July’s spotlight interview is with our fab Senior Design Executive, Lauryn Hallett.
You did a BA in Visual Communications, what led you to studying that and tell me how that was?
Actually, I didn’t really know what to study, I was quite good at school and had quite high GCSEs and academic results, which some people might find shocking – but I was smart! I basically said to my teacher that I liked ICT, Art and Media Design. They suggested I study advertising, so I went to college for Visual Arts. From there I signed up to doing Advertising at university. The Buckinghamshire admissions person looked over my application and suggested that I didn’t want to do advertising but actually wanted to do Graphic Design. Advertising is all about the beginning stage where I liked the production and the outcome, which is more Graphic Design.
So this is where I found Visual Communications, which was not just Graphic Design, but a whole lot of different elements including Photography, Editorial and website design. I studied that in Bournemouth and it was amazing! I literally had the best time.
What’s your favourite part of your job?
I love that I work with absolutely everyone, no day is ever the same. I help people all the time and mix into everything and everyone – keeping my social cup filled.
What’s a fact about yourself that surprises people?
I hate table sauces. Literally, I do not want anything on my chips. No ketchup, no mayonnaise, no brown sauce. Everyone comments on it but I just don’t like any of them! My dad put me off table sauces by lathering his food in ketchup and mayo. At uni, seeing the dirty plates with it on really helped finish putting me off it. I love a sriracha, sweet chilli and more global sauces though.
What does design mean to you?
It’s portraying something you love. It shows how you are as a person, and how you see things, which is interesting. You can tell a lot from a person by what they put down on paper and how they design.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
I was an adrenaline junkie when I was younger and I did a skydive when I was just sixteen! I thought I was going to be this really athletic person who jumps out of planes all the time, I didn’t pinpoint it down I just knew I wanted to do something really sporty. I guess I’ve still got a part of that dream in me as I’m teaching my own weekly Twerk After Work™ class and signed up for a half marathon next year. But I definitely thought I’d work somewhere less office based with high adrenaline… that or working with dogs!
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to go into creative industries?
Just go for it! I used to put myself down a lot because at university because I didn’t spend all my spare time doing design, and I still don’t. A lot of my peers would go on about spending all their home time working on their portfolio, but you can be creative and want to spend your spare time doing other things. Don’t let that get you down. So just go for it, and you can let your creativity out in all sorts of ways, even word documents.
Who has influenced you most when it comes to how you approach your design?
At university, you are very spoon-fed design, but when I started work here as the only designer, I feel I have learned more here than I did at uni, which is pretty wild. I also love street art and get a lot of ideas from going out and what I see in how people are dressed, the way people speak, the way buildings are designed.
If you could do anyone else’s job in this company for a day, whose would you do?
I would love to do Mark’s (Mando’s Director of Risk)! I wouldn’t be very good at it, but I’d love to learn more about what he does and numbers. Any time I work with an excel and I call him over, he blows my mind with what he can do. It’s just so different from my role.
We all really love your White Papers- how do you go about making data like that look so good?
People would be shocked at how different the data looks when it is handed over to me! I receive it in both word and excel formats, and have a completely blank canvas. Pinterest has been a massive inspiration with graphs and know how to showcase data, and shout out to Leon for always being willing to take a look and see if it makes sense. And then my favourite part is playing with the colours, and that is where my strength really comes into play. The White Papers are a beautiful book filled with infographics, and who doesn’t love an informative and aesthetically pleasing infographic!
If you won the lottery- what would be the first thing you’d do?
Ha, I often talk about the answer to this question! But I’ll keep it short. I’d leave and go travelling straight away. I’d pay off any debt first too – so boring I know! But I’d definitely want to see the world before I buy a house. Drag my boyfriend along with me for the ride too.
Lastly, you’re a bit of foodie, if you were going to make a dish to impress somebody what would that be?
I love cooking Thai food, so either a Pad Thai sort of dish with prawns, noodles and all the sesame oil or some sort of creamy pasta, with chorizo and cream. Those are my top favourites and always go down well. I LOVE food – that was hard to choose!
