How did I get here?

Love what you do and you never have to work a day in your life.

— Gavin Kirby, Graphic Design lecturer, UWTSD.

Firsts. Daunting, ambiguous and sometimes scary. I never wanted to be in school, the only reason to go was to see friends. Yet I found my first love at school, so quick I almost missed it. Armed with a tendency to ignore the things around me, I was asked what I wanted to do with my life. Daunting. A question I’d always answered off the cuff. Policeman, Pilot, Astronomer. All careers I had no real intention of putting the work in to achieve, and I knew this. Ambiguity. What even is the future? I live in the present and it’s awesome, playing football and video games with my pals. Doing stupid things together. Scary. Am I going to get stuck with a career in life that doesn’t give me gratification or a menial dead-end job? Enter, my first (and continued) love.

Graphic Design. Damn it was cool. I could do crazy stuff on the computer, photoshop dumb pictures of me and my friends. Create whatever my imagination threw out. Is it a career though? School’s about to end and my parents are trying to push me towards a trade, like carpentry or plumbing. “You can’t have a career doing art”. Ok, mum and dad. Applied for university the same day. I got accepted into a graphic design program at Swansea Metropolitan University. I had to admit, it felt great to rebel and continue to do something I enjoyed. All I had to do was prove that ‘Art’ is a career I could get. Flash forward three years into the future. Boom Graphic design degree. Going from only being able to use photoshop at a basic level to being an Adobe bloody genius. Ready to begin my career?

I started my first design job before I’d been graded in my final year. I was the sole graphic designer at a small events management company. It felt so good that my hard work was paying off so soon and I was going to get paid for doing something I loved. Reality. This job hit me like a train. The deadlines were extreme, extra unpaid hours every week and crazy expectations on the daily. I’d like to think I took it like a champ. I learned to work hard and I learned to work FAST. Got another job after 6 months.

I was looking for something with more time for me to be creative. I was hired as the graphic designer for a College, in charge of an intern. The pace was a lot more manageable and they were taken aback at my quality and completion speed. I designed so many things that I’d never done before. Full published prospectuses, cartographic maps, architectural mock-ups, and more random and interesting things. It was a great three years. The nature of working for an education provider is that if you’re there long enough, you will have designed and re-designed the same things over and over. I knew I had to get out of this cycle and continue to grow and learn new things. Time to do something different. Traveling.

I decided that I needed to make the world my office instead of the four walls. My first stop was Camp America. Nothing super design-related happened but it was and will continue to be a huge source of inspiration. I found out exactly the kind of person I am and who I want to continue being. Meeting hundreds of people from different backgrounds with different stories made me realise how small I was. There is so much to learn out there. I needed to see more places and meet more people. I was so excited to ‘collect data’ and use it to make my design more expressive.

My next stop was New Zealand. As a Briton, it was super easy to get a working holiday visa and give it a go. I had no plan, just go, get any old job and explore the place. I didn’t think I would be lucky enough to work at a studio as there are so few in the country. I was lucky enough. I worked at an ultra-small, ultra-cool studio. I produced the best design I had made for so long. With the time, ability and surroundings to enable creative success. Working alongside cool, progressive brands that wanted bespoke solutions to complex and explosive briefs. I will always love New Zealand and that lovely little studio that helped me grow.

I continue my travels in New Zealand and the US and concluded with some brief time in Central America. Meeting fabulous and eccentric personalities along the way, imparting their wisdom. I’m so thankful for the experience and growth that I’ve received since graduation six years ago. A whole bunch of firsts with the daunting ambiguity that came with them. What’s next for me?

Present-day. I look back on my journey so far and to be honest I never want it to end. What can I take from it to propel me into the future with excitement and optimism? Well, I know that I don’t want to stand still at this moment. I want to continue honing my skill set and getting better at achieving my goals. A master’s degree was never a viable option for me. You mean I have to be stuck in one place for a whole year? I wonder if I could travel and attain an MA at the same time.