Time flies when you’re having fun

Check out how our designer, Francie Martinez, got into the creative industry and her advice for recent graduates here👇

Where were you before BGN?

I graduated from Kingston University with a BA in Graphic Design. I then interned at NB Studio and Johnson Banks, two award winning design agencies that gave me a taste of what it’s like to work in industry.

Why did you get into design?

From a young age I was always making and drawing things using scraps of whatever I could find around the house. Despite no one in my family having a creative background, I always gravitated towards it.

Whats it like to be a designer at BGN?

Super fun! I get to work on loads of different projects and learn a lot along the way, it’s an added bonus that the team at BGN are so supportive.

What have been your favourite projects so far?

It’d have to be Silkies which is a Silk product brand launching in November. Through Silkies, our client, Mai will also be working with charities that support young girls in Mexico. It’s the first project I’ve been able to see through from start to finish and it’s this branding process that I’ve found myself wanting more of!

What sources do you use for inspiration? 

I do find myself scrolling through Instagram a lot, some of my favourite accounts at the moment are @femmetype @pablo.rochat @morrre.dsgn and @icographica there’s also a bunch of websites I like to flick through as well. But I think it’s also important to just go on a big long walk sometimes and see what inspiration can be found in more unexpected places.

Whats your favourite brand?

I attended a virtual talk at the beginning of lockdown (mad times) where Paula Scher talked about The Mental Health Coalition, a collaborative platform used to de-stigmatize mental health conditions. Besides the bright and bold coloured identity, I liked how this project was mentioned after discussing the balance between working for money or working for free. Not that I’m all for working for free, but it was just really nice to see someone so passionate about a topic and roll it out in a super short time frame for a nonprofit organisation.

What advice would you give to recent graduates? 

Stick at it, if it’s what you really want! After graduating I was juggling three jobs to help fund living in London, and at the same time was well into my overdraft upon graduating.

On top of that I was trying to find the time to email studios, send printed work out, follow up with phone calls and keep my portfolio updated with new work. The hardest part for me was staying motivated because at that point you feel like you’re constantly working towards something that might never happen. But now that things have worked out for me, my advice would be to carry on and try your best, it’s going to work out eventually.

Oh and try to mix it up when applying for internships, after all the emails, printed pieces and phone calls, I actually got my first internship after speaking to a friend on my course who referred me.