Yoke

If you were going to start your career what would you do differently?

I’d do more and say ‘yes’ more often. The people who you see achieving the most interesting and exciting careers in the creative industries, are the ones that go out there and make things happen for themselves. They start club nights, set up their own labels, make films and enter them into competitions. They learn, collaborate, participate, attend, support and initiate. I don’t believe in regrets, but if I were starting from scratch again, I’d work harder to bring more of the ideas I had to life, because you never know what will come of them.

When did you fall in love with design and how did you get started?

When I was growing up, every year I used to go to the degree show at Edinburgh College of Art. There was all this amazing art and design on display - pottery, jewellery, sculpture, mixed media, textiles. I used to wander around and visit every single room and just get totally lost in it all. Some of the students would sell their work, and on the last day they’d slash the prices to get rid of it, so you had all this amazing artwork going for next to nothing. I’d normally leave with at least five or six pieces of work rolled up under my arm.

Are you involved in any teaching and what do you think some of the issues are in the design industry that need fixing in 2015?

Yes, it’s a part of my job I really enjoy. I’ve mentored design students and regularly teach and present to those looking to break into the industry. In 2014 we started a hands-on design event series called A Brief Night where we open up the studio to groups of students, grads and junior designers. We set them a 90-minute design brief, they power up their laptops and the clock starts. The idea was to try and provide a taste of what it’s like to work in a real studio environment and I think the industry needs to do more to bridge that gap between education and industry. There’s a big difference between being a designer and working as a design professional.

What do you look for in a great portfolio?

For me, a great portfolio is full of bold, exciting and relevant design work. I like to see the thinking behind the work, not multiple sketches and variations of the one thing, but the creative route from inspiration to end result. For branding projects, I’m looking for knowledge of the breakdown of the brand, so detailing on colours, typefaces and identity systems. Then I like to see really thoughtful rollouts full of great ideas across print and production, messaging, marketing and strategy. It’s also important to have a commercial viability to your work. Conceptual, artistic pieces are good to see, but remember, you’re trying to land a job, so show your work can fill the requirements of the role, whatever they may be.