What do you think: is it better to work for a company of 30 designers, or be the only web designer in a small company? For me, who previously worked in a studio with only four employees, the transition to a company with a large design department was an important event. I’ll make a reservation right away: freelancing has never attracted me.
Why do I recommend working for a company?
I would like to share my impressions of the first month of work at Redmadrobot. If you are a web designer and have set yourself such a life goal as “Million. Followers. On a Behanse ”, you need to constantly grow, get diversified experience and be in eternal search.
The goal of my life changes was quite commonplace – the acquisition of good competencies in design and the gradual transformation into a product designer. I considered the transition to mobile interface designers a logical step and went to Tegline. Redmadrobot took the lead in the ranking of mobile developers, so I applied there and soon received an invitation.
Day I
Initially, I was handed an electronic brochure with answers to many questions:
documents to be sent before leaving;
what to take on the first working day;
where to eat;
who you can turn to for help;
dress code;
about mail, keys, passes, etc.
The new office greeted me with a MacBook, a wireless mouse and a three-meter window overlooking the factory buildings. While I looked around and came up with passwords for corporate services, new employees flashed around me. There were a lot of girls working in the design department, which occupies half of the floor.
The guys ordered burgers to congratulate two new PMP designers. A week later, two newcomers came, and then two more. Each such event was celebrated with a burger party and meeting newcomers. Designers came with different experiences, and if necessary, they were carefully raised to lead or art directors.
Day II
The next day I was taken on a new project. During the first two weeks, I received more new tasks than during the entire summer, as I faced a large service and a huge audience. The art director talked about his usual workflow patterns, explaining why they are effective.
Then I came across a banking project and for the first time did a market analysis, read the techcrank, made a list of interesting digital technologies. It took a couple of days to dive into the world of fintech startups. Having made conclusions, described the features, structured the data, presenting the results and hypotheses every week.
Process
The workflow at PMP was reminiscent of the period during which I was the only designer in the studio and seemed to have unlimited possibilities. I was entrusted with:
- design;
- analytics;
- presentation;
- protection of solutions.
- This impressive layer of tasks used to be distributed among different people, and the designer only had to form a competent UI.
In addition, I got the opportunity to do quick concepts and design. Even though I left work at 9 pm – 10 pm, for the first time in many months I got the feeling of really interesting work. Redmadrobot is in constant motion: lectures, seminars, demonstrations. It was also important for me that I did not feel that I was the only designer of the company and that I had no one to laugh with about the new case on the Behanse.
Mentoring
RMR has another nice bonus – a mentoring system. Newcomers are dealt with by senior specialists on bail, and the missing competence is transferred to newcomers in a short time. As a result, by the end of the trial period, the novice designer turns into a pumped rookie-warrior. Not bad at all, isn’t it?
P. S. Of course, this is just my debut in the company, but I’m definitely on my way with these kind, ambitious and creative guys. It may seem to you that I fell under the influence of the corporate culture, but this is not so! The text was written, rather, for my former colleagues and for the designers, mired in a provincial swamp of despair. I have seen enough and, once in Redmadrobot, I can advise them: run, you fools!