I’m writing this on a fold-up picnic table, in my ‘temporary office’ space at home (AKA my kids play room). My last day in the studio was the 16th March, then the world imploded and everything changed. It’s not ideal, but we’ve made it work fairly easily. Our setup very much utilises digital. Work is cloud based, meetings are zoom-able, design goes on. For you fresh faced grads, what does that mean?

No show

It must have been tough for students graduating during lockdown. No end of year shows. No exciting ‘just graduated’ feeling. We’re not massive fans of end of year shows, so don’t see it that you’ve missed the most pivotal part of your Uni journey, and try not to let the lack of graduating momentum make you feel too disheartened.

An observation. As a studio who employs designers, including recent grads, there’s been very little communication from Universities about how else they’re showcasing their recently graduated students. Surely Uni’s could have adapted, and been able to showcase online in a creative way. Alas, the only thing we’ve really seen is other designers creating platforms for the students.

Have patience

The last 5 months will have altered many studios plans for recruitment. There’s been plenty of cutting back, so it’d be foolish to think there’ll suddenly be a huge influx of opportunities as studios get back to the workplace. There’s also likely to be a more saturated pool of talent of people who were unfortunate to be made redundant, looking for work.

While it’s tough, not every studio has struggled. Some have even flourished. There will still be opportunities out there, they’re just likely to be few and far between.

So use this time to ensure that when those opportunities do arise, you’ve done all you can to be top of that hiring list. Make sure your folio is looking sharp, and make sure you’re doing all you can to get those hiring eyes on you.

It took me about 6 months to get my first job after graduating, without a pandemic. Be realistic, and don’t get too disheartened if there’s nothing out there yet. Don’t see getting another, non-design job to fill the gap as failure — we’ve all got bills to pay!

Hired help

One thing we may see, is a rise in freelancers and short term contracts. With so much uncertainty, Studios may be reluctant to hire new, full time staff until there’s a more consistent economy, and the enquiries and new work is at a comfortable level.

This also opens up the popular remote working debate. For how we work, I'm not a massive fan. Some tasks could be do by someone working remotely, but for the projects we enjoy working on, having a team together is our preferred choice. Just because we don't love remote work, there's plenty of studios who do, and we're already seeing plenty of studios and agencies actively looking for remote freelancers.

Our mentality of hiring freelancers compared to full time staff is different. Full time, there’s time to bed-in and develop. Freelance, we want them ready to go. A freelancers hourly rate is higher than a full time member of staff, so time is money in this case. Be aware of this if looking to dip your toe into the freelance world - you need to hit the ground running.

Going forward

This shit isn’t going anywhere fast, especially not from certain countries (*cough* USA *cough*). So keep that mask handy. Or don’t, depending on what the Government feels like that week.

This time has made me aware of a few things which are incredibly important to our business, from both productivity, as well as overall enjoyment.

• Environment is powerful
  I’ve missed the studio - the space we designed. Having all kinds of equipment to hand is useful for spontaneous ideas. It’s nice to be able to voice an idea and talk it over a brew.
  
• Less distractions = deeper work
  
On the occasions I’ve managed to get an hour or so distraction free, I find my concentration has been better when I'm completely on my own. Our studio is open plan which isn’t always ideal for distraction-free work. But we do have smaller spaces for quiet time. I should probably use these spaces more when tasks requires some deep focus.
  
• Digital is good, but face-to-face is better
  Zoom meetings have been manageable, but they’re not a replacement for people being in the same room for discussions about projects. Being able to quickly sketch something and stick it to the wall isn’t easily replicated.
• People who rave about working from home don’t have kids. Or they don’t have much work to do. Or they lie.


We’re all in this together, and everyone is finding their feet at the same time. And besides, once this has all died down, we’ve got Brexit to enjoy #fuckboris

→ How long will I get to complete a project?

→ Coping with rejection

→ What does a designer’s career progression look like?

→ How much does a junior graphic designer make?