Fresh Meet: Creating opportunities for grads to ‘Stand Out’

22 Nov

© Andrew Rankin, @notthatrankin, www.arankin.eu

INTRODUCTION

Founded by hosts of The Design Kids London, Fresh Meet aims to bridge the gap between university and the creative industries for graduates all across the UK. Based in London, they run a series of events and provide opportunities for Tomorrow's Talent.

In the height of the pandemic, India, Charlotte and Anoushka partnered with Ocean Outdoor, to acquire over £100k’s worth of billboard space across the country to exhibit The Nationwide Degree Show.

This interview took place over video call in October 2020.

Take us back to the beginning! How and when did you guys all meet?

Although we are a tight-knit team of three now we actually met separately. Anoushka and India met in 2014… A mutual love of printmaking & cheese brought us together mid-way through uni. India then met Charlotte at a TDK London event (before we ran it)... we locked eyes over the free-beer table and the rest is history. Connect the dots and you’ve got a trio!

At the time, the TDK London team were looking for a few pairs of hands to take over the running of the London wing, which is what finally brought us together as a group in 2018.

Do you think as a team you’re stronger with your combination of creative training and backgrounds?

100%. We’re all tied by a core love of visual, graphic and brand design. Charlotte brings a fresh twist of UX and product design thinking, and while Anoushka and India both started in illustration, we have extremely different interests and approaches to our work.

Our breadth of knowledge helps us bring in different aspects and voices to all our work. Whether we’re organising a TDK London event, or pushing out new opportunities to graduates, we want all our work to showcase the variety that a career in the creative industries has to offer. There’s no two jobs the same in this industry, and we really want to get across the boundless potential there is here to anyone trying to join.

“There’s no two jobs the same in this industry, and we really want to get across the boundless potential there is here to anyone trying to join.”

© Rachel Kolb // Arts University Bournemouth - Commercial Photography

Why is creating opportunities for young creatives so important to you?

The creative industries can seem entirely impenetrable from the outside, and some universities aren’t exactly preparing their graduates for the jump... Most courses give you creative freedom and encourage the growth of your craft and imagination but they dip out on teaching too much about facilitating a career in the industry.

Now yes, there’s a lot to be said for learning to be creative and pushing your imagination, but if you’re not taught how to bridge those skills into an actual job then you can feel very lost after graduation.

“Most courses give you creative freedom and encourage the growth of your craft and imagination but they dip out on teaching too much about facilitating a career in the industry.”

Many of our creative peers that we personally graduated with don’t work in the creative industries now - arguably many of them were lost because of the daunting appearance of our industry. You can only give so much of the stick to universities, we as a workforce need to make ourselves more open and approachable. And what of the creatives who don’t come through the university route, where are they meant to learn the ropes? We don’t want anyone to feel like this opportunity was never presented to them.

And why wouldn’t you want to work here? A creative career can utilise skills like imagination and curiosity that aren’t always rewarded in other work environments. You can have fun, be wacky, and get paid*! (And get paid a lot if you play it right!)

How did you whittle down over 1,000 applications for the Nationwide Degree Show to choose just 46 final grads?

One, big, long process of elimination (and a glass or two of wine). During the judging process we removed all of names, universities and courses from the work - leaving only the image and the write up. We didn’t want any unconscious or conscious bias to play into our decision making.

Once we’d agreed on a long list, we narrowed it down by trying to curate a selection that showed a range of mediums and disciplines, and that would look fantastic, large-scale on a billboard.

India - You mentioned that during the submission review process for both D&AD and Fresh Meet’s opportunities, that the name and place of study for each candidate are blanked out. Do you think there’s an industry bias, especially when graduates are applying for their first role?

Absolutely. The most apparent bias is when you see someone who went to your old school or university, you can empathise a lot more with them because you can see yourself directly in their shoes. Beyond that, I’m aware that I am more likely to value work that I have experienced, such as a screen-print for instance, because I personally understand the level of work that goes into preparing the negatives and exposing the screen and physically printing the work. Not to mention unconscious bias, of which every industry and society is guilty of.

If we strive to remove as much partiality as possible then we make the industries more accessible overall.

© Liv Chapman // University of Gloucester - Illustration

Anoushka - you’ve just recently started your MA whilst continuing to work part-time, which is a really desirable situation for a lot of creatives. Do you have any top tips for asking for that flexibility?

Yes, I started my MA in September and have been really enjoying it! I now work three days a week and do my MA two days a week. Asking for flexibility was a little nerve wracking, especially with the current job market being so unstable, I did not want my employer to feel as though I wasn’t committed to work. I overcame this by making a list of the ways in which I intended to continue being a valuable employee. I also thought carefully about the things I would learn in my MA that would benefit my employer.

Ask yourself, what am I gaining through my MA that would ultimately make me a better employee? This prep definitely helped me confidently broach the subject with my employer and they were ultimately very accommodating!

What’s your favourite networking conversation starter? For both virtual and IRL events!

Finding out where someone works builds a solid base off the bat. It doesn’t really matter what questions you ask, so long as you demonstrate curiosity. It’s just a conversation, keep things casual!

© Harry Warman // Kingston University - Graphic Design

Charlotte - how have you found joining a new company remotely? What advice would you give to anybody in a similar boat at the moment?

So, yes, I’m about 6 weeks into a new role currently! I initially had some anxieties on how I might build new relationships remotely. However, in some ways video calls can be better than face-to-face encounters, because you’re meeting your colleagues in their natural, home environments and I find there’s a lot more opportunities for 1:1s.

I’m really fortunate in that there’s a real positive mental health culture in my new team, which makes it very easy to be open when you’re feeling overwhelmed. I meet weekly with my coach (another new experience for me) to talk through any concerns or challenges that I have which has been such a positive experience for finding my feet.

If you don’t have a coach or an official mentor, then just find someone you can talk to, look to for support and learn from…You’ll often find that someone would be flattered to fill that role for you.

“I’m really fortunate in that there’s a real positive mental health culture in my new team, which makes it very easy to be open when you’re feeling overwhelmed.”

What best advice would you give to any emerging creatives trying their best to ‘Stand Out’?

Talk to as many people as you can before you start applying to jobs. Your applications will be so much stronger if you can clearly articulate yourself. For instance, don’t say you want to work in ‘branding’, instead communicate what area of branding you want to work in and what types of brands intrigue you.

Or another example; Graphic design roles vary in each section of the industry, the differences are stark between a graphic designer in an advertising agency to a graphic designer in a prop department in the film industry, and so it goes for all of the job titles. The more you can educate yourself the more you stand a chance of slotting yourself in usefully.

Other than that, communicate clearly. Don’t take people’s time for granted. And try to keep yourself optimistic!

Follow Fresh Meet

Instagram: @_freshmeet

Website: NationwideDegree.show

The Dots: Fresh Meet

If you’d like to reach out to the Fresh Meet team, drop them a DM on Instagram.