We get the chance to chat Rachel Peck, Sydney based illustrator who finished her studies at Billy Blue and was on our 15 designers to watch in 2015 list. We find out why Rachel made the switch from fine art to design and where she searches for inspiration!
When did you fall in love with design and how did you get started?
Funnily enough I fell in love with design while I was studying fine art. I really love illustration and was trying to pursue it at art school, but taking classes where teachers posed questions like “is illustration even art?” made me pretty disheartened. The most fun I had on a project was volunteering to design a poster for a student art show. That made me realise that I was attracted to design more than conceptual art. Soon after I made moves to switch over to design school and my love for it just grew!
Whats the big goal in the next five years?
That’s a tough one. Probably to build up an amazing portfolio and hopefully establish myself with enough clientele to maintain doing freelance illustrative work, which will hopefully lead me to work with some big names. I’ve also always had the dream of applying my work to products in some way whether it be through textiles, clothing or home wares. In my mind this all happens with my little son ‘Toadfish’ the Italian greyhound, sleeping peacefully on my lap.
Whats your take on internships? Did you do any? and do you take interns now?
I am definitely pro internship. I’ve had my fair share of them and I learnt something from all of them, even the really bad ones. Each internship got me closer to realizing what I wanted to do and how to get there. Also they can set you up with lots of valuable contacts, and look pretty schmick on your resume too.
What advice would you give students starting out?
Stay Inspired! – I think that the only thing that kept me truly motivated at uni. Be organised- apply this to every aspect of your creative process. organise your time, organise your desktop (in both physical and computer realms) , even organize your inspiration by putting images in labeled folders…changed my life. Get yo ass to Class- This is something I learnt the hard way by missing some of my first year classes. The information and advice you get from your teachers is invaluable; they know what they are talking about and you would be surprised how far they will go to help you out.
Stay Inspired! I think that the only thing that kept me truly motivated at uni. Be organised; apply this to every aspect of your creative process. Organise your time, organise your desktop, even organise your inspiration by putting images in labeled folders…changed my life.
Where do you gather inspiration, on and off the web?
I have a few golden oldies that I always seem to return to for inspiration. Illustrators like McBess, Natali Koromoto and Andy Rementer. I also like to look at design studios like built by civilization, brands like Lazy Oaf, and stylists like Dom Sebastian. I try not to get stuck in that continuous scroll of online content whether its on pinterest, tumblr or behance. If I do find something on that platform that really inspires me, I always make the effort to look deeper- Find out the designers name or studio, and check out their website and other projects…cos hunny that’s when you find the real gold.
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