From Volunteer Videographer to Lead Graphic Designer: My Reflective Journey at Larne FC

Last year I joined Larne FC to give myself something to do over the summer, planning to leave once university started up again. I initially joined the club looking to expand upon my videography and photography skillset, and now, ten months later, I can say that these are probably the two areas where I have improved the least. That is not to say I haven’t been practicing either of the two. In fact, I have improved substantially in both areas, with my photographs being used by Belfast Live (Crawford, 2023) and one of the videos I directed and edited being the most viewed so far this season. I of course cannot claim all the praise for these feats, as I have been supported at every step by the team at Larne and have learnt countless lessons from everyone at the club. However, where I have improved most during my time at the club is my Photoshop and graphic design abilities. I will use Gibbs’ reflective cycle throughout this blog post to reflect on my journey from volunteer videographer to the club’s lead graphic designer.

Description

A few months into the placement I was asked if I had any experience with Photoshop. The club’s graphic designer at the time had become overwhelmed work wise and needed a hand making deadlines. I responded with an enthusiastic yes. In reality, it had been about 4 years since I last used Photoshop, so I really should’ve responded with “not really”. However, I was keen to help and learn as much as I could while at the club, and this was a perfect opportunity to throw myself in the deep end and learn a new skill. Prior to being given ‘official’ club graphics, I was given a test to see how proficient I was in Photoshop. I was sent a graphic from Liverpool FC’s social media and asked to recreate it with Larne branding and players. I have since learned that there was a lot of “wishful thinking” over my ability to recreate said graphic, and it was really a task set up to see me fail and see my response to failure.

Feelings

With hindsight, I can say with confidence that it felt that way. As you can see, the graphic sent wasn’t exactly entry-level. However, I am not someone to back down from a challenge and gave it my best shot. I was super stressed doing the graphic as my Photoshop skills were rusty, and what would now take me 30 minutes took a day and a half. That being said, I was hit with a wave of euphoria whenever the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) praised me on my ability to recreate the graphic even though I wasn’t happy with it.  Interestingly, this put me in a tricky situation, which elevated my stress. I had set the bar pretty high for myself, so going forward I had to find a way to maintain this quality, and the only way to do that was to keep actively improving and learning. This created a lot of self-imposed pressure, which could’ve been alleviated had I expressed to the CMO how difficult I actually found the graphic.

Evaluation

“What works well for me personally is to go have a walk for at least an hour”

Esmée Winkel on breaking a creative slump.  (The Botanical Artist, 2018)

Overall, my experience creating graphics for the club has been great. I’ve taught myself a valuable skill that I can add to my CV, all while growing my network in the sports industry. The best part of the graphic design work is definitely being able to look at the finished product, while the worst has got to be how creatively draining it can be. I have discovered how easy it is to fall into a creative slump and let your work standards stagnate which has been a valuable lesson to learn as I’ve been able to create ways to negate this, walking being one of them.

Analysis

“Good working relationships will make your job more enjoyable. What’s more, close-knit teams are more productive, which frees up time to innovate and focus on your personal development. The professional connections you make will also help you to further your career.”

(Mind Tools, 2022)

I was able to learn so much so quickly due to the people around me. The media team at Larne is very close knit and welcomed me with open arms (literally in some instances). The team is constantly looking to improve in all regards, and as such, would always give me feedback on all aspects of my work. This, paired with a work environment that promoted team bonding through weekly activities like 5-a-side football, pub quizzes, etc. (all of which I went out of my way to attend), created a really positive atmosphere within the team and has highlighted to me the importance of human connection in the workplace. While it is still work, working with people you like and putting effort into workplace relationships really pays off and makes work life more enjoyable.

Conclusions

I have learnt too much to cover in a 1000 word blog post. But to summarise here are a few key learnings:

• Hard work does pay off; it just might not pay off straight away.
• If you need help or guidance, you need to ask for it.
• If you are open to and actively try new things, you will grow significantly as an individual.
• You cannot forget the importance of interpersonal relationships in the workplace.
• It’s better to try and fail than not to try it at all

And, of course,

• Larne are the best team in the Irish league (legitimately, we won the league)

Action Plan

I am privileged enough to say that after all the difficulties that came from learning Photoshop, I am now an employee at Larne and hope to remain one going into the 23/24 season. Having reflected on the last 10 months, I feel that if I continue to have an open mind when it comes to trying new things and if I hone my creative skills as much as possible, I might be able to get a move to England and the Premier League. Which, given some of the contacts I’ve been able to make while with the club, is a realistic goal. However, I also need to pace myself with work and learning as I can’t get too far ahead of myself. There is still a lot of room to improve when it comes to my videography and photography, so I am looking to focus on those two areas once university has finished. On a side note, dropping the dissertation module for the work placement module will go down as one of the best decisions I made while at university, and I’m also incredibly grateful for all the opportunities the club gave to me while I was on placement.

Bibliography

Crawford, S. (2023). Larne boost squad for title run-in as they confirm deal for Dutch winger. Belfast Live. [Online] Available at: https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/larne-boost-squad-title-run-26446854 [Accessed 13 Apr. 2023]

Larne Football Club. (2022) Can Our PROFESSIONAL Footballers Beat The Tyre Challenge?. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56tgCw1yJsk  [Accessed 13 Apr 2023]

Mind Tools Content Team. (2022).  Building Good Work Relationships. MindTools [online] Available at: https://www.mindtools.com/aorqe4z/building-good-work-relationships [Accessed 14 Apr. 2023]

The Botanical Artist. (2018). In Memoriam, 24(2), 9–9.

The University of Edinburgh (2020). Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. The University of Edinburgh. [online] Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle [Accessed 12 Apr. 2023].