Brisbane TDKtuesdays March 2020 - IWD Panel
Years after graduating from graphic design school, I finally made it to my first #TDKTuesdays in Brisbane! And I found it super insightful. In line with the International Women's Day theme, three female designers shared their journey of where they started, what they did, and where they're up to today. Here’s my quick recap of the evening at Assembly Creative Coworking.
The panel:
Stephanie Don of St. Clement Creative
Jessie Hughes of Jessie Hughes
Louise Crozier of Louise Crozier Design
and panel host Chloe Anna
The panel, from left to right: Chloe (host), Stephanie, Jessie and Louise
I took away so many gems (SO MANY!) from the evening, but in the interest of blog length, I’ll share just a few.
From Stephanie: Reach out. When Stephanie first started her freelance journey, she got in touch with a number of people; specifically, those in the health and wellness space - a space that Stephanie has a personal interest in herself - to talk about opportunities to work together. A few of them got on board, and Stephanie’s built and grown her business from there. It encouraged me to push beyond my comfort zone and not be afraid to make connections.
From Jessie: Apply for scholarships! Jessie is an amazing ball of energy - it comes through in her voice and body language. Her story is inspirational: she’s travelled quite a fair bit, after winning a number of overseas grants and scholarships. Her advice (and very strong encouragement) is for others to do the same. There are funding opportunities available for those in the arts, you just have to go and look for it and apply, because you never know what might come of it - you might even be heading to Harvard (which is what Jessie will do in a few months. From winning a scholarship!)
From Louise: The benefits of a co-working space, and do what you love. I enjoyed hearing Louise’s story, because I love hearing how people turn a tricky situation into a good one. She shared that she took a leap from a stable job to start a Brisbane branch of a studio at a co-working space. Unfortunately that didn’t work out, with the studio deciding to back away from their Brisbane venture. However, Louise decided to stay on the same premises that the original studio was based from, launched her own freelance career, and is still going strong today. A big part of her success is the connections she made while working in said co-working space (Prospect Studios). Also, Louise shared that she loves working with start ups and helping them with their branding. Although start ups don’t often have the budget that bigger corporates do, she does what she does as she loves the creative processes involved. It made me think about why I do what I do, and also reassured me that it’s okay to work on smaller creative projects that I derive joy from.
At the Q&A, I asked the panel a question: Can you share a hiccup in your design journey, and how did you turn that into a positive? I personally found it encouraging to see the human side of freelance designers (hey, everyone struggles now and then!), and how challenges CAN be overcome.
What I learned from:
Stephanie: Know your capabilities. Stephanie shared a story where she agreed to do convert a PDF to a certain e-book format, but couldn’t quite make it happen. Turns out it was a tricky thing to do - the other designers that inherited the project couldn’t do it either! I’ve personally experienced something similar a few years back - I agreed to design a special e-signature but I had no idea how to code it into HTML so that each individual slice links to a particular URL. At the beginning, it can be difficult to say no when you’re trying to build design experience. But it’s OK to turn down jobs - better not to overpromise!
Jessie: Ask yourself - why are you doing something if it doesn’t make you happy? However, if you find yourself in a situation where you’re not happy, try to find a way to be happy. For various reasons, Jessie didn’t have a particularly good time working on a project in a particular overseas country (which shall be unnamed - I personally love that region of that country!) What she learned was that she could have found a way to make it more enjoyable - perhaps working remotely in a part of the country she did enjoy.
Louise: It’s important to schedule work. Sometimes a lot of projects come in and you feel like you want to do it ALL. But if you’re just one person, you’re only capable of so much. Plan ahead so you can get a better picture if you’re able to take on the job, or if you’ll need to give people a heads up that you’ll need more time, so you don’t burn out rushing through everything.
Super grateful to have attended the evening and I’m looking forward to attending more in the future!
For more details on TDK Tuesdays, go here.