Jaan Sarapuu went to Macau for an internship. We talked to Jaan about what led to this choice and what experiences did Macau have to offer.

As part of our this year’s International Internship Programme for design service providers, Jaan Sarapuu, a freelance graphic designer and owner of a design company, went to Macau to intern at the Untitled Macao design agency. We talked to Jaan about what led to his choice, what experiences Macau had to offer, and why design award competitions are important.

Macau, with its political and economic system, is one of the Chinese Special Administrative Regions. Why exactly did you choose Macau?

I initially contacted 15 design service companies and received a reply from three of them. I shortlisted one hippie-artsy group from Korea and an agency in Macau, specifically, the Untitled Macao design agency. Their fascinating location and interesting works made the choice easy.

Macau’s architecture, as Macau is a former Portuguese colony, resembles our familiar European architecture. It sits somewhere between the world's biggest casinos and a stagnant, sooty suburb. In the latter, you'll find possibly the best food in southern China. The place was perhaps most reminiscent of Batumi, where utter poverty serves the gambling of the rich. It is a city whose casinos have a turnover five times the size of the ones in Las Vegas.

Aesthetically, the urge to look Western was evident, be it in noticing the more aspirational graphic design or even simply looking around in some of the more middle-class areas. On the posters, you could spot the same trends that we have here – Pinterest boards in interior design, halogen lamps hanging.

It is also a very interesting region from a geopolitical point of view, and it is certainly more China-oriented than Hong Kong. The people are extremely friendly, and this goes for the whole area.

Who is the designer you went to?

Untitled Macao is a small design agency based around one person – Au Chon Hin. His style is distinctive, illustration-centric, and resembling naivism – in a good way. I find it very cool that a designer from the coast of China, from Macau, works for big firms such as Apple and Adobe. On top of that, he's on the NY ADC Annual Awards jury, has won D&AD pencils, etc. And, unlike many, he has acquired his education locally, not in Europe or the US.

The rest of the people in the office were either technical staff or project and production managers, five people in total. Printing is an essential part of graphic design there, but the quality is very good. There was very little web production.

How did you come across this agency, and how were they willing to take on the role of host?

I was absolutely sure I wanted to intern somewhere in Asia. I was looking for exciting places through the usual channels such as Behance and Instagram, but also through local design awards competitions. I was more interested in smaller, self-made designers with distinctive styles rather than bigger agencies.

I presented a very specific offer – I come to you, and together we’ll make a webpage for you. I believe this is also something that helped me receive replies from the agencies I contacted. The offer was possibly a little more appealing since I was able to offer not only design but also development. I would recommend a similar approach to prospective internship seekers - offer something specific and concrete.

How was the cooperation? Did you get the website up and running in those four weeks?

In the beginning, much time was spent getting settled in and familiar with what to do, how, and with whom to do it. The language barrier was quite noticeable since only a few people spoke English. Regardless, I worked the whole period, creating smaller websites and proposing different solutions and variations. The cooperation was fun; I got to experiment with my skills, and they got to see what was possible in the field. They had little to no experience with web design and development, which, in a way, made the whole experience more interesting for both parties.

In conclusion, how do you find this internship experience?

All in all, it was a very unique experience. It was cool that I was given enough freedom to be able to put the whole thing together for myself without major restrictions. Actually working in a foreign place with its own cultural space offers a very different experience and possibilities compared to just visiting the place as a tourist.

Additionally, the internship resulted in me making many good contacts with whom to cooperate in the future or just meet up with, should I find myself in Macau again. It was an enriching and satisfactory experience!

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The programme – coordinated by the Estonian Design Centre and supported by the Cohesion Fund of the European Commission – allows Estonian designers who work in a design agency to intern at a foreign design agency (for 4-6 weeks). The aim of the programme is that the designers who belong to the Estonian Design Agencies Network would gain experience working in international teams, expand their network of contacts, learn more about how design agencies work in other countries and that they would spread and introduce the Estonian design language to the rest of the world.

More information can be found here.