Formdusche // Praktikumsbericht

Video

Internship Report

My name is Sofia Ribadeneira, and I want to tell you about my internship experience at Formdusche. Which I completed on my 9th semester, the winter semester of 2023 to 2024.

About the Studio: Formdusche, is a design studio based in Berlin that collaborates with partners in culture, art, and theater. They provide comprehensive solutions in branding, creative concepts, magazine, book design, typography, illustration, screen, and web design. Their holistic approach ensures impactful results.

Among their clients you will find The hessische Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Internationale Maifestspiele, Oper Leipzig, Oper Köln, Theater Berlin, Theater Aachen, deutscher Designer Club, Anderseits Magazine and Dreiklang magazine to name a few.

Why formdusche?

Next to their amazing portfolio, I found their values and passion inspiring and outstanding in their work.

Team: The origami action heroes

Svenja von Döhlen and Steffen Wierer founded the studio in 2004. Tim Finke joined the team just one year later, followed by Timo Hummel in 2007. Together, these leaders maintain and direct the studio. Katharina Wagner and Anne Mauer ensure everything and everyone stays organized, while Tamara expertly manages all the financial aspects. The rest of the team forms the design force that makes completing all the projects possible. Tim was my main supervisor, while the others occasionally assigned me tasks.

Internship Experience

Projects:

I started my internship with a little test: designing a booklet using limited typefaces and colors for the hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. After that, I worked on booklets and flyers for Theater Aachen and GRIPS Theater, where I also had to come up with cover motifs for a new theatre piece called Princess. Each assignment had its unique visual identity, layout, and guidelines. Regular feedback and iteration helped me learn from my mistakes.

With the help of Midjourney, we developed motifs for the Oper Leipzig and later also for the International Maifestspiele. This later project gave me a general idea of how a bigger project is planned and conceptualized while giving me an insight into project management and presentation. Another example of a big project I worked on was the visual identity for the Göttinnen & Gattinnen museum exhibition.

Progression and Adaptation:

After three months, I became accustomed to the work rhythm and proactively sought additional assignments to practice my skills and write down new questions for my coworkers and bosses. Real-life examples helped me define my learning directions and interests more clearly. I wish I had asked for a greater variety of assignments instead of sticking to familiar tasks. Nonetheless, working on similar formats allowed me to recognize and correct common mistakes, enhancing my awareness for future projects.

Tools and Techniques:

Next to using email to communicate with the clients, we used the Monday app for task delegation and Slack for communication within the team. I look forward to implementing these tools in my future group projects. Learning and properly using Midjourney was challenging in the beginning but rewarding the more you experimented with it.

Pros:

The internship provided opportunities to engage in diverse projects and receive constructive feedback. I learned a lot.
My colleagues explained things to me clearly and often.
A fun initiative were the “Frische Fisch” Wednesdays, where we would show each other inspiration or useful tools.
I received a fair compensation of 550 euros, and a surprise Christmas bonus. I’m really grateful for the lunch invitations and being able to spend it together.
The office dog also helped me in stressful moments.

Cons:

The long travel distance, which for me was between 1:30 and 2 hours
The cultural differences made me feel isolated
I failed to set clear learning goals, which resulted in moments of uncertainty and feeling lost.
I struggled with imposter syndrome and didn’t know how to deal with it.
I was expecting more guidance and more advice when I was struggling.
I feel like I could have learned more.

What I Could Have Done Better:

I should have set clear learning goals by defining specific areas of interest and asking more questions to clarify expectations. Improving communication and overcoming cultural differences would have helped me engage more actively. And addressing the feeling of being an outsider by seeking better integration into the company culture.

Fazit

Even when I wished some things had been different I am taking this as a learning experience for the future.

Emotionally, I know now that it is very important for me to feel comfortable and close to my team. Being able to bounce ideas and inspire each other with a lot of feedback.

On the technical side, I noticed that I want to work more with my hands, crafting physical things and not focusing only on digital projects. I need to pay more attention to details and make time to explore all the tools in my programs. There is still so much I don’t know and this experience showed me a couple of directions to start my research.

Thank you Formdusche for this experience! And thank you for staying till the end.