After years in branding and marketing, Sarah Ellen felt a disconnect in her creative practice—her polished portfolio lacked personality. It wasn’t until returning to her MA in Visual Communication that she rediscovered collage as a deeply human, tactile medium.
Now based in Dorset, Sarah explores the emotional and intuitive possibilities of mixed media, guided by values of mindfulness, compassion, and imperfection. Her work is an ongoing study in how creativity can honour lived experience, rather than polish it out.
Can you tell us a little about your first few steps in your career. Was there a moment or experience when you realised this was what you'd do as a career?
There has never been a single moment or experience which triggered the realisation of what I want to do as a career. I find myself in a continuous, transient state of adjusting what I do within my creative practice, both personally and professionally, to become more aligned with an authentic response to my lived experiences. After graduating from Solent University with a BA in Graphic Web and Media Design, I spent a few years working in branding and marketing, creating visual communications for clients ranging from global brands to small family businesses.
While the work was technically strong, my portfolio felt stale, polished but impersonal. I had become overly reliant on digital tools, and that dependency was steering my creative choices. This dependency sparked in me a renewed interest in how I could integrate a human touch and make it central to my creative practice. I was fortunate to explore this curiosity during my return to Solent University for an MA in Visual Communication (2022–2024), where I gave myself permission to go back to basics. I returned to collage as a medium, drawn to its tactile, intuitive nature and its ability to unlock the subconscious.
During my bachelors degree, collage was something I didn’t value and actively resisted, but that initial resistance made me curious about my earlier biases. My final MA project, Emotional Intimacy & Mixed Media Collage, became a self-study into how artistic practice can serve as a tool for emotional exploration and connection. Collage gave me a way to make sense of complexity. I started piecing together fragments of thought, feeling, and memory — like making sense of myself on the page. It became a space for self-honouring, vulnerability, play, embracing uniqueness, and holding contradictions.
Over time, I realised: creativity isn’t just about making things. It’s about paying attention. It’s about listening. It’s about feeling. It’s about being human. There’s a necessity to use a name to describe what I do, but I hold that very lightly.
What lessons from your career have most shaped your style and approach?
I’m a recovering perfectionist. That has radically shaped my style and approach. I’m now much more interested in a hybrid relationship with technology—I’m happy to leave the perfectionistic qualities to robots, because that kind of precision isn’t human. This lesson has gifted me a more joyful and freeing way of creating. I embrace the messy, the raw, the primal act of tearing and piecing paper together. And if I choose to bring digital tools into a project, I know it started by hand—which is now central to how I work.
Tell us about the core values or philosophies that guide your creative practice.
My creative practice is shaped by the same values that guide how I live. Yoga has been a big influence, not just the physical practice, but the philosophy behind it. Values such as mindfulness, discipline, compassion, and detachment show up in how I approach my work. Collage, like yoga, asks me to be present. To slow down. To work with what’s in front of me, and to stay connected to what’s happening internally. It’s helped me shift from controlling outcomes to trusting the process. I’ve learned to let go of needing external approval, to build consistency, and to treat the work with care and curiosity. These values aren’t just ideas, they shape my day-to-day choices. I don’t separate how I live from how I create. Both are about paying attention, staying honest, and showing up.
What needs to change, so emerging and under-represented creative professionals have more opportunity, are seen and heard?
There’s no doubt that systems need to change, as institutions, funding structures, and gatekeepers still overlook and exclude many emerging and under-represented creatives. But I also believe part of the shift starts within the maker. As creatives, we need to take responsibility for consistently putting our work out there, even when it feels vulnerable or imperfect. Visibility isn’t always about waiting to be invited in, it’s about building your own table to feast at and showing up again and again in the spaces you already have access to. It’s about sharing before you feel ‘ready’ and trusting that your perspective matters. The more we make, share, and support each other’s work, the harder we become to ignore.
How important is it that creative professionals find their unique voice?
It’s imperative, especially now. The more grounded we are in our own unique creative practices, the less likely we are to be pulled off course by noise, trends, or the pressure to conform. In a world full of content, algorithms, and comparison, originality comes from clarity — from knowing who you are, enjoying what you do, and appreciating how only you can do it. And if we’re not sure yet, that’s okay. We must grant ourselves the patience and time to figure it out.
Looking ahead, what do you think are the key factors that will influence change for creative professionals?
Looking ahead, I think the key factors driving change for creative professionals will be technology, authenticity, and community. Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, and while it can be overwhelming, it also offers opportunities for experimentation and pushing boundaries in new ways. AI, for example, will likely change how we create, but it also has the potential to free us up to focus more on the human aspects of creativity — the intuition, emotion, and vulnerability that machines can’t replicate.
Another factor is the growing demand for authenticity. Audiences are increasingly seeking genuine, meaningful connections with the work they engage with, and that means creative professionals will need to be more transparent and self-aware in their processes and the stories they tell.
Lastly, community and collaboration will play a big role. The creative industries are already moving towards a more collective approach, with independent creators supporting one another.
How much does your city influence your work?
Currently living in Dorset, UK has a subtle but significant influence on my work. Being surrounded by nature, from the quiet of the New Forest to the ever-changing rhythms of the local beaches, reminds me of the importance of being present. Nature has a way of slowing things down and offering space to reflect, which fuels my creative process. In contrast, I also enjoy traveling to fast-paced cities where the energy and constant movement offer a different kind of inspiration.
How much does your culture influence your work?
As someone from a white, middle-class British background, I grew up with the privilege of creative access but the quiet pressure to stay within the lines. My culture is shaped more by my family, both chosen and biological, than by tradition. Encouragement and criticism both played a role early on, but over time, we’ve grown in awareness. That shift gave me the freedom to explore, express difference, and embrace mess. My creative culture now is about authenticity over approval, play over performance, and making work that feels honest, not polished.
Tell us some of your favourite, creative professionals and inspiring places in your city!
This is an endless list.
Here are a few of my favourite artists: @davidcarsondesigner @jimmyturrell @wordsarevibrations @radim.malinic
What should emerging creative professionals keep in mind as they begin their design career?
Play every damn day, none of us are getting out of here alive! Thank you to The Design Kids!
—