Mia Canderan (IDEA Grad 2023) finished her first project at hcma in Week 2 of Practicum

IDEA Grad 2023 is at their eight-week practicums at companies across Vancouver! Industry can meet the IDEA Grads on April 3, 2023.

Shown above: All the Clubs Day posters pinned up on the wall in the office.

Check out this story by Mia Canderan at hcma.

Mia Canderan Practicum Week 2

This week at hcma was a wonderful success, as I finished my first project! All the Clubs Day deliverables were checked off and sent out into the world. I had created the Initial poster to show that clubs day was back, as well as 26 posters individual to each club, a signup sheet, and university-style pennants. I feel proud of myself for finishing all of the deliverables without working on the weekend. It’s really nice that I can organize my time so that my weekend isn’t a work-end and that there is a balance. I also really appreciate the support I am given at hcma, as everyone is so helpful, kind, and a pleasure to work with. 

On Tuesday, we had Clubs Day! I spent the morning cutting the bleed off the posters and helping set up the event. At 12 it was go time. Everyone gathered together and ate pizza, mingling about what club to join. 

The office enjoying Clubs Day

It was lovely because I got to meet more people that work in the office and talk to them and find out what they do, etc. Out of all the Clubs, I joined hydro homies, tea club, sandwich club, hiking club, and “what’s happening van”. The posters got lots of love and it was so cool to see everyone interact with the work I had done! 

A view of some posters set up and people having pizza

This week I also got briefed on a new project that will be the perfect side project. This is a wonderful idea in case there is a hiatus between projects or I feel like I need a small break from what I'm working on. Essentially, it involves creating entourage silhouettes that are used for scaling by the architects. 

The first set required silhouettes related to the Firehall. This is a great exercise because I must create unique silhouettes in the same style as their precedents and you really have to make sure they look like what they are. 

Last week I was briefly introduced to a project that I now have a bigger part in starting this week. I have been experimenting with patterns for the client and we are starting broad and narrowing in, so exploration is key and I learned that it’s important to apply to mock-ups early to see how the design would look in real space. This project also involves making everything consistent, yet different for each version. 

I have been feeling super-efficient working at hcma because the office is such a wonderful and productive environment and I’m so excited for these projects to develop and learn much more!