How did you first get into the industry?
It has been a really long road. I always wanted to be a graphic designer, ever since I was little. My studies were taking me in this direction, but life has a way of changing your direction. I was an IT consultant for a long long time, and then by pure luck I got the chance to present in a meeting and designed my own slide deck.
Since then I designed every deck I ever presented and also started to make videos that would accompany the presentations. I was trying to find a creative outlet in places where there traditionally were none. It worked and I didn’t stop to question it.
Where are you based now and who do you work for?
I am originally from Manchester in the UK but moved to South Africa with my family back in 2012. I have been with the enterprise business software company SAP since 2014 and it was here that I carved out a career path as a Multidisciplinary Designer.
What is your personal background and what role did it play in your career?
Wowsers. You ask some big questions. Well I grew up in a small village, in a smallish town, in a bigger city. Have always been fascinated by art and design and would seek out as much as possible, be it movie posters, album covers, and had a more than passing interest in photography as we were able to develop our own negatives and pictures at school.
Despite career paths and life happenings, the excitement for design never left, it only got stored away for when I would eventually be able to let it out. And when I finally did it just clicked, and I have been running with it ever since. There was a lot of hard work that I hadn’t realised I had done prior to this role. From designing and building websites for people, to flyers and presentations as a side hustle, it all adds up and it’s all good work to have in your bag.
I have been lucky in the role I am in now to have a huge amount of both freedom (and constraint) on the projects I get to work on and the people I get to work with. The main point I take away is hard work. It is hard work being creative. Especially in an environment where no two projects are the same and you must push your skills and not stay static.
If you weren’t in your current industry, what would you be doing?
Trying to get into the industry. Which I am in some way as I am trying to get my freelance career off the ground. I have been so nervous for so long that it was holding me back from even doing something as simple as making a profile on CreativePool. So that or trying to be a professional drummer. Something which is way harder than I had anticipated.
Can you explain your creative process? What makes it unique?
I was going to ‘Bruce Lee’ this question and say that having no process is my process, but that would sound ridiculous. The process I go through typically is meeting with the client and hearing them out, get the details and requirements down, understand the timescales and then I work backwards.
In this role the delivery date is literally the one thing I ask right at the start. I typically have between 4-8 projects running concurrently over a 4-6 week period, and having a deadline date is the most important factor when determining what can be done in the timeframe. It is nice when you have a project that has a deadline of 3 or more weeks as you can really get into it and propose some rather ridiculous ideas, such as a full on stage production (yes, and with singing), or you get the chance to push your own limits and use a new piece of design tech like AR.
But the one thing I do that I guess would count as unique is that I strive to always do one thing different on every project. That could be adding a new type of interaction to a website, or doing things I may not have done before such as using rotoscoping in a video production, writing poetry for scripts, writing and recording a song for a customer, or even just little things to set the current project apart from the last. That and the rather intangible aspect of ‘soul’. I would like to think that my work has a soul to it that it there because of me.
How would you describe your style?
I would probably use the word ‘honest’ to describe my style, and then add the phrase ‘ask for forgiveness rather than permission’ as a tagline. What I have noticed in looking back at my work, is that whilst it may not technically be the best from a pure ‘did you use a grid system’, or ‘this is how we were taught it at design school’ perspective, the work has soul, a Mat Made This’ feeling to it.
Which individuals do you gain inspiration from? Do you have any heroes in the industry?
Every designer is a hero in this industry.
It is such a tough industry to be in. I count myself very blessed and fortunate to be in the role I am in.
What tips would you give to aspiring creatives looking for work?
Sort out your portfolio. It took me such a long time to pluck up the courage to do this. I was comparing myself to everyone else and I had to get over that. When I realised that it is ok to not be the greatest designer in the world (whatever that actually means), but to have pride in what you have done, the rest gets easier. Show off your work, talk about it, and if you want to get better, work your strengths.
What tips would you give to other professionals to get more clients?
Keep your promises. Don’t fear what you don’t yet understand. Go and find the answers. Be brave and get your work out there. Someone will like your style and want to work with you. Have confidence in your direction – clients often have a pre-conceived idea of what they want, and it is your job to understand what might get in the way of that and provide solutions.
I am hoping that the community to give me some advice on that as I am only now taking the first steps out there in the big wide world of freelancing and promoting my design services.
What kind of tools/kit/software could you not do without?
Adobe Creative Suite. A Macbook or Mac Mini. And a constant stream of music.
What’s your secret to staying inspired and motivated?
I find inspiration in wandering through second hand bookshops and picking up old or put print books on design. There are some amazing finds to be found. Motivation is easier when you are busy. In the slower times I find that just making design pieces keeps focus and always learning something new and interesting. Having curiosity is a good motivator.
What’s the work achievement you’re most proud of?
It was a piece of work I did a couple of year ago when we were in lockdown. The team wanted something but weren’t sure what they wanted. I created an end to end engagement that would have several interaction points with the customer, but the biggest idea was to create a musical stage production video containing three different versions of myself playing different characters in a song. It was ridiculous and a huge amount of fun.
I had to write the alternative lyrics to the song, design the stage, record the vocals, film the production, and then composite it all together. It still stands up now as the energy of it is really cool, even if my skills were not at the level I was after. Learnt a huge amount and it’s still referenced in the company today.
What is the one thing that you would change about the industry?
Everyone loves a good piece of design but are sometimes not prepared for the work that has to be put in to get it. The projects I work on are often time restrictive and they need collaboration at the highest level. For example, one project could be to create a landing page for a customer event. It is thought that the designer can magically make it up within a couple of days. But when you ask the team with the knowledge to provide the content it is met with a look of surprise.
My approach is to work out the context of the design, that way everyone buys in to the work that has to be done. It’s like asking a coder to copy and paste their code, when you know full well that it doesn’t work that way. If there was one thing I would change it would be to have a better understanding of the work involved in making a piece of design and that there is team effort involved.
Any websites, books or resources you would recommend?
For books, I would recommend touring second hand bookshops. For websites, there’s so many. My favourites for browsing design related topics are Behance, Pinterest, designresourc.es. Other than those check out Corridor Crew.
