AMBER CRAWFORD is the graphic designer for Epona clothing,
an ethical clothing company supplying college-wear to universities across the
country. As well as juggling the responsibilities that come with the job she also
keeps a blog called
Bambi-Bell where she writes of her hobbies and daily
observations. Her career path in the design industry as well as her commitment
to her blog make her the perfect candidate for this Industry Insider post!
1) What made you choose graphic design as your
career?
I studied Product Design at University and always
assumed that’s the career I’d go into until my final year which is when I
really started questioning my plan for after my degree. I realised all my best and favourite work was graphics based, so with that in
mind I decided that once I finished uni I’d take time to figure out exactly what I
wanted career wise. I worked full time in a Wetherspoons and also as a
freelance graphic designer, that’s where I realised I wanted that to be my
career. I started off doing free work then quickly
progressed onto only paid work which definitely helped motivate me.
2) What parts of your
job do you find interesting and why?
The most interesting part has to be the ethics, I’ve always
had some interest in clothing and where it’s manufactured so getting to work
for a company where I’ve been able to learn about every stage of our clothing’s
life is incredible. From learning about our farmers and factories to seeing how
screen printing works and how the garments look in the shops once finished.
I’ve learnt an incredible amount about organic cotton, fairtrade cotton, fair
share and fair wear, the company is constantly looking for new ethical
standards to reach so it’s a pretty cool thing to be part of.
3) What does a
typical day in your job involve?
That’s a really hard question! A typical day tends to vary
depending on the time of year, but as I’m answering this during our busiest
work period I’ll base it on now. I’ll usually head into the office anytime
between 8-9:30am depending on how big my workload is, getting in early means
there’s less distractions, meaning I can get through lots of emails before my
inbox is flooded. Most of my day will be spent creating artwork and mock-ups
for customers and emailing them over for their approval, once I’ve had the
approval I need to process the artwork so it’s print ready and send it over to our
Customer Service team to then process the order. Along with the artwork side of
things, I also run all of the social media and our website, so a chunk of time
is typically spent on updating all of those and dealing with any enquiries we
may receive via social media sites. In between the above work, I’ll keep a
close eye on my emails and reply to any questions or artwork issues that
arise. I also essentially manage most, if not all, of the marketing for the
company, which is something quite new for me, so I’m very much learning as I go which is awesome as I’m getting to expand my knowledge and take on
new challenges through my current job, something I’m sure many people don’t get
to do unless they change jobs completely! On top of that I also manage two
other sites which both require separate artwork, information and tracking,
there are various other small jobs I do around the office such as managing
stationary and IT so I can definitely say my job involves a wide range of
tasks. My job is very much a juggling act and no two days are the same, it’s
probably the part I enjoy the most about my job, it keeps things interesting
and enjoyable.
4) What made you want
to get into Graphic Design? Was there a specific moment when you fell in love
with it all?
I think I fell in love with Graphic Design while I was
freelancing, I was taking on such a variety of different and challenging
projects, some of which I took on purely to try out new things. By challenging
myself I began learning so much, as I found myself spending lots of time
researching different techniques. I love creating new prints, logos, marketing
materials and other branding, just using all of the inspiration around me and
channelling that into something new I can create is exactly why I love graphic
design and fall in love with it on a daily basis.
5) Did you take any
specific classes or do any internships to help you gain experience and get into
this job?
I think any experience within design studios is invaluable,
over the years I’ve spent time at an architecture firm and also a lighting
design company. Although both made me realise the careers I didn’t want
to go into, I did learn an incredible amount at both. Design crosses paths
everywhere, so even if it’s not exactly what you want to do, you’ll likely find
many skills that are transferable. Along with experience a good degree is
vital, although I studied BSc Product Design which many think is specific to
designing products, its actually a lot more than that. It’s important
to know that even the classes you might find pointless at uni, you need to work hard at as you never know when those skills may come up. I had a wide range of classes
including business, manufacturing and maths and these have allowed me to become a
more well-rounded designer and has probably given me a slight edge in
interviews.
6) Can you think of
any classes or extra curricular activities you done at university that have
aided the work you do better?
The main extra curricular type thing I did at university was
working as a Student Ambassdor, it really was one of my favourite experiences.
I worked the full 4 years while I was at uni, and I was also part of their
engineering specific ambassador programme which included working with secondary
school children to build solar cars to race each other at the end of the year.
I also did various bits of freelance work for friends and family while I was at
uni which meant when I was applying for 3rd year placements I could
actually prove that I was organised and keen to work hard. I always tried to do
more than the minimum, as I knew the job market was highly competitive so I
knew I needed something to keep myself motivated and also give me a slight edge
on others.
7) What inspired you to get into blogging?
It was pretty therapeutic for
me, my first ever blog was back when I was in secondary school, I kept it
totally private from family and friends as I used to vent on there quite a lot
and write a lot about all the mental health struggles I was having. I deleted
that blog a couple of years after I started it, despite having quite a large
number of followers, I hit a stage in my life where I wanted to ignore
everything and that was part of it. The main reason I started up this blog was
because while I was a uni I wanted something different to do, I wanted
something that wasn’t related to my
‘career’ plans, I just wanted a little space on the internet I could write
about stuff that interested me and would keep me inspired with life in general.
8) Do you see your
blog as a means of showing your passion for your subject?
My blog is quite a mixture of topics, I only write about
stuff that I genuinely find interesting or that I’m passionate about. One of
the biggest and consistant passions I write about is mental health. I
try to write posts every so often as trying to get rid of the stigma that’s
heavily attached to those suffering any sort of mental health problem is
something very close to my heart. Having suffered with various mental health
problems over the years, it’s something
that is very important for me to write about. My passion for my blog is writing
about life, whether it’s the good, fun and exciting or the bad, ugly and
upsetting, and I definitely hope that passion comes across in all of my posts.
9) Did you take any particular classes or courses growing up
that lead to your choice to start blogging?
I didn’t take any classes or courses, everything I’ve
learned has been organically or through my normal school and university
classes. I definitely prefer learning though teaching myself, there is so many
books and articles online that you can look up and I tend to try and learn new
things myself as I feel I stay more motivated that way.
10) Can you tell us a little bit about a typical day
blogging for you?
I’ll be honest, usually it can be quite chaotic! I’m
trying to juggle writing posts around a busy work/life schedule, which often means attempting to write more than one post in a day or evening. I try
to take all of the pictures I need in one go, edit and then just sit down to
type up everything, as otherwise I’m likely to get distracted and run away with
ideas. I do tend to write quite late at night, as there’s little distraction which allows me to just focus and get a lot of writing done, plus I’ve suffered
with insomnia for years which definitely gives me lots of time to write!
11) How do you manage your time to run your blog
efficiently and consistently?
I’m trying to stick to a better schedule and
regular posting days to help organise my ‘blogging life’ a
little more as sometimes it can take quite a back seat. I’ve got a big list of
blog ideas written down which definitely keeps my motivation going. If I’m
not crossing any of them off it’s usually because I’ve haven’t been writing at
all which means I need to sort myself out. I think having exciting things to
write about makes it a lot easier to stay efficient at blogging, when I’m doing
lots it’s great for my writing and allows me a buffer off time when there’s less going on as I’ll likely have posts already scheduled.
12) Where do you look for inspiration when the writers
block hits?
As bad as it sounds I just look
around my room or think about things I’ve done recently and just sit and write
a short post about something asap. I find that as soon as I get one post out,
even just a short simple one the inspiration starts flooding in. By the time I
finish the post I’ll have 10 ideas for the next ones. I don’t always
publish these posts, I just find writing through my block opens my inspiration
up and gets the ideas flowing. I think it’s important to find something that
works for you, try out lots of different things and you’ll soon find a way to
work through the block.
13) As I'm a reader of your blog, what do you hope I take
away when I read your posts?
With my general posts I hope you
can learn something new, find them funny or just have a good read about
something interesting. With my mental health posts, I want readers to find some
strength in what I’m writing, whether it’s to open up and talk to someone, seek
help or just know that they are not alone is the most important thing for me. I
took a lot of comfort from reading different blogs growing up who also wrote
about their mental health struggles, it’s very important to engage with others
and if my blog can help even just one person with their mental health that
would be amazing.
14) Are there certain topics/genres you stick to when you
write your blog posts or do you like to write whatever comes naturally at the
time?
I tend to just write whatever
comes naturally at the time, a little like how my mind works, I really enjoy
writing about a wide range of topics, as that’s life! My life is full of so
many different amazing experiences that I want to write about everything,
whether it’s good or bad. Plus, it keeps it exciting for me as I don’t even
know what’s round the corner for my blog sometimes.
15) Has having your blog opened any doors or provided you
with any opportunities that you wouldn't have had otherwise?
My blog has definitely given me
new opportunities, from attending different events or being offered to work
with brands is definitely pretty cool and something that wouldn’t happen
otherwise. It’s not something I actively seek out though, so I’ve probably not
had as many opportunities as other bloggers as I never started blogging for
free events or products, so anything I do get is a total bonus to be honest.
16) What advice would you give to someone starting their
own blog?
Really think about why you’re
starting the blog, with the huge surge in blogs and people wanting to, I guess,
recreate the whole Zoella story, I think it’s really important to know why you
want a blog and what you want to write about. Don’t get into it for freebies,
it’s honestly unlikely you may ever get anything, getting those things comes
from hard work and writing good content, it’s not something that will just fall
into your lap.
17) What in your opinion makes a successful blog?
Creating interesting content for
readers, I feel like whether you have 1 follower or 100k, creating amazing
content is what makes it successful. Some of my favourite blogs have way under
500 followers and they hold my attention far more than blogs with over 100k
followers. Of course in the eyes of many the number of followers will dictate
how successful your blog is, but to me it’s all about the content, whether it’s
just well written or using great photography or whether you’re doing something
totally new.
18) Are there any bloggers you admire or try to emulate?
I do love a lot of different
blogs, but I can’t say there is any I’m actively trying to emulate. If you’re a
blogger who’s sticking at it and writing great posts I’ll likely admire you’re
talent or dedication, but there is many of those types of bloggers on my
reading list so I don’t feel like I could name particular ones.
19) What apps/purchases really helped you with your blog?
Do you have any programmes or items that you use that really help step up the
quality of your blogs appearence/content?
The most important purchase for
me was my own domain name, it immediately makes your blog look 100x more
professional, team that with a nice layout and good quality images it’ll
immediately step up the overall quality of your blog. Having a blog was part of
the reason I invested in a DSLR camera back in my first year of Uni, it’s the
camera I still use and travel with so I definitely highly recommend picking up
a camera you can rely on to give you good quality images. Now that doesn’t
meant it has to be a DLSR, you need to learn and practice taking great
pictures, as just having a good camera won’t equal great pictures, and
purchasing some sort of photo editing software would also ensure you’re
imagery is the best it can be – I personally use Adobe Photoshop for editing
all of my images.
20) Do you feel that a
blog is a helpful tool in pursuing a career after university?
It’s definitely a very helpful
tool in pursuing a career after university, it can showcase a wide range of
your skills and if you keep to it consistently while job hunting it’ll show
potential employers that not only do you have a creative hobby but also shows that you
can motivate yourself.
21) Finally, if you had one piece of golden advice to
give someone with a struggling blog following, what would it be?
Don’t focus on the follower
number, granted that’s easier said than done but focus on creating amazing
content and hopefully the followers will eventually find you. Focusing on
follower numbers will just dishearten you and may even lead you to writing about
things that you’re not passionate about, which even if the count goes up,
you’ll likely be just as miserable or give up writing altogether.
You can view Ambers blog here:
Bambi-Bell
