12 May 2022

Digital agency internships

We're pleased to announce that our summer internship programme has re-opened after a 2 year Covid induced hiatus.

We're committed to helping the next generation of digital superstars get a foothold in the industry so if you're thinking of applying please check out our careers page to see what's on offer.

We interviewed super-talented design student Léna Paleczny about her experience of moving over from l'Ecole de Design in France to join our Creative Team in London for her placement back in 2019, in a pre-Covid world.

We're looking forward to welcoming the next generation of digital superstars in 2022!

What made you want to work with us?

Since I only had work experience in a really small design agency in Nantes, I wanted to take advantage of this new 4-month internship to discover how a larger award winning agency works. It was also a way to work with a full team, from Project Managers to Developers.

I got really enthusiastic looking at Catch clients: Bodyshop, SES, Vistaprint. But what really made me want to send my resume was to see that they were carrying their own projects driven by the willing to design intuitive and user-friendly services.

What also made me want to work with Catch is the fun atmosphere. One of the biggest clichés about British people is their awful sense of humor. Then I discovered the Game of Thrones chatbot and I felt relieved: Catch took time to design a pop culture based service and even made it funny and useful.

What did you work on?

During those 4 months, I had the chance to work on a new SaaS product, including UI, UX and data visualization. I also worked for the world-leading satellite operator SES, re-designing a 3D platform to discover the coverage of SES satellites.

I was also trusted to add my creative touch to other projects like Bodyshop, Vistaprint, University of Salford.

What did you learn?

Because of the great diversity of projects I have worked on, I improved a lot of different skills like UI, a lot of UX, but also data visualization, interaction design, animations etc. The Catch team gave me the opportunity to present my work directly to clients, teaching me useful tips on how to go showcase my work.

As a French native, I also learned a lot about British culture and British daily expressions, we even created a collection of professional lingo.

What was it like being in the studio?

The team always makes your work days funnier, without giving up on efficiency. Friday catch ups are the best: you discover what everyone has been working on during the week, with some Prosecco and vinegar crisps.

What was the highlight?

The Christmas party of course! The Catch team never miss an opportunity to enjoy great food and handmade cocktails.

What’s next?

My year is going to be busy: I will continue my Master's degree working on Tangible Interfaces at l'Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique. After my studies, I am willing to begin my career as a UI/UX designer and work with teams as great and open-minded as Catch!

Related news and work

Econsultancy Top 100 Agency

20 Oct 2017

We’re proud to announce that we feature in Econsultancy’s Top 100 Digital Agencies Report

Digital agency London HQ

31 Jan 2019

The plans have been drawn, the contractors have been chosen, and the construction of our dream studio has started

Women in digital

18 Mar 2018

On International Women’s Day we took some time out to discuss what it means to be #WomenInDigital

17 May 2021

The React framework advantage

We’re big fans of React at Catch. But just what is React, and how do we use it?

React is a JavaScript library used in web development to build interactive elements on the web. The main advantage for end users is the fast interactivity they’re provided with, as there should be very little reload time when new data is presented on their screen. This, in turn, leads to a more positive user experience.

The React advantage for End Users

As you probably know, we’re Drupal experts. Whilst Drupal is an excellent CMS for general website usage, there comes a time when users want a bit more which is when we reach for React to build a ‘web app’ to sit on a page.

Think of Google Maps, for example. What a pain it would be if there was a noticeable page refresh (such as clicking on a link and waiting for the page to reload) each time you zoomed in or out or panned across the map. React helps eliminate this friction, allowing elements to quickly load on a page as the user interacts with them.

React makes it painless to create interactive UIs. Design simple views for each state in your application, and React will efficiently update and render just the right components when your data changes.

ReactJS.org

The React advantage for Developers

React is a JavaScript library that at a fundamental level is used to build many components each with their own independent ‘state’ that tells the component what to do. If you think of a button on a website as a component, the state might include the colour, the text (e.g. ‘Click Here’) and the URL (e.g. ‘https://www.catchdigital.com’). As you build out your React project with components, it allows you to avoid the time-intensive process of coding and testing over and over meaning you can build new features and scale your application.

Developers can reuse the button all over the web app and update the ‘state’ of each of these using ‘props’. The advantage to this is that every button on the site will look and behave in the same way. Of course, components will be much more complicated than just a button, and can do more than just take a user from one page to another.

Below are some helpful definitions to understand the terminology used when discussing React.

State - The current data that is within the component, any time this is updated and the state changes, a re-render will take place
Props - This is how information or data is passed from one component into another. For example if we reuse the button analogy where have colour, text and url managed in the state of the button, we could also have disabled as a state. If the button component is associated with a contact form, we could set the disabled state of the button to be true until all of the fields of the form are completed and then update the state of the button component using props

Developers are able to reuse tested code and know that it will stand up to stress.

The React advantage for our clients

We now know that React is a data driven tool, and allowing our clients to manage the content for a data driven API means we can treat Drupal as a headless CMS for the output of JSON in an API format. New content can be created in the same way new pages can be created. The same goes for content within each page, reducing what could be a time intensive process to update their site (or multiple sites from one data source).

Some examples of our use of React

From quickly adapting to what the user is looking for on the TV Guide on our Freeview web platform:

To helping students filter and book available accommodation in London via IQ Student Accommodation:

To helping global telecommunication company SES provide users with the ability to search for satellite footprint information using their “Our Coverage” tool within their existing Drupal solution:

Or providing the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) Members with a quick and easy way to view Adspend data in a graph that instantly updates as you change dates and add filters:

Catch is experienced in offering our clients effective solutions that take advantages of all the benefits of React.

If you're ready to start your journey and see how we can help you improve your connection with your audience through smart technology like React, don't hesitate to get in touch.