A day in the life of a deVOL Graphic Designer
4th September 2017
Hello! I can’t believe I’ve been here a whole year and still haven’t gotten around to writing a blog. Well today’s the day and it would be a pleasure to introduce myself and tell you a bit about what I get up to during my day!
My name is Laura and I’ve been a lover of design for as long as I can remember. As a girl I’d always have a pencil in my hand, be constantly rearranging and styling my bedroom (and the house, which my mum did not appreciate!) or entering local art competitions.
I love everything about design, the sense of freedom and endless possibilities; the communicative power it has to inspire and revolutionise. Design is everywhere and in everything we do, it’s a mix of craft, storytelling, propaganda, science and philosophy – I could go on forever but to put it simply, it’s an incredibly important part of our lives and I bloody love it.
So my day usually starts with a lovely cup of herbal tea; I greet everyone in the office and spend a few minutes checking out the deVOL Instagram page – which is full of the most beautiful array of images, effortlessly captured by our in-house photographer, Tim. I absolutely adore reading all the positive comments; it makes me feel proud to be part of such an incredibly talented bunch of designers and makers.
With the radio on and the sun shining through the windows, it’s time to make a start. I’ll have a quick discussion with Huw, the Creative Design Manager, and we’ll come up with a plan of action for the day. As a team we produce all the Graphic Design for deVOL, Floors of Stone, Shreddies and Pink Pantaloon. We cover everything from brochure and website design to advertising, photo editing and animation. Sometimes we get some pretty weird projects too, I once had to Photoshop Gary Linekar in his pants! Slightly strange I know, but that’s the best thing about my job… I’m always doing something different and creative.
My current project is focused on renewing the Classic English and Real Shaker Kitchen brochures. Every few months we revisit each one, updating and refining them. Tim and Helen (our totally cool and talented Creative Director) regularly plan trips across the country to capture some of our customer’s beautiful new deVOL kitchens. These images are then passed onto the graphic design team and we prepare them ready for use. Our goal here is to ensure that all the pictures look clean, crisp and consistent. We also make sure to remove any crumbs… this is where Photoshop comes in rather handy! We all sit down and pick only the best photographs that we think our customers will love as much as we do. Finally, we add these images to the website and brochures, along with a brief write up about each project provided by Helen.
Around one o’clock I’ll take a nice break and have a bit of lunch. Working in such a beautiful location means we’re totally spoilt for choice when it comes to finding a place to eat. Folks can either sit somewhere within the grounds, watching the deer or chuckling at some of the rather amusing guinea fowl that we have running around. Or when the weather’s a bit gloomy we can chill around a big wooden table in one of the showrooms.
Right, back to work! By the afternoon, Huw and I have made some good progress. Both our desks are full of bits of paper with snippets of information and lists of things we need to get done. It all looks like a bit of a mess but I promise you it’s organised mess!
With projects near to completion we prepare each one ready for Helen. We’ll all get together and have a good chat about what we’ve been up to, the decisions we’ve made and how we aim to take each of the projects further. Along with the Director Paul, Helen makes all the final decisions and continually offers us invaluable feedback, guidance and inspiration.
With the day drawing to an end I think about what I’ve accomplished today and what I plan on doing the next day. I also think about how lucky I am to work here in such a beautiful place and with all these lovely people. It’s been such an amazing opportunity and I only hope to learn and develop more as a Graphic Designer.
If you ever get the chance to visit, please do! It’s such an unexpected place for a kitchen company but that’s what makes deVOL so unlike anything else. If you would like to find out our opening times and how to find us, please click here.
Hope to see you soon!
