A chat with Ella Tarantonio

This week we have Maisie on the podcast. Maisie is a senior designer at JKR who has worked on initiatives such as Happy To Help and Think Food Bank. Maisie chats to me about her new role at JKR and what it's been like moving up in the industry and changing studios, the exciting initiatives she has worked on through collaborating with other creatives & the importance of trying out different techniques and broadening skill set.  Thank you Maisie for chatting with me and illustrating a beautiful podcast cover for Always Creating! 

This month I welcomed Gurleen onto the podcast. Gurleen is a Graphic Designer, Illustrator & all-round creative. Working as a junior designer in Bristol. I came across Gurleen via Instagram and loved her passion and dedication to her work so knew this would be a brilliant discussion. Listen along for a chat about Graduation blues and transitioning from uni life to work life - something I think a lot of us are going through right now.  Thank you Gurleen for being so honest and creating this amazing podcast cover showing the transition from uni to work life. 

Last week I enjoyed a catch up with Anthony Burrill. We chatted all about the topic of comparison and how it's something that never goes away. No matter what stage in your career you are at. Thank you Anthony for being so so honest, such a valuable conversation one that has personally helped me see comparison as something that can actually be a positive, that helps you to grow and develop your creative practice.  - podcast cover created by Anthony  https://anthonyburrill.com/

This week I chat to Dom, Ben and Lauren, the founders of the Arena! A space which supports, elevates & inspires young creatives.  We talk about the importance of the platform, the challenges faced by young creatives, how we can talk more about failures, along with some tips and tricks when starting out in your career that they've learnt along the way. And other initiatives that they are working on behind the scenes. Born out of collaboration and a need for change.  Hugeeee thank you to Dom, Ben and Lauren for wanting to be involved and creating this beautiful podcast cover.  It was a great chat so I recommend you all give it a listen!  Check out The Arena - https://www.thearena.org.uk/  

This week I'm joined with Lauren and Liv. The creative duo of Pickle Illustration, a business that helps to find creative ways to connect people. Turning spaces into places and engage communities, with their fun illustration style full of colour and personality. In this episode, we talk about how they built their creative business, the positives of working freelance and the collaborations and people they have met along the way. Thank you to Pickle for the beauutifullll podcast cover and a great chat!    For more of Pickle check out their website & connect with them on Instagram @pickleillustration  https://www.pickleillustration.com/blog

So excited to share my chat with Daisy this week!  Daisy is a communication designer, printmaker and calligrapher based in London, with an interest in social design and design for good. We talk about Daisy's project 'A place of unlearning', graduating in a pandemic, imposter syndrome, deciding to do a masters and how a grade shouldn't define your work. She speaks about working at Design by Country as a brand strategist and how rewarding it is to work with good people- because everyone deserves access to good design.   https://designbycountry.com/  Check out Daisy's work:  https://www.dpooleytolkien.co.uk/ https://aplaceofunlearning.com/ @daisypooleytolkien

This week Anthony Burrill was kind enough to let me ask him a few questions for the podcast. We talked about the positive side of self-doubt, how important it is to reach out to people, the power of collaboration, and some useful tips for those emerging into the creative industries.  It's so easily forgotten that our design heroes all started out where we are now. We're all on different journeys. It's important to reach out to people, and I'm sure you'll be happily surprised how many people are open to help, give advice, and chat.  A huge thank you to Anthony for being part of the podcast and creating a fantastic podcast cover!  @anthonyburrill https://anthonyburrill.com/  

This month I chatted with Lili a talented graphic designer and Manchester School of Art graduate.  We chat about Graphic Design, the Flipside degree show, life after graduating, Spec work, unpaid internships and lili's print business @prints.lil which has helped her learn to see the value in her work and the joy it can bring to people.  Thank you so much lili for sharing your journey, it was so great to chat!   Instagram: @designs.lili Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/lilislilprints/ Degree show: https://flipsidemcr.co.uk/ Beautiful podcast cover created by Lili!  

Ella joins me on the podcast to talk about failure and creativity. We chat about zines, education, journaling, books, tattoos, small meaningful goals, and rock climbing!   She speaks of how failure is personal, that everyone's definition of failure is so varied and that her definition has made her who she is today. We should all acknowledge the mistakes we've made because failure shouldn't be a negative thing!  A special thanks to Ella's dad for the quote 'People that don't make mistakes don't make anything'   Thank you so much to Ella for being involved in the podcast and creating some fabulous cover art!  Books, people, and podcasts we mentioned:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40605526-feck-perfuction  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28257707-the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-f-ck?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=TEsONtWAel&rank=1  Spotify's Wake up and wind down & where is my mind podcast by Niall Breslin Tattoos- @betty.oops.tatto on Instagram

This month I was able to chat with Laura Tobin a photography student based in Scotland. Currently a Social Media Marketing Assistant @disgracefulmagazine  Laura has used the time in lockdown as a way to experiment with graphic design and bookbinding. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CreatedbyLauraShop  She has created a community with her recent ongoing creation of a magazine 'Herstory', with the idea of supporting and encouraging female creatives. Including filmmakers, photographers, musicians, designers, artists and I'm sure many many more.  We chat about university projects and feeling inspired by communities of women trying to actively make change.  Thank you so much to Laura for being part of the podcast and creating such an amazing podcast cover!!