How the Bristol Creative Industries interns responded to a brief about engaging young people to pursue creative sector careers
Launched with a successful pilot in 2023, the Bristol Creative Industries programme, in partnership with Babbasa, is aimed at young people aged 18-30 from under-represented backgrounds who want to gain more insight and real experience in the creative industries.
Brilliant agencies from the Bristol Creative Industries member community provide paid placements for the interns over six months.
The structure of the internship programme means that our interns spend Monday to Thursday working within the agencies and come together as a cohort on a Friday for a skills and training day.
The Friday sessions allow them to reflect on their internship experiences and pick up a range of other skills such as CV writing, building brilliant LinkedIn profiles, networking, how to navigate the workplace, and developing healthy work habits.
Other sessions were focused on technical skills and included managing a creative brief, digital accessibility, data analytics and SEO. As part of the programme, the group also attended the Building Brands Conference and worked on social media for Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
Alongside the practical skills sessions, this year’s cohort was tasked with working on a live brief to develop a suite of material that could be used to educate, inform and inspire other young people considering a career in the creative industries.
Often, opportunities in the creative sector pass young people by, simply because they don’t know enough about the sector and the wealth of opportunities available. Across the region, we know that BCI members are worried about the potential long term skills shortages and a lack of diversity within the sector. To address this we need to get the creative industries in the minds of young people much earlier so that they view the creative industries as a viable and fulfilling career choice.
The live brief allowed the interns to work as a team, showcase and develop their skills and specialisms, and produce work they could include in their portfolios going forward. It’s also a lasting legacy that we can build on to support our outreach activities with local schools, colleges and universities.
“Create engaging and informative promotional materials aimed at young people interested in entering the creative industries (specifically creative agencies). These materials should explore and explain various job roles and required skill sets within the industry.”
The group began by discussing the brief and fleshing out the nuances and areas they wanted to focus on. Getting into the creative industry for a young person, particularly from an under-represented group, can be challenging, so we were keen to use this opportunity to create some assets and resources that would help young people better understand the different roles and departments with a creative agency.
The group split into groups (based on their individual strengths) to develop the strategy and research, production elements (filming and interviews), and design the digital assets.
As part of the initial research, the strategy team looked at the importance of diversity in the creative industries. Based on their own experiences and some further research, they explored some of the reasons why young people can find it hard to get into the industry.
They also undertook some research into some of the potential barriers to entry for young people whilst also exploring why diversity is so important in creative teams.
In order to address some of these issues to demystify what it means to work in a creative agency, the interns looked at the different team structures, job roles and types of projects, campaigns and products that are produced.
From their own experiences and their research, the team felt representation was key in promoting these job roles to the next generation of talent. They selected six people from the BCI membership, all from diverse backgrounds, to share their insights, pathways, and top tips for working in a digital agency.
As part of their campaign, the team were keen to create an impact to:
They decided to create three different assets:
The film crew sourced equipment, put together a production schedule and interview questions, and spent two days visiting our guest interviewees in their place of work gathering content. It was an intense shoot but everyone worked as a team and played to their strengths. They captured six interviews which then needed to be edited and shaped into bitesize content.
The interviewees were:
Meanwhile, the design team made the digital assets that the content would feed into, creating infographics, and social media post templates. They used the BCI branding as a guide but wanted to bring in elements to make sure the designs appealed to a young audience and were both inclusive and representative.
Job roles within a creative agency:
Instagram carousel:
Social media posts:
Once the interviews were complete, the team spent time pulling out the key quotes and messaging that could then be used for some social media posts which included top tips for working in the industry, pathways to creative careers, potential barriers to work, and the importance of diversity in the sector.
Webpage wireframe examples:
As part of their workflow, the group presented their research and designs back to the BCI team for feedback and suggestions. We are so impressed with their work and are keen to use it to create a resource pack we can send out to education providers and youth groups to help spread the word about creative jobs.
Watch the final film here:
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The interns will soon complete their Bristol Creative Industries internship placements and are looking for their next opportunity. If you have a role that you think may be suitable for one of this year’s interns, please get in touch with [email protected] asap before they get snapped up!
Here are some useful resources to help young people find opportunities in the creative industries, including internships and junior level roles:
Bristol Creative Industries is the membership network that supports the region's creative sector to learn, grow and connect, driven by the common belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.
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