Ethan has been with The Printed Word since August 2020 and has since become a valuable member to our studio team. Ethan is currently working through his Pre-Press apprenticeship, in which he aims to complete next year. Seeing his dedication and commitment to the course over the past 2 years, we thought we would take the time to interview Ethan on how he has found the apprenticeship with TPW thus far.
Here is what Ethan has to say…
What is involved in a Pre-Press apprenticeship?
A Pre-Press course I would describe as an enhanced Graphic Design Course. As you are learning about design and how to improve your designing skills, along with learning how to use design software, Adobe Creative Cloud being the main software used. But while learning about this, you dive into the technicals about how printing works, and all the preparation a piece of artwork needs in the “Pre-Press” phase of production to finish with high quality, alongside how to prepare artwork files for them to print with the most efficiency possible to help run a profitable business.
How have you found the apprenticeship with TPW?
I have found the apprenticeship here at TPW to be a fantastic learning experience, not only with Pre-Press but with life skills in general. The whole team here are incredibly friendly and always more than willing to give anyone a helping hand or advice on anything that’s needed. I feel as though joining TPW has vastly improved my skills and knowledge of Design, Pre-Press and the general running of a business as I have been taught really well with a lot of clarity and patience, as before I joined here I had never used any Adobe software at all, but with the teaching style here I was able to pick it up really quickly with no problems as there is always someone around to answer any questions.
What have you found most interesting about the course?
Design has always been where my passion was, so for me the most interesting part is dealing with so many different artwork styles and branding styles on a weekly basis to create products for clients. Working with such a wide range of customers in so many different industries I feel has been what has expanded my design skills the most as it has caused me to have to do a lot of research and development with my artwork to meet the customers’ needs properly and develop a style that I like to add to my artwork and make it my own.
What skills do you believe you have acquired since beginning your course?
As mentioned for the other questions, I’ve been taught from scratch by the lead designer here how to use Adobe Creative Cloud software to a level where we can both now explore new techniques and abilities available in the software together, while they are still there to answer any new questions I might have. They have also taught me and helped me improve my skills on planning and managing my workload to make sure I’m meeting all the customers’ needs while allowing enough time to produce high quality work. With the high exposure to customers, I believe my skills in customer service have developed greatly to try and build good relationships so that they can feel as though they can rely on me to create anything that they might need and help ensure repeat business.
Any advice to send across to anyone who is considering an apprenticeship within the print space?
I would highly recommend anyone who is interested in the industry to apply for an apprenticeship within the print space, as it can create such a valuable field of knowledge for a future whether you want to go into designing or printing, as all business that are run are always going to need advertisements, stationery or anything else along those lines designed and printed, so it really is a strong market to get involved in with such a big variety of work that can keep things feeling fun and refreshing in your career.
Thank you Ethan!
We are glad to have Ethan onboard and wish him all the very best as he completes his course.