There is no one set way to get a job in design, especially in today's competitive creative industry.
Speaking at Saatchi & Saatchi's SXSW New Creators’ Showcase, chief creative officer Frankie Goodwin reflected on a career path that has taken her across multiple disciplines. “I went from being a designer, to an illustrator, to filmmaker to a CCO,” she said. “It is this kind of polymath, non-linear careers that we are seeing more and more in culture and in the submissions for the creator showcase.”
As design evolves, industry leaders and juniors advise newcomers to be proactive, create passion projects and embrace new skills and technology. See our piece on are junior design roles really disappearing? for more on entry level roles.
Spam the industry
VP of product design at Condé Nast, Nicola Ryan completed a year in industry while studying at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts. She credits a “huge amount” to what she learnt during that time.
“It taught me how to reach out to studios and practitioners even when there was no role advertised, helped me understand what people were actually looking for in portfolios and potential hires, and helped me figure out where my own value lay as a junior,” she says.
Her advice is to contact people working where you want to work. “Reach out and ask for ten minutes of their time, to share your portfolio, get honest feedback, and understand what they look for,” she urges.
Nicola adds that designers shouldn't be discouraged by a lack of responses. “The ones who do get back to you will give you information you can't get anywhere else, and it can prove pivotal,” she says.
That approach worked for Nu Goteh, founder of Room for Magic. As an undergraduate, he discovered a music, art and fashion event in Boston and decided he wanted to work there. “I emailed everyone on their website the same email. They called me and invited me in,” he says. The outreach led to a paid design and marketing internship.
“At the time, I had nothing to lose and more time on my hands to explore. So, I was willing to shoot my shot and could take rejection well. My boldness worked in my favour,” he says.
Now hiring junior designers himself, Nu says newcomers are expected to take on more responsibility and succeed by bringing additional skills. “It could be motion design, an interest in and understanding of editorial design and production, or new ways of using AI tools,” he says.
Technology also gives emerging designers more opportunities to showcase their work. “Create a speculative project and bring the world to life. Using your design to tell a full story and outline the process of how you got there can be aided by all the affordable tools and templates that weren’t as readily accessible before,” he says.
Clients get the interview, passion gets the job
Like Nicola, Rhonnie Bailey, a designer at Altavia.uk, began her career with a university placement. “Was it my absolute dream job? Not exactly. But it was an incredible foot in the door that let me learn the ropes and absorb everything on the job,” she says.
Alongside her studies, Rhonnie “actively hunted down” freelance projects. “Having that actual, real-world experience under my belt is 100% what gave me the edge and helped me land the job,” she says.
Working for clients including Waitrose, John Lewis, Amazon and Game helps secure interviews, but portfolios still need to stand out, Rhonnie says. “The creative that lands the best during the interview are the ones that show true variety, deep conceptual thinking, and a project I'm genuinely excited to talk about,” she says.
One such project was a complete brand guideline document for a specialty coffee company rebrand. “Projects like this are unique and prove I can handle a brand's entire ecosystem,” she says. “Plus, because I loved working on it so much, that authentic passion really comes through when I talk about it.”
‘Embellishing’ the CV
Daniel Cox, a graphic designer at Generator who cut his teeth in magazines, offers some unconventional advice: “It's very important to lie, or at least embellish the truth.”
According to Daniel, most design graduates will have little experience working with legitimate clients. “So, it's important you invent your own. Transform your personal projects into semi-plausible paid briefs,” he says.
For his first design job interview at Digital Frontier magazine, Daniel brought along a copy of a magazine he had created called Nicked Journal and “fashioned a plausible” client.
Taking the fake it till you make it approach to his career, Daniel admits the “curse” of the profession will always be imposter syndrome. “I don't think you ever feel like a real designer,” he says. But there will be a point where you start to “trust your eyes” more.
Hobbies and passion projects
Personal projects, like Daniel's magazine, can be a powerful way to stand out, says Emily Lyddon, associate creative director at Seen Presents, who regularly hires junior designers.
“A lot of CVs have been amazing but the ones that have a passion project have shone out. It shows they’ve got something a bit different about them and they care about trends,” Emily says.
From 3D printing and fashion shoots to printing and clock making, these projects reveal more than technical skills. “You can tell they’ve gone above and beyond to push what they are interested in and you get so much of their personality coming through,” she says.
Emily found her place in the events industry, designing experiential activations. “Events are the world where people who don’t fit in one particular place are where you end up. You love a bit of everything and get a bit bored working in one place,” she says. Or, as she puts it, the industry attracts the “misfits”.
Her own career began with a steep learning curve. The first project was an activation in Cannes for a TV festival – then the biggest job her agency had undertaken. “It was a big deal, and I got dragged in fresh out of university learning the ropes,” she says.
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