A talented Teesside University graduate is making her mark in the world of digital PR and marketing after excelling on an innovative internship scheme offered by the Innovate Tees Valley programme.
Elizabeth Hall works as a Junior Creative Animator and Illustrator at DTW, based in Guisborough, which last week was named as the North East’s Outstanding PR Consultancy at the prestigious Chartered Institute of Public Relations PRide awards.
After graduating with a BA (Hons) Creative Digital Media last year, Elizabeth, from Stockton, joined DTW on a Knowledge Exchange Internship and has since made herself an indispensable member of staff.
Innovate Tees Valley helps SMEs to do new things in their business and create and improve services, products and processes.
It is formed from a partnership of Teesside University, DigitalCity, Nepic and MPI with funding from the European Regional Development Fund.
Knowledge Exchange Internships (KEIs) provide talented graduates with internships of up to 12 months in companies looking to solve a particular problem or implement a specific project. The interns are able to draw upon the expertise of staff at the University to help them in their work.
DTW is a specialist PR and marketing agency that delivers innovative campaigns and support to organisations in both the public and private sector, as well as to member organisations, such as The Law Society.
It works work with a number of clients across the country, including the Northern Spire, Road Safety GB North East, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, Working Links, Wood Group, the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority and the Mersey Gateway Project.
Elizabeth’s role was created to help introduce bespoke 2D animation into DTW’s campaigns to provide a more professional and sophisticated approach.
Pete Whelan, Director of Film and Digital Engagement at DTW, said: “We had done a lot with video in the past and really wanted to explore 2D animation and try and keep it in-house. Elizabeth has been perfect for us.
“Through the Knowledge Exchange Internship, both Elizabeth and DTW receive a lot of support from the University and are able to tap into the skills and expertise of the staff there.
“Having Elizabeth here has certainly improved our ability to deliver exciting and innovative campaigns to clients. We have been extremely impressed and she has made herself an indispensable member of staff.”
Elizabeth added: “I have really enjoyed being at DTW, working on several projects and putting the skills I learnt on my degree course into practice.
“There is so much you can do with 2D animation and I feel like it has really brought some of the campaigns to life.”
Ellie Land, Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing, Media & the Arts, supervised the KEI and has provided academic input.
She said: “Since the project launched, DTW has been able to benefit considerably from the introduction of 2D animation.
“The Knowledge Exchange Internship has been extremely successful – providing Elizabeth with the opportunity to use her skills in a commercial environment. She has really hit the ground running and had a tremendous impact on some of the fantastic work which the agency was already doing.”
For more information on Innovate Tees Valley visit www.innovateteesvalley.co.uk