Get to know the London-based Academy alum who developed his personal brand to represent his new ideology: be unapologetic about who you are.
Tell us about who you are: Name, age, location, and current professional status.
I’m Ben! I’m 24, and a graphic designer and creative based in London. I’m currently a designer full-time at a creative agency, but next month I’ll be starting a new role as a graphic designer at the fashion label Lazy Oaf.
What are the (design or general) topics you’re most passionate about?
I’m really passionate about pop culture, pop music, and LGBTQ+ culture and history. There’s such a rich history weaved through those topics, and a lot of them revolve around some sense of community. These things are definitely the pillars of my personal practice, and I'm heavily inspired by them.
Tell us about a project that got you excited.
Live, Work, Pose is a personal project that I’ve been chipping away at for a few months now. My goal is to create a coffee table book detailing seasons one and two of the TV show Pose. I am so inspired by the history of our community, and the stories and lives of the Black Trans women and queer people in the New York Ball scene. I’ve been researching a lot, but I want to take it further and add another narrative—comparing this to the real-life stories from the ball scene too. It’s such a great project to work on slowly, as I’m constantly learning new stories from the ball community, and have an excuse to re-watch the show multiple times! It’s definitely a pure pleasure project that I’m taking my time with. It’s so important for me to be able to take these stories and celebrate them in print, as well as using it as a space to honor those I deeply admire, such as Janet Mock of Pose, who was the first Transgender woman of color to write and direct any television episode, ever. Or Dominique Jackson, who plays “Elektra Abundance” on the show. This is one of those projects that’s truly for myself, and it feels so rewarding coming back to it every so often to add new layers and more depth—whether that’s from the show, real history, or context around the creators and actors.
Tell us about a collaborative project you worked on.
When I was starting out in the industry, in my first job as a junior graphic designer at Depop, I was lucky enough to be a part of the team working on their first global, Out Of Home campaign. It was a collaboration between our small internal creative team, and the agency DesignStudio. I feel so grateful for that experience and collaborating with such great talent. The design direction was led by Carmen Dowling from DesignStudio, with art direction and photography by Depop’s Octavia Pendrill-Adams and Brigita Žižytė. This project exposed me to so many parts of the process I hadn’t seen before, including art direction, photo selects, and retouching. Being able to work with such an incredible team taught me so much, and also gave me the drive to learn as much as I could.
How was (or is) your first year after school?
My first year post-university was definitely a jump into the deep end, and a “see what happens experience”, and I'm so glad I got to experience that. I started my first job as a junior graphic designer at Depop, and for the first year, I was the only full-time graphic designer doing work for the UK, US and Italy. I was fortunate to join right as we launched the rebrand, and that meant I was able to play, explore, and experiment so much. I was able to figure out what worked, what didn’t, and what we did and didn’t like. I also made sure to soak up as much information and knowledge as I could, from all kinds of teammates, whether that was the founder, the art director, photographer, copywriter, and even the head of CRM.
What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?
The advice I took from Elsa in my feedback session during the Wix Playground Academy was actually a great moment for me. She really encouraged me to push it, and not to feel like you have to keep things ‘safe’ and ‘respectable’ for potential employers. The discussion we had really encouraged me to think harder—what’s the next, craziest level something could go, and then go further with it. That’s something I’m definitely trying to take with me on my journey now.
What do you look for in your first job?
I think it’s really important to go into an environment that encourages learning and development. As a young designer you need to be somewhere that is going to nurture your talent, and encourage you to grow. A supportive team and manager can do wonders, whether that’s teaching you new skills, being a sounding board, or just helping your self-confidence grow.
With which projects did you fill your portfolio? What was your selection process?
I wanted to choose a selection of projects that showed a variety of skills and styles. But, it was also important for me to lead with a selection of personal work—I think this shows my passions more deeply. Also, a variety of experiments really helps build a picture of the type of work I like to do.
What are you working (personal or professional) on now?
In my personal practice, I’m trying to have a lot of fun. I love trying out new things, making mistakes, and just growing. I’m in the very early brainstorm stage of wanting to start my own mini practice focused around collaborating with other designers and creatives, particularly queer, POC, and black creatives. And, forging a new sense of community and empowerment through our work. In my professional life, I’ve just accepted a new job with the fashion label Lazy Oaf! I feel super excited to be stepping back in-house, and being able to work and develop a brand alongside a passionate and loyal community.
What do you find most useful in your projects (research, visuals, softwares, etc.)?
I love research and moodboarding. I’m always collecting inspiration. I think it’s really important to have a strong foundation of research and rationale to add weight and reason to a project.
Book recommendation: what book had the biggest impact on you, and why?
Visual-wise, I love Candy: The Book Of Transversal Creativity by Luis Venegas, which is an anthology and retrospective of all the issues of Candy magazine. It explores the identities and histories of Transgender, Gender Non-confirming, Non-binary, and drag communities. It’s one of my go-to’s for art direction, color and story inspiration. It’s a real visual treat. For something more theory based, Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom Kelley and David Kelley, the latter is one of the founders of IDEO. It’s something that really helped me to feel more confident and secure on my journey as a junior designer. It’s an inspiring read, and I definitely recommend it.
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What was your key takeaway from participating at the Wix Playground Academy program?
The importance of being yourself. The work we did on finding our personal brand, researching, and finding references—it really taught me to feel unapologetic about who I am, what I do, what I like. Initially I was nervous that a lot of my references and ideas didn’t look like the others, or what might be expected, but the mentors and Wix team really just championed me in that. I became much more confident in talking about myself, myself as a creative, and what I want to do, and I think that has really shown.
In which design field would you want to focus on in your future?
I’d like to create work and fun campaigns centered around inspiring and uplifting communities more. Creating work that makes people feel happy and feel good is definitely my priority. Over the next year I’m really hoping to develop my discipline to include a lot more art direction, and collaborating with photographers and image makers more. Watch this space!
