Many of you will have met Alison, and even more of you will have worked with her. Afterall, she’s the backbone of our project’s team and is always there to ensure deadlines are met and you’re kept happy. But what’s it like to be Alison for the day? Well, we found out…
1.When and how did your Rawww journey begin?
9 years ago, I was in my third year at Coventry University studying Graphic Design and I bumped into Lewis at a feedback workshop. He looked and liked my work, and I was eventually offered a placement – the rest is history. Little did I know my Rawww journey would be 9 years and counting! Feels like yesterday.
2.Did you always want to work in the creative industry, or did you have any other dream jobs?
Yes, it is in the Rowley genes, my mum is very creative, amazing at drawing and loved to make her own clothes, and my brother is an architect. It all started at infants school, we were tasked to make a card for our mums and instead of making a stand A4 folded card as we were all asked to, I made a pop up card in a different format… even though it wasn’t my best attempt, the teachers were impressed and thought my ‘out of the box’ thinking was pretty impressive!
I’ve always had a love for design, typography and appreciated good brands and what they stand for. My goal was always to be in the creative industry and that has never changed.
3. When did you first get involved with project management?
The best way to learn about anything is to throw yourself in the deep end. And that’s exactly what I did when I delved straight into project management in my early days at Rawww. I think my first ever management project was some online display banners and animating frame by frame in Flash 8… yes Flash 8… how things have changed!
4.What does your average day look like at Rawww?
Every day is different and seems to go too fast to remember… but I like to keep busy. My day starts off co-ordinating the team, scoping creative briefs combined with client calls and work scheduling – and then whatever the day might throw at me. From web strategy and branding to concepts and artwork design – I’ll get stuck in!
5.What’s your proudest moment at Rawww and why?
There are many proud moments, it is hard to choose. One that sticks in my mind is the rebrand we did for BID Services, a sensory loss charity in Birmingham. I always love working on a brand project from start to finish and we got to do exactly that. We really got the chance to get under the skin of who BID Services really are and what they stand for, and use this to create a brand that blew their competitors out of the water. This was a rebrand that really made a difference to the charity and those who needed it most.
6.What’s been your biggest work challenge so far?
Another tough one, who created these questions? My biggest work challenge is and always will be, the task of (what I call) ‘keeping all the plates spinning’ in other words, making sure projects are moving and on track from day to day.
All clients and projects are different so processes and management strategies need to be tailored accordingly. We’re lucky that the team here are so versatile, so we have the right combination of creative bods to make this work pretty much every time.
7. What are your design trend predictions for the next 12 months?
2 letters: AI. The growing use of artificial intelligence and the use of voice command in search is totally going to change how we design, write and our SEO strategies. We will need to keep things simple, to the point to make life easier for those with busy lifestyles who don’t have much time. Also I find it fascinating how the e-commerce market is changing the mindset of shoppers, we are able to try clothes and furniture virtually in our own home via the web and apps without the need to go out. So I can see this being a big shift in the way we design too. I am worried that the human interaction might become a thing of the past!
8.What design trends do you think will soon fizzle out?
Probably complex and detailed logos. Branding needs to be versatile and used on so many different platforms and in so many sizes, simplicity is the way forward. I still see the use of too many heavy drop shadows and some clients still using Internet explorer 7, so hopefully these will fizzle out too
9.What are your marketing trend predictions for the next year?
- Data visualisation – clients are becoming more savvy and reliant on stats to retain customers and trust so visualising these in marketing is a clever way of doing this,
- Chatbots – They’re clever, quick and give you the answers you need, when you need them. It’s a no brainer that we will see more of these in 2018
- Customer experience – Trust is something that Google is changing its algorithms to adhere to everyday, so it’s something we’ll need to design and market for more and more.
- The rise of video – Even though it is already a trend, I can see video playing an even bigger part in marketing next year
10.Word on the street is that you’re a big fan of slippers. Which are your favourite pair?
Of course, I love a pair of slippers…in fact I have 6 pairs including a pair here in the studio under my desk (what better way to feel creative that trotting around in slippers). My Mahabis are my favourites, they were a 30th gift from the lovely guys and gals here in the office.
11.Between Percy Pigs or Cadbury’s chocolate fingers, which gets your vote?
Difficult one, it used to be chocolate fingers…but as I’ve grown older (but perhaps more childish) Percy Pigs beat chocolate fingers hands down.
If you enjoyed getting to know us a little better, why not explore some of our interviews with other team Rawww members? Or take a look at what else we’ve been discussing on our blog.
