E) Well, I think probably the nicest thing about Tonic is that we're not a massive design agency, we're quite small so we don't charge ridiculous prices so I do think we kind of help people realize their dreams a little bit. A lot of the companies that we have worked with are startups and they're always based on personal experience. So a recent example is a project we've worked on, Tiny Feast, is a lady from London who wanted to cook her child nutritious meals when she got home from work, but she didn't feel like there was a lot of baby food out there that had a nice transition from children's food to adult, eg. they didn't get introduced children to the textures etc. and it made them quite fussy eaters once they got weened off the baby food so she wanted to start a company based on that. So we came up with all the visual language and built a website etc. But the point I'm trying to make is that usually, our clients are people going about their daily lives, who have this problem and then think of a solution, and we help them not only with the branding but bringing the business to life because we're cheap enough to use for their startup branding so I'd say helping people realise their dreams is kind of our motto but that sounds too cheesy so I'm not gonna say it (laughing) it's more like bringing the ideas to life so it's kind of starting as an idea, and then we send out a branding questionnaire which asks them what their 5 year plan is etc. and then we can give a proposal back based on what they want to do with their business, which shows them what we can offer rather than just being like 'here's a logo' we like to think about how it works as a system. When we have our projects in the studio we like to focus on that one project for the week. We do have quite a storytelling mentality.
B) So would you say the storytelling mentality would be your usual approach to design? Having the story first?
E) Yeah but when I first started design I don't think I thought of it in that way, I just wanted to make everything look pretty, whereas now we think more about the functionality of it and how it would work as a business and all the little things we could put together to make it a nice experience. Feel good design.
B) What type of project would you say you enjoy working on the most and why?
E) I most enjoy working on projects where there is a genuinely good product involved. We do loads of food and drink and if something tastes amazing and you feel like it's not working in harmony with it's current branding but the product's actually amazing it's nice to create something that compliments that. So the best projects are when you're working with something that's genuinely really good. So then it's benefiting all ends because we (as a design studio) don't want to do really good branding for something that's probably not great. But I would really really love to do the branding for a cinema because I quite like vintage inspired design and I would love to do like old cinema tickets and popcorn, basically the kind of design which would create a whole experience rather than just being like 'Oh it's logo for this and that' I'd like to work on the entire branding system. So if it was something where you could design the programmes for a cinema and the tickets and packaging I'd love that.
B) Because you've done quite a lot of interior design haven't you for a few places?
E) Yeah and that's really nice because it ties the project together.
B) What's been your most satisfying project to date?
E) It's probably one of our most recent projects for, Forge Osmosis, where we designed all the packaging and it's all been copper foiled and then theres really nice detailson the stickers that look like old stamps and the branding's been painted on old vintage cars and we've helped it grow right from the beginning until it's become this old vintage world with all these props and it seems like once it's all been printed which will hopefully be in a couple of weeks that should be the best start to finish that we've done.
B) Is there anything that you're currently fascinated by and how is that feeding into your work?
E) I love going on the website Yatzer and they post a different design related quote every other day and at the moment they've got Milan's Design week highlights on there and they've got a load of really nice tones which are really warm like dark pinks and copper so I think it's just nice to get inspiration from websites which aren't other design agencies' websites because then you're not accidentally imitating them or competing with them too much, and their ideas aren't feeding into your work.
B) Can you remember the first images or events that made you think of becoming a Graphic Designer?
E) Yeah, I did illustration at university and I thought I wanted to illustrate children's books and then in my second year I had this tutor, and I actually had books that he'd illustrated and he said that he sometimes enjoyed doing a few advertising briefs and there was a competition for Nescafe Dolce Gusto to design an advertising campaign to make 16 -25-year-olds invest in cheap coffee machines and before then I was always focussed on trying to tell stories and thinking in more of a commercial kind of thinking and I felt it gave my work a real focal point but I still did it in an illustrative way. I made the campaign like 'where will your cup take you?' because they had Marrakesh style tea and chai lattes so I drew all these little cups being taken over the cities on little hot air balloons and then ended up winning that campaign and then I was like 'oh I really enjoyed that way of thinking' and my work after then felt a bit aimless (without a set brief) and there was loads of pressure to have an arty kind of feel rather than being like oh I really enjoyed that structure and then I interned briefly at a couple of design agencies in London and they were structured, I sent my portfolio out and it just seemed like a really natural progression in a way that it still had that illustrative style but seeing my work in the real world, but illustration seemed like it was too much of a long winded process and that it would probably be quite lonely in the sense that you work on your own a lot, and the pressure of being freelance actually stifles your creativity, whereas if you're working in a studio with people you can be more creative and talk through your ideas and there's a lot more variety and it's a lot more interesting.
B) Is there anywhere in Sheffield which you enjoy going to for inspiration or just a favourite place to visit?
E) I like visiting the botanical gardens I think they're really beautiful. We like going for breakfast before work sometimes and having a bit of a chat.
B) What do you hope for Sheffield as a city in the future?
E) I go to Headlam Market, Once a month, it's in a big Warehouse in Kelham island, and when I've been there I've felt that there's quite a sense of community and loads of new businesses starting up, with so many food vans and people that go and that's when I've kind of thought that it would be good if there was something like this every weekend. A big open place with lots of independent shops and food stalls could gather. Because that's one of the really nice things about Sheffield that if you wanted to do something in London the rent of pop-up shops and stuff like that is ridiculous so it's probably quite accessible for people who have nice little business ideas, it wouldn't cost them the world and creates a nice sense of community. A lot of new places are opening all the time but if Sheffield just got a bit of a move on and made more stuff like that.
B) What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you were starting out?
E) I think the hardest thing is getting a job in the first place. This week we got an email for ladies that 'design on wine' and they wanted to do a monthly meet up and speak about females in the industry because about 70% of people who do graphic design and illustration at uni are female but there's only about less than 20% in the industry who are women. But they say the reason that happens is because men are way more confident about promoting their own work and when they talk through it, they're a lot more self-assured and I think because they're are other men in industry and they're normally the ones doing the interviews, you just have to be really confident because you might not have the strongest portfolio when you come out of uni even if you're happy with the progression you've made, because they've been designing for years they probably won't think wow this is amazing they will probably respect a bit more of the confidence and your ideas (rather than the outcome) and the first time I did an interview I didn't come across as very confident in my work and didn't justify it or sell myself well. But through freelancing and interning, I built my confidence up and talking through my work got easier. If you have the thought behind it and interest and passion for design I think it really comes through.
Also, I think don't do any work for free. If you're going to do it, go and work for a design agency with a really good reputation and get that on your CV, and actually all the best design agencies if you get there will actually pay you a token salary anyway. But if you can go down to London at the beginning I would. As smaller design agencies can't afford the time to take on an intern and nurture you because they're so busy and haven't got to the level where they can spend loads of time with you. Whereas some of the bigger agencies have 10 -15+ people and have schemes set up for people who want to do internships and they will pay them a bit. So if you can go and get real world experience in a design agency I think that that's a massive foot in the door. When I was applying for jobs in Sheffield and Manchester people got back to me straight away whereas before when I was just like 'this is my portfolio people weren't interested'.
On top of that don't just look for people who are advertising, I've never got any work from anyone who's just put an advert out. If you want to work somewhere then send them your work but make it a bit special and taylored to them. Blanket emails are so obvious, if you want to work somewhere you have to explain why you agree with their design philosophy etc. and do the research. you want to work somewhere where you actually want to be there because then you will do good work. If you're just working in a very corporate design agency and you love illustration you probably won't be interested in improving your work. Go after the jobs you want with intention.
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