A day in the life: a senior designer at COLLINS

Emily Sneddon headshot
(Image credit: Emily Sneddon)

Split between New York and San Francisco, COLLINS is one of the world's leading design agencies, and won three Brand Impact Awards in 2022. To find out more about the agency and discover what it's really like to work there, we spoke to senior designer Emily Sneddon, who told us all about her favourite recent project, why you should question the things you think you want, as well as her dream client.

What's a typical day at COLLINS like?

I walk into our San Francisco office, and I’m met with music I’ve never heard before. Today it’s Andrew Wasylyk – perfectly matching the mood of the fog outside. Farbod Kokabi (amongst everything else) is masterful at vibe setting at the studio. Slack knocks with a message from Astrid Stavro – she’s sent me a design reference that I’ve never seen. It’s by Anita Klinz and, before long, I’m deep in a beautiful rabbit hole of fresh inspiration. 

Later, on Zoom with the team, Sharon Park is sharing mind blowing design sketches that open new pathways within the project. As we build ideas into a presentation, L.A. Corrall untangles the most complex ideas, rationalising them as though there could be no other solution. 

These are mere moments from one day at COLLINS, the only thing typical being that every day I bear witness to the imagination and brilliance from those around me.

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Rosie Hilder

Rosie Hilder is Creative Bloq's Deputy Editor. After beginning her career in journalism in Argentina – where she worked as Deputy Editor of Time Out Buenos Aires – she moved back to the UK and joined Future Plc in 2016. Since then, she's worked as Operations Editor on magazines including Computer Arts, 3D World and Paint & Draw and Mac|Life. In 2018, she joined Creative Bloq, where she now assists with the daily management of the site, including growing the site's reach, getting involved in events, such as judging the Brand Impact Awards, and helping make sure our content serves the reader as best it can.