my next steps are to secure a job in industry as a junior graphic designer whilst also perusing my freelance passions as an illustrator.
My internship with Mindless Academy has given me so many opportunities which has been great for my CV. It has also helped me gain relevant skills which I can apply to a role as a junior graphic designer. For example; making content for social media, learning the importance of storytelling, and making content that works in line with a company’s branding guidelines.
Working with Mindless Academy has been a fantastic opportunity where I have learnt so much about myself as an individual whilst also learning so many skills in preparation for a role within the industry.
I can’t thank Mindless Academy enough for all their support over my months internship and I hope to maintain a strong connection with them as I take my next steps into the working world.
Read Imogen's articles in Mindless Mag:
How Can Designers Help With the Climate Crisis?
Women's Sexuality: Embracing Your True Self
Is Consumerism Killing our Creativity?
Image: Imogen Joyce