UEL art students secure prestigious internships

Three students from the University of East London’s (UEL) Visual Arts cluster have completed much-prized internships at the advertising agency Mother, and at the production workshop of the Royal Opera House (ROH).

Camilla Serini and Nelson Miakouikila, who are both studying graphic design, won a competition to work at Mother. Jay Ho, a BA student in fine art, was taken on by the ROH. Ms Serini says her main interests are in branding and advertising, while Mr Miakouikila specialises in photography and videography. The students came together as a team to win a contest for a three-day internship at Mother, one of the country’s most dynamic agencies. They only had 30 minutes to come up with an advertisement for the grocery delivery service of Uber Eats, with their winning entry based around the concept of a Christmas meal that was missing key ingredients.  

Ms Serini said she thrilled to come up with a real-world project during the competition, 

You are sometimes so contained within the University that you don’t really know what to expect of your future roles. It was so hectic, competitive, and stimulating. It was amazing to get to know different creatives.

Mr Miakouikila was also delighted to have excelled in the competition. He said, “I am glad to have won with Camilla. I think we nailed the brief. The Mother internship gave me a clear vision of what I want to do next in my career and I made a lot of contacts for the professional world.”

The two competition winners visited every department in the company including the media, creative, producer, design and client teams. The company also offered the pair feedback on their portfolios. The contest was held as part of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s Advertising Unlocked project, an industry open day with a brief to explain the industry to new talent. UEL Senior Lecturer Alicia Hart tutored the students throughout the experience. She said, “Students were able to have talks with all the key departments such as the creative, production, strategy and accounts teams, with tours of the offices. I'm very grateful to the Mother London team for hosting this event with UEL and look forward to their future collaborations with our students.”