Natálie's Blast in Brighton

Natálie Tlustošová is from the

Czech Republic and has spent a

month living in Brighton working

for a magazine as a graphic artist. She tells us about her experience

in her work placement and how it's been to live in the quintessential seaside town!

What are you doing in your internship?

I’ve been working at BN1 magazine and Photo Atelier with Paul Noble. I’ve been given lots of variety of tasks at my workplace; I start at 10am each day, preparing my laptop and then

asking for my assignment for that day. On a typical day, this might be to re-design product advertisements. I usually use two programs: Adobe Illustrator for graphics, and Adobe Photoshop to edit photos. At about 1 o clock we have a break for lunch, then we usually work on a different project in the afternoon – this will be something like working on a design for the Magazine’s website or helping design a web article. At the end of the working day, we send our finished work to Chief Editor Chris, and that’s the end of the workload for that day!

Why did you want to do this internship?

It was an opportunity to try to use my knowledge from school in practice, in a professional place. I think this is really important! On top of this, the fact that the placement is in England was a strong factor for me, as having a good level of a foreign language is always good.

How will help your plans for the future?

I think it will be beneficial for college applications in the near future. And for me it’s great to have a chance to know what working as a graphic artist in a magazine is all about.

What are you enjoying about your experience?

Brighton is a bigger city than I am used to since I'm from a village, so I can finally try living life to the full in the city. Plus, it's great to be somewhere where you have more than one small supermarket! I love living by the sea, and I love travelling on the double-decker buses here – they are so spacious and you always have an interesting view.

Do you have a favourite thing about Brighton?

The seaside is wonderful. I also love to treat myself to unhealthy (but delicious) food in the town and on the pier, and explore the shops. There are so many interesting and quirky boutiques in Brighton – the people here have a real passion for fashion.

What is one interesting thing you've learned about living in Britain?

People do not have lunch as a main meal here. They have only a sandwich, and the main meal for them is dinner - which is usually quite late, around 19:00. It's the opposite to how we do it in the Czech Republic where lunch is definitely the biggest meal of the day.

What advice would you would give to people thinking of doing these internships in the future?

Watch out for the seagulls, because when they see you have a sandwich in your hand, they will attack you mercilessly!!