Welcome to my year-long reflective blog. Over the next eight months, this space will serve as a digital journal documenting my experiences, research, and learning through my DPS year.
This blog is more than just a record of my progress- it’s a space for critical thinking, personal reflection, creative exploration and self-expression.
October
This was the first official month of the DPS program, and the first opportunity I took part in was the global campus studio. In this internationally-focused course, you partner up with a diverse international team on original creative projects. The weekly work I completed ranged from “ local and global campaigns ”,” knowing your audience ” and various generative AI-related projects.
Week 1: Developing Content for Different Markets
This week focused on creating content for diverse global markets, emphasising the importance of localisation and cultural nuance. The guest lecture by Umar Ghumman highlighted ht value of “local is better” international campaigns because global campaigns can make a brand bland and can lose their authenticity. Each one of these lectures had some questions for students to answer. They were simple, open-ended questions relating to the lecture that needed to be answered before the session.
There were examples from global brands like Coca-Cola, Dove, and Nike illustrating strategies that have universal themes but localised adaptations. In addition to this, there were also some global campaign examples, like the “Fancy a McDonald’s?” one that was designed to transcend language barriers.
This week introduced the framework for a lot of international campaigns, covering objectives, audience, key market, brand positioning, and campaign assets. For the first weekly workshop group task, we had to create a media kit for the brand “Tacshen” that required a global strategy that could be localised.
The first week served as a good introduction to the global campus studio, and it wrapped up with a “Virtual Getting to Know You” assignment to meet and create a cross-cultural connection between peers.
Week 2 – Knowing your audience
Global Campus Studio: This week focused on understanding audiences through demographics and psychographics. This week’s guest lecture by Jen Ger, founder of Fozy Originals, explored how fashion is able to transcend cultures through various trends at the time. It was interesting to understand that trends are able to transcend cultures and language barriers. A good example is how many young people internationally wear Adidas Samba shoes. Through just a pair of shoes, people can relate to others globally, going beyond culture.
Building on Umar Ghumman’s insights from the previous week, the lesson highlighted the need to connect with audiences emotionally and functionally. To do this, we were taught to use personas ( a fictional character that represents a target audience segment based on real data and insight) where we had the same “Jane” persona across Korea, Canada, and Chile, each reflecting cultural differences, lifestyle, and priorities. After learning about these elements, the group workshop task for the week was to create our own personas based on the same brand from the previous week. We made a persona called Daniel and gave him traits that aligned with the Taschen brand.
The week concluded with a reminder about the “Virtual Getting to Know You” assignment.
Week 3 – Virtual getting to know each other
Global Campus Studio: For our virtual getting to know you assignment, I was paired with students from Seoul and Toronto to explore each other’s surroundings and glimpse into each other’s everyday life in different parts of the world. I was expecting to see lots of differences culturally, architecturally, and even in our routines, but what I found instead was more similarities than I imagined.
Coordinating a time to meet proved to be a bit of a challenge with all the time zones, but we managed to settle on a time that worked for everyone: 1 PM in London, 9 PM in Seoul, and 8 AM in Toronto. We set up a group chat on Instagram, which made communication a breeze.
During the virtual tour, Ryan from Seoul showed us bright city lights, stacked shopfronts, and late-night cafes, which were a contrast to London, where things tend to quiet down earlier. Axel from Toronto shared parts of her walk to campus, including a public park and her go-to cafe. To my surprise, Toronto felt quite similar to London, with modern buildings, big advertisements, and familiar city layouts.
We also found common ground in student life: juggling studies, grabbing coffee after class, and navigating busy cities. Even though Seoul looked and felt different, Tuan’s experiences were still relatable.
Overall, the experience was eye-opening. It reminds me that while we live in very different places, student life connects us on a personal level. It was a good reminder of how relatable people can be, no matter where they’re from.
Week 4 – Translation and adaptation
Global Campus Studio: This week was all about translation. Not just of language but humour and identity. After looking into Joeri Hoste’s insights on Exploding Kittens and its international journey, I found myself thinking about the complexity of the process of localisation. Hoste highlighted how keeping a brand name like “Exploding Kittens” can work in some places but miss in others. An example of this was France, where an English name didn’t click with French audiences, despite translating the content of the game. This served as a reminder that culture is everything. Translation is more than changing words; it’s about shifting perspective.
The team activity we had for this week was to translate/ adapt the blurb into our respective languages. This week I worked with a student from Germany and one from Chile. I had to translate into English, so we picked a Spanish book for the first task. The book was called “Cree en ti”, a self-empowerment story. As a Spanish native speaker, it was easy to translate the blurb and adapt it in a way which would make sense. As mentioned earlier. This task made me understand that the heart of communication lies in understanding people; it’s not just about language, it’s about their perspectives.
At the end of this week, we had to do a creative sprint. It’s a way to get ideas flowing fast. The sprint was aimed towards international audiences.
November
Week 1 Hyperniche sprint
Global Campus Studio: This week, I dove into persona-based design, where I explored how understanding one user can build a creative outcome. A persona is a fictional, semi-fictional, or semi-real representation of a target user or customer, including their demographics, behaviours, motivations, and goals..
The task asked me to interview an international friend and create a persona based on that. The person I chose to do this for is from Taiwan, and her name is Chloe.
Chloe is a 21-year-old student in Taipei with a passion for music, cinema, and design. Chloe’s very intentional with her life choices, balancing building a career in communications and making practical decisions for her future. Understanding this made it clear that her motivations were stability and purpose.
Through a brief interview, I learned Chloe needed a new backpack, and rather than giving her a product suggestion outright, I pitched the idea of designing a poster in a modern magazine style that visually represents her “dream backpack”.
She loved the idea adn it was a reminder that design isn’t just about what you see but about its context, leading up to its creativity and the emotional connection to it.
Crafting a hyperniche persona like Chloe teaches you to slow down and think deeply beyond trends. In the designer seat, I wasn’t making an outcome for a student or a generation, I was designing for someone who seeks purpose in any purchases. Not one size fits all, and this exercise made me realise the importance of empathy and specificity when you’re in a creative process such as this one.
One thing is for certain: it’s not about mass appeal, but intentional design.
Week 2 Interdisciplinarity Expertise
Global Campus Studio: This week’s main takeaway was about the skills and perspectives we bring. With the same members I worked with last time, we had to create a multi-faceted campaign to launch a new book. However, this time, rather than working as a team, we had to separate and work on our own, delegating tasks that best matched each person’s skills.
To put it simply, using my skills in advertising, I focused on the UK as my main market, where I suggested having an exclusive event where people could attend and meet people alike.
The main aim was to foster interaction and engagement with the book’s content, and as a team, we agreed that this would work as our campaign.
This week’s insights from the weekly task were that HarperCollins’ international department highlighted the power of global collaboration. This week’s lecture,r Luedtke, gave an example of when Brazilian video tutorials inspired worldwide campaigns. The idea that “moving in your perspective” means adapting ideas across many cultures whilst keeping the core insights.
Embracing different perspectives allows for worldwide campaigns to develop more efficiently.
Week 3 Immersive and Interactive Content.
Global Campus Studio: This week’s reflection/ task centred on Jason Legge’s innovative career adn the strategic use of emerging technologies like VR, AR, and NFTs. There was a strong emphasis on adopting these tools early, not just for the trend but to stay ahead and make new connections with audiences in new, meaningful ways. Legge’s work, especially through immersive fan experiences, shows how tech can deepen engagement and even drive cultural change.
He focused on offering exclusive experiences to marginalised voices as well. He also spoke about the AR concerts that created unforgettable moments for a lot of super fans. He touched on the power to spark broader social conversations. It was a reminder that content creators need to balance impact and innovation. It’s not always about flashy tech, but how you reach people. It also reminds me of COVID and the virtual concerts many artists were doing.
While discussing this topic, a stat that stood out was that 15% of fans generate 80% of an artist’s income. This was specific to superfans. Legge’s company, Biome, was trying to use new technologies to keep building upon these relationships to make connections between artists and fans stronger and make more profit.
Overall, this week served as a new way to think more critically about the intersection of technology, story telling and strategy. It’s clear that the future of creative work lies in combining emotional resonance with new innovation in tech.
After this, I was reminded about my second creative Sprint 2
Week 4 – Sprint 2 bringing Ghibli magic to London
Global Campus Studio: For this week creative challenge was all about cultural importance. I had to bring someone else’s work into a new market and advertise it. I chose to import the Studio Ghibli Museum from Tokyo to London. The reason why is that I’m a fan of the Ghibli films. They’ve always been stunning, hand-drawn animated movies, with whimsical storytelling. Ghibli films already have a quiet but passionate fan base in the UK.
My strategy involved recreating iconic spaces like the Totor entrance and Catbus room, while tailoring a few features for the UK audience. I also wanted to collaborate with Ghibku designers and cultural institutions that would promise to make it authentic and accessible.
The marketing would focus on Nostalgia, using platforms like TikTok and Instagram, with fan contests and exclusive previews. The main source of revenue would come from ticket sales and the exclusive UK merchandise.
This sprint helped me think beyond promotion into experience design. It’s not just about cool designs, but also about bringing an event to life and bringing its magic to the people.
Imperio
I worked briefly at the Impero advertising agency. My role mainly consisted of researching, but I was able to experience the fast-paced environment of an agency.
V&A Youth Collective
During this month, I became part of the V&A East Youth Collective. The youth collective is a paid opportunity for young people aged 16-24 in East London to collaborate with artists, curators, and the V&A East team. As a member, I would attend evening meetings, workshops, and trips from November 2024 to July 2025, gaining skills, exposure to the arts, and a chance to influence the new V&A East Museum and Storehouse.
For the first 2 sessions, we discussed what we would be doing during our time working together. What archiving means and our thoughts on institutions.
The V&A is expanding and needs the input from a hand-selected group of people that would be representative of a whole community of young people and East Londoners, as this is who the new museum is mainly trying to appeal to.
During this time, we had one trip to the Chisenhale gallery where we explored local artist’ work and how they’re directly impacted by their environment and institutions. We also went to Bow Arts where a future V&A event would take place. The last stop was the studio of an artist from Venezuela. He spoke about his experience of being an international artist, the struggles, and the positive effect the arts can have on local communities.
D&AD
D&AD New Blood is a multifaceted initiative by D&AD that focuses on nurturing and recognising young creative talent in advertising, design, digital, and marketing. We are given various real-world briefs set by industry clients. The task is to respond to them. The best work is awarded a New Blood award and is featured in the D&AD annual.
I signed up alongside some talented peers, and we had our first discussion to choose a brief. Our favourites were GiffGaff, Xbox, and On Running.
December
Week 1 – Funding Opportunities for Co-Productions
Global Campus Studio: This week’s focus was on international production models, especially service production and co-production. Service production involves foreign companies hiring local talents for specific tasks without sharing IP rights, which might boost jobs for them, but can limit long-term benefits. Co-production, however, is a shared partnership where countries collaborate on funding, creativity and ideas, and distribution, which can open the gate to new markets and lasting IP ownership. Both have value, but to put it simply, service production supports local economies while co-production develops global creative alliances.
Our lectures for the week, Clermont, emphasised that mastering your market before going global is vital. Understanding local regulations, funding, and audience builds a lot of credibility, which helps to secure international deals. As a producer, knowing your home market inside and out makes you a reliable partner.
The week taught me that preparation and early collaboration are the foundations of a successful international project.
Week 2 The Local/Global Dynamic
Global Campus Studio: This week, Avinash Kumar had an insightful conversation about identity. To combat the homogenisation in global discourse, he framed identity as holding onto cultural roots like rituals and stories. His works embody this resistance in accessible ways, sneaking subversion into art, games, and music. It’s like discussing activism in entertainment, which makes it more palatable.
He spoke about the celebration of hyperlocal heroes. Though my upbringing wasn’t steeped in tradition, my passion for Olympic lifting shadows his idea of finding inspiration locally.
He also mentioned that technology can be a double-edged sword as it connects people globally, but it also has the power to erase uniqueness. Before this, I never thought of it that way, but I agreed with his sentiment.
Overall, Kumar’s lessons reminded me that authenticity is the boldest form of resistance, and it was a good last reflection before my final session at Global Campus Studio.
Week 3 Manifesto
Participating in the Global Campus studio was a transformative experience. For the final reflection, I were asked to write up a manifesto about what I’d learned during my time in the program.
Global campus Studio taught me that the power of respect, adaptability, and cultural awareness in collaborating across borders, leaving me with a new, fresh perspective and lifelong lessons in diversity and teamwork.
V&A
During this month, the youth collective and I helped out at the V&A and Bow Arts during their Common manifesto event. This was a free event for young people to come help shape inclusive museums hands-on alongside many artists.
It was my first time doing such a thing, but it was an eye-opening experience. A lot of people from different backgrounds attended and spoke about their views regarding institutions and who they represent.
D&AD – On running,
By this point, my team and I had chosen to tackle the brief for ON running. The challenge was to create a Gen Z-focused campaign that redefines on’s Swiss-engineered apparel as both high-performance and stylish, using disruptive storytelling to highlight “feel nothing, to feel everything” across digital and real-world touchpoints.
January
V&A
During January, things had slowed down; however, I still had work to do with the V&A. I had my first session back, where I was briefed on our new work schedule for the coming months.
My second session was to get the team thinking about the manifesto we wanted to have for the up and upcoming event for the opening of the storeroom. We started thinking about it early, as we knew that capturing the essence of the store room would be a challenge.
D&AD – On running,
During this month, we focused a lot on research and looking for inspiration. For example, we as a team looked at award-winning campaigns like Sweethearts’ dating rebrand and previous D&AD new blood winners like a team that came up Gymshark fitness app. A campaign that showed how a brand can engage with Gen Z authentically through gamification.
We had a sense of direction, but it was still early in the campaign development for On running.
February
V&A
The first V&A workshop for this month consisted of exploring sound and audio practices concerning archiving, with a special focus on how sound can preserve memories, places, and experiences. I partook in hands-on field recording alongside Ben Swaby Selig, a curatorial fellow at V&A East and member of the artists’ collective Dubmorphology. During this session, Ben guided me and other peers through techniques for capturing audio in the field and thinking about their contexts and interpretations of their meanings. The session ended with a reflection on some of our favourite or most meaningful sounds. For me, it was the reverberation that fences make when you hit them.
The second session was part of our main programme, where we explored the next steps for the manifesto project alongside Jose Garcia Oliva, a Venezuelan artist situated at the intersection between diaspora identity, migrant labour and cultural heritage.
The session was led by Robyn Lynch, a contemporary menswear designer and tutor at the London College of Fashion, who collaborated with the V&A East team on new front-of-house uniforms. We visited her Hackney Wick studio to review designs and help shape the uniforms for Storehouse’s May opening. Robyn walked us through her creative process, and we shared feedback to refine the direction. It was inspiring to see the uniforms take shape, and I had the opportunity to contribute ideas to such a tangible project.
D&AD – On running,
During this point of development of our campaign, we had many meetings with Josh Mansell, a senior creative, writer and our tutor for this project.
With the multiple meetings that we refined our campaign for ON, where we shifted our focus to Gen Z’s rejection of hustle culture and their desire for intentional rest, aligning with ON’s “Feel Nothing to Feel everything” mantra. Ideas like “Rest Radically” emerged, reflecting self-care through activewear that blended performance with mindfulness.
Digital Shift – Anna Castro Boutique
This month, I started a placement at Anna Castro Boutique, which was part of LCC’s Digital Shift programme funded by Southwark council to provide free digital marketing support for local businesses in Elephant & Castle.
This month, I had my introduction to my peer that I would be working with, as well as my boss. Between my teammate and me, we delegated roles to each other. At the time, my boss wanted to relaunch a website for her business, which is what I mainly worked on during my placement.
March
V&A
I had various sessions this month. For the first one, we were joined by photographer and creative director Karis Beamount, founder of Bumpkin Files. The session’s focus was to start building a visual and narrative-based archive that captured our personal experiences and memories of East London.
Before the session, we’d been asked to bring a photo that held significance for us. Something tied to an important memory or their connection to East London.
It was fascinating to see the different images that people chose and hear the stories behind them. Each photo added another layer to our growing archive, together creating a collective portrait of life in this part of the City.
Karis guided us through the process, helping us think about how images and narratives can preserve personal and shared histories.
It was one of the more inspiring sessions I’ve had so far.
The following one was focused on volunteering and visitor experience at the V&A East Storehouse, led by Pheobe Bitmead-Hill (Head of Operations) and Michelle Cook (Volunteering Manager).
We discussed accessible volunteering, what it means and the barriers local young people face when trying to access opportunities. The team also shared insights into Front of House training and how to create a welcoming experience for all visitors.
In addition to this, it was a chance for our group to advise the V&A East team on how they can better support young people and ensure the space feels inclusive and positive for the community.
It was an interesting session, full of valuable discussions for the future of the Storehouse.
After that, in the next session, we spoke about the mainline manifesto project once more to see where we are with it.
Anna Castro boutique
I spent most of the time working on developing the website. I consulted my boss many times about it, and I ended up making a website that she was happy with.
It was a fun process that took some time, but I had experience with website building before this role. I used my knowledge to craft the best website possible. During this time, I learned more about website design language and how to operate Squarespace as my CMS.
It was an enriching experience, where I learned to work more personally with someone as if they were my “client”.
On running
Submission date came around, and we were ready to submit Rest Radically. A movement challenging hustle culture.
The main components for this campaign were striking social posts with the 10 commandments of resting radically.
With our 10 Commandments of Rest Radically, we’re flipping the script. Rest and movement aren’t opposites; they’re partners. Whether it’s a sunrise sprint, a mindful stretch, or an urban run, ON helps you find your flow and tune out the noise.
For Gen Z, it starts simple: a location-based activity map and a quick questionnaire for self-reflection, including rewards.
It all wraps up with the real-life activation. The On lockers. Our idea was to place them outdoors, and they’d act as a safe space to leave distractions to inspire people to follow the mantra “feel nothing to feel everything”.
This was a way to use a dedicated space to connect with our target audience and encourage them to “rest radically”.
Overall, this was a good way to improve my skills in advertising and work with teammates in an overarching project where time management and communication were key to producing the best campaign possible. I would be interested in doing this again next year.
April
V&A
This month, we edited the youth collective documentary with Timi Akindele-Ajani, who shared his creative journey. I had the chance to speak to him about how to sell yourself as a freelancer and what he looks for. He had three rules for this: Do they pay well? Are they good to work with? Are you learning something? If at least two of these were met, it meant that the work was worth it. I made a note of this advice for the future.
Following that, we continued developing a manifesto using a Google doc, where my peers could add their suggestions to help shape the project truly reflective of our collective vision. It was exciting seeing ideas bounce off each other.
In the next session, we held an inspiring consultation with V&A East’s marketing team – Emma Zeitlyn (Senior Manager) and Jasmine Sarkodee-Adoo (Brands Officer & Youth Collective alum). The session gave us valuable input for the StepHouse launch campaign while sharing interesting career insights. It was a great opportunity to ask industry experts about how I could get my foot in the door as a young creative.
The following session was fascinating. Heba Tabidi, co-founder of Space Black, led the discussion, sharing insights from her practice. We explored her work and engaged with the group’s proposal for the upcoming event, which focused on access in museums. It was a striking, thought-provoking session where everyone brought ideas to the table.
The month wrapped up with a pleasant surprise. We got an exclusive after-hours tour of Moving Grounds, curated by Duchamp & Sons. Whitechapel Gallery’s very own youth collective. The exhibition was incredible, and seeing it without the usual crowds made the experience even more special. We also explored the Donald Rodney exhibition, which left a lasting impression with its theme.
We ended it by having some pizza.
Overall, this month was an important one for me. I learned a lot about freelancing and the next steps for a creative like me. I’ll remember this one very well.
Anna Castro
I continued to work for Anna Castro even though the digital shift had ended. It was more of the same, just refining the website and making sure everything was in place. However, this led to a possible new work opportunity of sorting out her stock for the website. Something I had never done before.
I learned that opportunities can be found anywhere and was excited to learn how to learn how to stock a website for selling.
The month of April was full of lessons that I will never forget.
May
V&A
The first session for the month was online, and it featured Carrie Mae Weems and curator Madeline Haddon, who discussed her V&A East commission on migration stories in East London. During the session, many of us shared our experiences with them. It was a good start to the month.
The session after that consisted of working on the manifesto project once more.
We once again had an online session with Carrie and Madeline on more personal and community stories in East London. We are reflecting on key questions such as: what defines my life/community here, the role of family, roots, untold stories, and favourite local spots. It was a trip down memory lane.
In the next session, we met the learning and engagement team to prepare for Neighbours Day at the V&A storeroom, with the official opening day coming soon after.
The End
And with this, the DPS year ends.