Let’s start off easy…tell us a little bit about yourself…
I graduated in Digital Interaction Design in 2014 and decided to study for a PGDE in Art and Design to teach at secondary schools. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to work as a designer or teach it...
Soon after teaching for a year at a school in Glasgow, I decided I wanted to have a career as a designer as I missed doing certain things — working on briefs, design/prototyping tools and problem-solving creatively. After I left teaching, I worked for a tech company called Luminis which was based in The Netherlands — creating content and travelling throughout Europe for meetings, user research etc to help promote their learning platform called Summar.io. I then moved to a company closer to home in Edinburgh based in CodeBase, called Criton. They are an app-builder company for the hospitality sector and I was their UI/UX Designer. I learned lots there and I really enjoyed helping to create a more user-friendly product.
How did you first get into design?
Ever since I was little, I loved designing…mostly football kits and boots! This continued into school and my favourite subjects were Art and Design, as well as Computing, so becoming a digital designer was the perfect fit!
What’s the one app on your phone you’ll never delete?
Instagram. I love this to keep up-to-date with the people I follow and to get the latest stuff from the design world. It’s a bit like Dribbble as loads of designers, including myself, share new ideas on there. I also like to take the odd photo too…particularly of my home baking!
What excites you most about joining the creative team at Tayburn?
I have never worked alongside other designers in my working life! I was the only designer at Criton and worked remotely for Luminis, while also working alone on freelance stuff. So I would say working with experienced designers and learning from them is the most exciting thing for me.
If you could change one thing about the creative industry, what would it be and why?
Tough question! I would like design to be noticed and valued more — I know some people I have worked with in the past think it’s easy and you’re just sat at the computer all day but that is far from the truth!
We’re big on Spotify here at Tayburn — what song is your guilty pleasure?
I go through phases and a multitude of favourite cheesy songs! Currently, I would say Take On Me by a-ha. It is currently the one that is stuck in my head right now.
What design essentials could you not live without?
My MacBook Pro or iMac! I need this to do all my Sketch, Adobe, Figma stuff - also, a shout-out to pencil and paper!
What 3 words describe you best?
This would change depending who you ask! I’d say: Friendly, Hardworking and Loyal.
If you were to ever win a competition, what would it be for?
Definitely a baking competition for the cookies I make…my Milky Bar ones are unreal!
Out of our company values, which is your favourite and why?
Challenge the unremarkable. I picked this as it is something I have been trying to do throughout all my work — I want to make things that people remember because it was unique and it improved someone’s life.
