It’s been a busy few months in the studio, so busy in fact that we’ve barely had time to talk about the newest member of our team. T—PW were kind enough to let me in through their doors roughly a year ago, and I managed to stick around as a placement for about three months. Being straight out of education meant that working on live projects prepared me for the bits often glossed over by those new to the industry.
Fresh and hungry, I had set my sights on the city of Manchester, a place where I could gain an understanding in the variety of ways that design studios work.
Modern Designers is the first on my list, it’s where I spent two months working within their small knit team of collaborative individuals. During my time I was gifted with a chance to work on BBC Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2017/17 season, and Decca Classics’ Mozart 225th Anniversary Box set. My experiences were a mix of nerves, pressure and excitement, but as I said my goodbyes I knew that it had set me for my next position.
After an interview with the Creative Director of True North (an award-winning Manchester studio) I moved just one building across. Being able to see the ways in which a larger sized studio works, how they collaborate with strategists, copywriters, illustrators and photographers proved to be one of the most eye-opening periods of time for me as a young designer. I worked on my first city-wide campaign (for the Reclaim Project), as well for the Imperial War Museum, Discuss, the National Trust and Northern Quarter Greening.
It was thanks to my time with Spring Brand (during my placement year), T—PW, Modern Designers and True North that I really found confidence in my abilities as a designer, and after 6 months I made another move to the Creative Strategy team at Propaganda in Leeds. Being brand guardians for clients such as The Car People, Neal & Wolf and GHD, they made my time with the team one of pure joy, I really did learn so much. But after receiving a Job Offer from T—PW I made the decision to join the roster as a permanent member.
There were many reasons for this decision, I feel the studio is managed openly, where each person has their say, and it’s a real democracy for the way in which we work. I think this means that we can identify the needs of an individual client and shape our process accordingly, which allows the brands that we manage to be effective in a constantly changing environment.