Michael Laris, Design Manager Product innovation i Kompan A/S
Hvad får Kompan ud af at have praktikanter?
Honest work – we only give interns ‘real’ work, be it up front concept work or taking a product through to final design – AND new input, new eyes, fingers on the pulse of what is happing outside the office.
Hvad skal der til for at komme i betragtning som en potentiel praktikant hos Kompan?
A good attitude – positive, playful, committed, diligent, engaged – AND a certain level of quality and seriousness in ones work
Hvordan søger man en praktikplads hos Kompan?
We have be very bad at posting intern positions at the various schools, so usually it works that a student contacts KOMPAN and that contact makes it to me where after we have a meeting to get to know each other and see if the ‘chemistry’ is in place for both students and myself.
Hvad får praktikanten ud af at være i praktik hos Kompan?
In our Innovation department, students don’t just draw up someone else’s design. Students, come with their own concepts, develop their own designs, build their own 1:10 and 1:1 models, go to meetings and photo shoots; all this in cooperation with a multi-disciplined team of child play experts, engineers, CAD designers, safety specialist, the marketing team and production coordinators - some real design experience in a world wide company that produce a ‘fun’ type of product but also a product that must meet high safety standards, low maintenance demands, the best pedagogical functions, and innovative design.
Hvad kan en praktikant bidrage med under et praktikforløb hos Kompan?
The same as I can except they don’t have to bare the same responsibility plus several students have gone on to work with us in their Thesis Project and/or be hired later as consultant designers.
Marieke Amalieh Bülow, designstuderende på Designskolen Kolding i 2008.
Marieke Amalieh Bülow hørte om praktikpladsen hos Kompan i gennem en ven og søgte den
Did you enter some sort of collaboration or contract with the company regarding your traineeship and your learning goals?
I had a leave of absence from Designskolen Kolding and had the chance to get a paid traineeship at Kompan. It was great since I didn’t receive anything from the State Education Fund during my leave.
What have you gained from your traineeship?
Michael (my superior) gave me full responsibility for a task where I had to organise and control the process completely on my own. It was a great learning experience to try it all on my own.
What were your expectations of the traineeship? Have they been met?
My expectations were that I would learn something about design processes and how it is to be a designer at a manufacturing company compared to a design consultancy company. At Kompan I got a lot of new perspectives on the demands that companies’ place on a designer.
Which design and innovation projects did you get to work with during your traineeship?
I worked with a recap of all the company’s developing projects along with a presentation of the recap. I also helped develop and facilitate a user workshop.
What was your contribution to the projects that you were involved in?
I guess I was kind of a producing project manager. I had the daily responsibility for the project and had to design it and develop it on my own.
Do you still keep contact with Kompan?
Yes, I still have contact with them now and then. Among other things I've done some freelancing for them in their marketing department.