An EPIC introduction
Here’s a first week I was dreading: my debut at EPIC Agency, my first agency experience. EPIC is a digital agency born in 2009 “out of passion and creativity”, by Benoit, Morgan, Karim and Hugues. With over than twenty awards to their credit, the bar is high, just like my stress level.
I arrived out of nowhere on the first day. My internship tutor is Karim. He is the Creative Director of EPIC and introduces me to the two other designers of the team: Wenzhu and Long. He then presents me to the whole team: Benoit, Alexandre, Hugues, Luigi, Maxime, Daniele, Nicolas, Thierry, Carole, Céline and Sarah. The team, the atmosphere and the place are nice. There is nothing missing: drinks, snacks, table football, kitchen, … The stress evaporates little by little. It’s not that scary, in the end!
How it works ?
EPIC is not only an agency, it’s an attitude. You can feel it. I was briefly told about some important values within the organization:
Continuous learning
Be curious and thirsty to learn. The skills of the agency are updated by its 15 members, and nobody is stuck in a straitjacket. The best example to my eyes is the CodePen of Karim.
We are all equal
Be yourself an responsible. The opinion of everyone is taken into account, whatever the decision. Everyone has the same responsibility on the good functioning of the agency, and facing the customer.
You certainly are an exceptional being, and exceptionally human. You will do wonders, but also errors… sometimes. It does not matter because we all learn from our mistakes.
Team spirit and Scrum
Be agile and versatile. Projects are organized in small teams and sprints. Each project is managed by a Project Manager who composes a team with a few designers and some developers. Communication is the key to the success of the project, and everyone’s opinion matters just as much.
Move your ass
Be active and disruptor. Privileging the most comfortable solution is contrary to the rules. It is necessary to leave your zone of comfort, to consult your team, and never to be passive.
This is how we create digital wonders.
“Shoot for the moon!”
The first responsibilities.
Hardly arrived, I was assigned the mission of making a crowdfunding page, “on my own” — one is never alone at EPIC. The concept of this project is an artisanal production of dairy products. Based on the brand identity developed by Wenzhu, I tackled it for twenty-two hours and forty-five minutes — according to the internal tracking.
The result is already available online. The crowdfunding of La Crème des Malices is a great success. I am very proud to have contributed to the development of this local agriculture project. Armel & Mireille, both creators, are absolutely satisfied with the work done by EPIC.
On Wednesday, much of the team was leaving for a shoot and a dubbing recording for UPS. Yet, another ongoing project had to move forward. Alexandre, one of our Project Managers, gave me some feedback from one of our super EPIC customers on our latest design proposal. Based on this, he instructed me to match the current design of the homepage with the remarks.
The team is awaiting the opinion of the client before beginning integration by the front-end team. This is one of the final points of the project, so this sprint is over soon!
This week, I could not take part in the seemingly traditional FFF: Friday French Fries. It was a holiday. But the day before, I had the opportunity to work on editing a photo shoot for Crop Trust, an organization created by the UN. The retouched photos sample went to the customer, waiting for feedback.
This is just the beginning.
I really look forward to continuing this internship. I often find myself having to get out of my comfort zone for the projects I receive. I learn to better communicate in a team, and I learn to gauge my working time.
Ma curiosité est tellement en éveil. J’écoute toutes les conversations, qu’elles soient liées à mon projet ou non, qu’elles soient entre développeurs ou entre designers. Il se passe tellement de choses intéressantes à chaque instant. J’ai l’impression d’être un gamin au milieu d’un magasin de jouets.
My curiosity is so alert. I listen to all conversations. Whether related to my project or not, whether between developers or between designers. There are so many interesting things happening every moment. I feel like a kid in the middle of a toy store.
I’m feared, honestly. But how exciting it is!
Stay tuned: next report in English is coming in 2 weeks!
Le prochain article paraîtra en Français dans 1 semaine.
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Mathieu is a mutlidisciplinary designer. He’s Co-Founder & Visual Manager of NextRide. Also student at HEAJ — graduating in June ‘17, and Design Intern at EPIC Agency.
