What I thought of the SPD alumni talks
Recently we have had the opportunity to hear from graduates of Surface Pattern Design and find out what they have been doing since graduating university in the past few years. It was interesting to see how, even though they had all graduated from the same uni with the same degree, they had all taken their own unique career paths and had all experienced different work environments.
The speaker who took my attention the most was Ciara Long (http://www.ciaralong.co.uk/). Firstly her work caught my eye because it is so colourful and fun and stood out against the other graduates work which was maybe a bit more mainstream.
It was really insightful to hear her speak about the different placements she had experienced leading up to her current work as a freelance designer for Moon Pig, Hallmark and Lemon Ribbon. I hadn't really considered freelance design before, as I've always leaned towards starting my own brand/enterprise, but Ciara made it sound like an interesting and rewarding career path where you don't have to sacrifice your integrity or individuality, like you may have to if you wanted to design as part of a big brand or company.
Comparing Ciara Long to Charlotte Field (https://www.instagram.com/charlottef37/?hl=en), I realised that working for a design house or a supplier doesn't really appeal to me at all, partly because of how Charlotte described the journey to her job now (it sounded really lengthy and like there wasn't an equal payoff to the amount of work she'd done) and partly because the brand she was designing for kind of looked like every other brand on the high street currently. I think that's a viable option if you love designing very commercial prints (florals, stripes etc.), but if you're more on the art/conceptual side of things like me, maybe not. In saying this, I do really admire Charlotte's resilience and how she kept looking and going for what she wanted until she got it. Also, she mentioned that if you apply for a job you want and don't get it, it's good to e-mail and ask the company for feedback or even an internship which I thought was a really good tip.
Both Ciara and Charlotte mentioned exhibiting at new designers which I hadn't particularly considered before, but I now realise that it could be crucial to getting my future brand/enterprise out there and off the ground.
Overall, I took from the talks that it is important to be resilient and not give up and that I don't want to work for a high street/mainstream brand.
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