My name Is Charlotte Ashley, I am 24 years old and a Freelance Graphic Designer based in Nottingham. I have lived in Nottingham all my life (other than University) and love the city so much! I spend a lot of my time designing or creating custom illustrations but when I am not doing these things, (and what I cannot wait to get back to after lockdown!) I enjoy yoga classes, fitness classes, quirky coffee shops and going out for some lovely food and cocktails in Hockley.
What made you want to do the job you currently do?
I went to a very academic school and I don’t think the term Graphic Designer was ever even mentioned as I was growing up. I definitely didn’t have it in mind as my career path. I always knew wanted to do something creative, but careers such as Architecture and Fashion Designer were the only creative jobs that were ever really talked about. I did Art GCSE and A-Level and in my other subjects spent more time making the page look nice than focussing on the actual content…(so the evidence was there really!). My school were really focussed on Russel Group universities and at the time I had an interest in fashion, so I ended up going to the University of Leeds to study Fashion Marketing but I was never set on this for my career. At the start of my Second year, it just didn’t feel quite right. It wasn’t creative enough for me, so I spoke to the tutors and they suggested Graphic Design and mentioned Shillington College, which is an intensive short course. I went onto complete this in Manchester during my Year in Industry. This was hands down the best experience of my life, the teaching was incredible, every day I felt so inspired and full of excitement which was how I knew that was the career for me! I completed my degree in Fashion Marketing but tailored my dissertation and final project to Graphic Design. I am now so grateful it worked out this way as I have marketing knowledge that really compliments my design work and I got to experience such a different way of teaching at Shillington.
What did your early years in the role involve?
Following University I spent a good 6 months applying for jobs and working on my portfolio. During this time I had a part time job at TOAST (on Derby Road) and was working for a number of my own Freelance clients. I then started a 6 month Internship at a small design agency in Nottingham City Centre. It was during this time that I won my Young Creative Award where I met Andy Afford at the Winners Dinner. Following this, Andy invited me to interview and offered me a new ‘Creative Designer’ full time position at his design agency STENCIL. I worked there for 18 months. Agency experience is a great learning curve and you learn and develop so much as a designer in a very short space of time. I would highly recommend any Junior Designer to gain a year or so in an agency as you work with such a variety of different clients and types of work. During these years I kept up my Freelance clients which were continually growing through word of mouth recommendations. In January 2021, I left STENCIL to allocate more time to my Freelance business and also work part time, in-house for a local textiles company. I am loving this new balance. My advice to anyone starting out would be to take on any work you get offered, anything at all, as contacts are everything in the design world. All of my jobs both Freelance and full time I have gained through recommendation or networking, not the traditional application process.
Charlotte Ashley at Young Creative Awards and examples of work
What’s an average week look like for you now?
So, I work Mon-Fri in-house for Jones Buttons. During these days I design all their social media content, which is launching in March, shoot product photography, and I am also in the process of redesigning their website. During these days, I usually spend an hour or so in the evening keeping on top of my Freelance work. Thursday and Friday are my days to focus on my own clients and this usually invoices bigger branding projects alongside small design projects such as marketing material for my retained clients. Working Freelance involves a lot of other admin and making sure you are on top of your own finances and marketing. I am trying to get into the routine of completing these jobs on a Saturday and any other overflow work leaving me Sunday to have off (I still haven’t quite managed this yet though!). In some ways I have appreciated all this extra time from lockdown as it has allowed me to focus on my own business which is what made it possible for me to become Freelance so early on in my career!
What's the best thing that's happened in your job?
Winning the Young Creative award has 100% been the highlight of my career so far. The awards night was such a happy and memorable night I shall never forget. It was great to present my project which I was really passionate about and be able to talk about it with lots of different people who shared my interest. Winning the award allowed me to meet so many inspirational people in Nottingham, I now feel so much more connected the creative businesses as a result. YCA also commissioned me to do a project last year where I created a short course teaching young people the basics of the Adobe Software. I am also now part of ‘Notts Creatives’ which is a social action project by previous YCA winners where we are focussing on improving the mental health of young people in Nottingham as a result of the pandemic. I could talk for hours about how great the Young Creative charity is and what they provide for young people, and if you are considering entering I cannot recommend it highly enough!
What’s the one thing you wish someone had told you as you embarked on your Creative Career?
It’s hard work but totally worth it! You have to find a job that suits you and luckily in design there are such a wide variety of different paths with very different working environments/schedules e.g. agency, in-house and freelance. For me, something didn’t quite feel right whilst I was working at an agency. I knew my passion was with my freelance work (as I love having fulling ownership of projects and getting to experience client relationships) but I felt I should stick it out as I learnt so much during this time it has enabled me to be a much more knowledgeable designer now. This is totally down to personal preference as I know a lot of designers who love the hustle and bustle of agency life so you really do just have to find what suits you. I highly recommend sticking at it as when you find the right job for you it really feels great! I am so excited with where I am at and where I am headed now and genuinely wake up looking forward to my work everyday so that in itself makes it all worth it J
