Industry Insider: Bambi-Bell

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 3^rd 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

I'm moving to London

(This post comes to you from a very tired blogger after two weeks of crazyness and excitement.)

 After some of the craziest weeks in my life I'm absolutely beside myself to say that I'm achieving something I've wanted for years and moving to London for at least 4 months while I do an internship. While I am absolutely buzzing to start something completely new and exciting I have to admit that the preparation to ensure that I can survive while I'm there has been exhausting to say the least and in a way has forced me to make some very grown up decisions. (I've surprised myself if I'm being honest!)

I'm so lucky to have family down there who are understanding and supportive of this opportunity so much that they're allowing me to live with them for the duration and without them it's safe to say this wouldn't even be happening and it's been the key factor in my decision to go through with all this. Basically I'll be paying them back for their generosity for the rest of my days.

So here's the breakdown of how the last two weeks have went...

Just a little over 2 weeks ago my cousin advertised a 4 month internship vacancy at her work. Now I am never one to take risks and the fact that this job is only temporary weighed heavily on my mind before I made any kind of decision about applying for the job. However, after a chat with family and assessing my own feelings towards where I am in life and in my career just now it was decided that I'd have to take the leap to really achieve what I want. Cue a mixture of immediate excitement and panic.

As it turns out, I got the job so taking the risk has paid off but now I was faced with the prospect of moving to London, saying goodbye to my frends and family and somehow packing all of my bedroom into as few suitcases as possible. This is where I had to seriously make sacrifices and mildly began to panic.

In the following week I decided that my main aim was to make as much money as possible to ensure a smooth transition to living in London, the last thing I want when I move is to have to phone up my folks and ask for money, it's not exactly the new responisble Hannah I have in mind!

 So in order to maximise money making potential I've basically sold everything I possibly could. I've sold clothes, furniture, old playstation games and DVDs, my friends have helped me clean out my room and in turn they walked away with a few items each that they like and that I won't be able to take with me. The car has been loaded up with older items to be recycled and I've even sold some of my Harry Potter items to help give me that little extra cash for when I get down there. That part sucked. The good thing is that my room is now so empty that I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with all the packing!

To also ensure that I make as much money as possible while I'm living in London I decided right away that I was going to have to get a second job. Luckily this turned out to be one of the easiest things I've done in the run up to the move, my current work have transferred me down to a store in London to work at the weekends and it only took a 10 minute phone call! At this point the panic started to subside and was instead replaced by doubt, things were working out all too well for my liking... It all seemed a bit too 'easy.'

So I write this to you on a Monday as I prepare to move on Friday to tell you all that it really does pay off to take risks, I'm extremely lucky that I have family down there to help get me on my feet but the bottom line of the next 4 months is that I'm moving to work not to have fun and go sight seeing. I will be working 7 days and simultaenously trying to save up for what happens after. I've not even moved yet but a lot has had to be sacrificed in the short term to help in the future and overall I genuinly do have a great feeling about this. I think it'll be important to constanty remind myself of why I chose to do this and risk everything on a 4 month job but at the same time be thankful that my current job will provide me with a more long-term financial security. I've already come to terms with the fact that I could be heading back home to Scotland in 4 months if it all doesn't work out but the experience of working in London is all too good and too valuable to my career in the future to pass up. 

I think to round this post up I'll just say that this journey is something that's going to continuously be documented on this blog and I look forward to writing about the internship and how it develops. Whilst I feel like I'm currently in a great headspace where I'm ready to grab work by the balls and really pull my weight for the next 4 months I also have slight negtive niggles in my mind as anyone would when they move to a new city and essentialy lose such close connections to family.

I guess we'll see where this chapter in my life takes me!

Wish me luck!! 

Christmas 2014

A very belated Merry Christmas to those of you reading this! I had hoped to post this particular entry last week but New Year activities and seeing friends meant I've had to leave sharing some of my favourite presents with you until now.

Christmas is a day me and my family really love and this year we decided to go all out and really enjoy ourselves. In our house the day usually involves a really early present opening session followed by a light prosecco breakfast and then the afternoon is spent relaxing (napping) and cooking the dinner in prep for early evening. We took the day slowly and in the evening were joined by friends of ours for a game night which is always a laugh. Family fortunes was quite an intense but hilarious affair.

I should mention before you see the photos that we start shopping for presents in October to take some of the pressure off and really upped our budgets on eachother this year so there are a few presents I want to share with you. It's not me bragging I just want to share with you some of the lovely things I got. With the make up in particular I'll do reviews later on to let you know how good they are.

I apologise for the surface these photos were taken on and the lack of lighting but times against me and I had to make do with what I had!

The trusty YSL box!!

The absolute best smelling perfume in the world!

I do have the brush for this palette it's just upstairs with my collection

As is the brush for this palette

I got two of this palette because I've been going on about it for months and so two of my friends decided to put me out of my misery!

I could sniff this palette for life it smells that damn good

Yet another eyeshadow palette, this one I bought for myself because I always miss the Urban Decay limited edition palettes and because I get discount through my work. Not sure how to wear all the colours so I'm gonna have to play around with it but I love the jewell tones this offers. Got my sister one of these for her Christmas as well.

Cute present from my sister for my office

My sister got these shipped over ,the third colour is my absolute favourite to wear when I have pink through my hair. Swatched below!

Me and my sister absolutely love the film New York Minute and Ashley Olsens character 'Jane' had this organiser she basically lived out of in the film. My mum and dad got me and Lisa these for Christmas because we've been obsessed with them ever since. Mine has been used a tonne since I got it.

The following are a bunch of books from my Amazon Wishlist that I really wanted:

This is one of my old uni books and it gives me the worst flashbacks even though the book itself is amazing!

Pattern blocks! At last!!

Another uni book that was amazing

I went a little mental with wanting shoes and handbags this year as well and my work had these crazy sales on in the lead up to Christmas which totally prompted me to buy some of these! I was good and didn't wear them until Christmas though...

Julien MacDonald bag from Debenhams

Faith handbag from Debenhams

 Freaking amazing army boots that I LOVE and stop me falling over in the snow and ice


If anyone wants and inside views of the books or any of my opinions on them then leave a comment and I'll put up a post on the particular item. I've ordered a whole load of books off amazon since Christmas that are starting to arrive and I think are really good for fashion students to hear about and have a read of so I'll get those up in the future as well.

Have a good day!

New Office Setup

I am super excited today because I managed to set up my little office space about 3 weeks earlier than I initially anticipated. 

Two years ago my little sister bought this little summer house for the back garden and I've been allowed to use it as an office space after the capacity of my bedroom was seriously pushed to its limits by the amount of sewing equipment in it.

My mother is a total DIY expert so the inside is all insulated and complete with electricity, electric fireplace, table etc. You name it, I've now got it.

Sadly, because it's Christmas I'm sharing the space with a bunch of sports equipment and a dolls house we wanted out of the livingroom to make room for the tree and decoartions but right now I have enough room to set up a desk and have a heater whilst I work away watching 'When in Rome' (I had a serious craving for Olsen Twin.)

In the long term I want to use this space as a place to really focus more on blogging, I'm giving myself office hours and everything to ensure I really keep on top of posting stuff in the coming year. I'm also hoping to create a collection in the coming year, just a small one that I can try and sell off online to raise some money and get some experience of working alone to produce collections. I just feel like I have had no space in the last 6 months to really focus on design and now that I have that I want to have a good go at creating something I can be proud of, with the luxury of Youtube and movies being with me at the same time!

Decoration-wise I'm pretty happy to leave the London themed pictures up because that is very much my favourite city and once I have all of the equipment and such removed from inside here I'll be able to get the sewing machine in and all my books in and then I will do a little tour but for now here are a few photos of the little blue summer house and the office space I have set up for myself:

 

1. The little blue office space as seen from outside

2. A view of the desk area I've managed to set up

3. All of my pen/felt tip/pencil storage (all plastic containers come from Ikea)

4. A view of the office space behind me that is yet to be sorted and won't be until after Christmas, I'm sharing with some lovely mannequins and bird cages I managed to salvage from my work!