Saying goodbye: Aggie ends her placement

A massive thank you to the Stand + Stare team for having me as I now finish my 10 week placement with the company. Despite unusual circumstances with the COVID19 pandemic, the experience has been very enjoyable. Working from home and starting a new job is not an easy thing to do, but Barney, Lucy and Debs have made me feel very welcome. Exploring the ideas, projects and values with the team has been very rewarding, and I will be taking away new skills and an insight into working for a design company.

A highlight for me was being sent a Stand + Stare Mayfly product in the post to test out. It was great to see the physical product behind the idea. Audio is such a big aspect of the work at Stand + Stare so it was great to experience firsthand why that is. With sound being such an important sense for human beings, it became apparent how even replaying audio recordings from previous weeks can really evoke emotions from the transitory experience. 

During my placement I also learnt some valuable skills: Writing a press release, creating a Squarespace website, product and market research, developing my writing skills in different contexts, and creating a narrative for my own photobook. 

It has also been useful to learn about how the company is managed overall. I have learnt about things I can expect when putting physical structures together or creating tech-based products. It seems that patience is the key when working through a pandemic, everything is moving at a much slower pace than normal, which is understandable. 

Another part of the placement which I loved, was hearing about the projects which usually take place. It was exciting to hear about Barney travelling across Europe to chat to academics about sharing important stories - stories not previously heard by others. I still love this aspect of the work and although I didn’t get to explore it fully, I hope to continue increasing my knowledge on the importance of telling stories. 

I will be sure to follow the work of Stand + Stare in the future, and look out for opportunities to visit their installations and test out their products. For now, you can find me relaxing by a fire in Northumberland. Thanks again to the wonderful team Barney, Lucy and Debs.

- Aggie Andrews