SurĽoh
SPOTLIGHT
The company’s responsive site was built on WordPress with the The7 theme and plenty of plugins
Creativity videos. Like Martin mentioned,
the whole idea behind 365 was to inspire
people to create new work. So it seemed
like a great idea to actually set a monthly
brief people could get their teeth into. I
tend to check out all the one-minute
tutorials that have been posted on YouTube
that month, think about which skills
would work well together, then come up
with a kind of mini brief that we then
discuss as a team. Again, we want to
encourage people to create, keep learning
and share their work with others. That’s
why we decided to use the Community
feature on Google+.
You produce a monthly graphic design
magazine. What sort of things are in it?
SP: We launched our magazine at the
beginning of this year and it’s something I
love working on! Again it was an idea that
came about as a result of our 365 Days of
Creativity project. It’s an interactive
document so we are able to provide links to
extended tutorials that are not available on
our main channel, which makes it much
more than just a monthly round-up.
Additionally we feature articles on other
designers and design topics. In the future,
we also have plans to feature more
inspirational content, discuss different
design topics and even share some of our
own personal designs.
You’re based in Bournemouth. What’s its
creative scene like?
EM: I heard at a local networking event
that Bournemouth has the fastest-growing
creative community in the country. I can’t
say for sure if that’s true but it definitely is
thriving. Even since I graduated last year
new agencies, events, workspaces and
opportunities are cropping up everywhere.
It’s great because you can get to know
other creatives in the area fairly easily and
they usually end up introducing you to
even more people. It really does feel like a
community and, as a team, we are really
happy to be a part of it and want to be
involved and help it grow further!
Do you think there’s a need for web
designers and developers to have a better
understanding of graphic design?
SP: Especially in creative teams, it’s
important that we all have some
understanding of jobs that are closely
related to or overlap with our own. It
makes for a better workflow, team
environment and saves a ton of time. Plus
we can learn from each other: seeing how
others work may change how we do things.
What would we find on your
desktop today?
My MacBook, Urbanear headphones,
trusty notebook, Creative Review and
obviously a coffee!
What do you have on
the walls?
We share a co-working space so they
tend to handle what goes onto the walls
and they do a great job!
What will you do for lunch?
100% Bosconova, it’s a small but brill
cafe. We have been going as a team
since I started and we all have our go-to
lunches there.
What hours do you work?
We tend to work from around 9 and
finish off for about 6, but our working
day is pretty flexible if needs be.
What else do you do in
the office?
We chat a lot about movies, designers
we love, future plans (and avocado on
toast).
How often do you all
hang out?
We usually go out for a team lunch
once or twice a week and also like to
catch a film or go for a walk all together
with our other creative friends
quite often!
Describe your office culture
in three words
Collaborative, inquisitive, humourous.
EMILY MELLING
DIGITAL MEDIA MANAGER