Open Studio

About Open Studio

Open Studio is a series of honest, guest-led conversations about what it's really like to work in design — across studios of every size, from solo freelancers to global agencies. Each episode sits down with a different designer to talk craft, career, and the moments that shaped them. No polish, no performance — just design people talking to design people.

Publisher

Shillington

Category

arts · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Aug 2026

Latest episode

18 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

9 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Sept 2026

   Crying in public is part of the process with Lizzie Curtis

   A surprise one, pulled straight from the archives. Lizzie Curtis has one rule for herself: if she can't see who a piece of work is actually for, she can't give it her all. Lizzie is the director of Design Impact, a studio built to design and build websites for charities and social-impact organisations. She'd wanted to run a female-led studio since her earliest agency days — she just didn't know what it would be called or when it would happen. It happened faster than planned: when the agency she was working for closed down, a month's redundancy became the window to inherit its abandoned client list and build something new almost by accident, before finding her co-director at, of all places, a conference. The conversation covers why Lizzie can only really commit to work she can trace through to a real outcome, how she and her studio built a culture where admitting "I don't know how to do this" is normal rather than something to hide, why digital design's instant, iterative nature suits both her temperament and her charity clients' budgets. This one's for anyone who feels like they need a five-year plan before starting something that matters to them. Lizzie didn't have a blueprint, a fully formed studio vision, or even a name for what she wanted to build — she had a redundancy cheque, nine clients, and the nerve to say yes. You don't need the tidy version of the story to be on the right path; you just need to start.

2. 

   24 Aug 2026

   Wobbly Paths Build Better Creatives, with Eve Macdonald

   "A wobbly career path can build better creatives." Eve Macdonald makes the case that coming from the "wrong" background isn't a setback — it's the thing that makes you better at the job. Eve graduated with a degree in fine art and history of art, landed in a PR agency as a social media exec, and was running full campaigns by the end of her first week. From there she moved fluidly across PR, marketing and advertising into brand, and now sits in a role she effectively built for herself at KISS Branding in Leeds — part creative strategy, part business growth. Alongside the day job she runs Pencil It In, a community calendar connecting creatives across Leeds and Manchester. Why the junior-to-mid-to-senior ladder no longer describes how creative careers actually work, and why portfolio careers and multi-hyphenate skillsets are becoming the norm. What hiring directors genuinely want to see in a portfolio — the thinking, the scamps, the mind maps — versus the polished mock-ups everyone leads with. The North/London question, and why being up North isn't the disadvantage it's made out to be. And an honest run at the harder stuff: burnout, the gap between your taste and your skill, ADHD as a creative superpower rather than a setback, and building a network without the business-card formality. If you're early in your creative career, came in from a different field, or feel like your path has been more wobble than plan — this one's for you. You don't need a straight line, a design degree, or a London postcode to be on the right track. Sometimes the detour is the point. Find Eve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eve-macdonaldcreative/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/eve-macdonaldcreative/) Find Pencil it In Leeds: http://leedscreativeseventscalender.online/ (http://leedscreativeseventscalender.online/) Find KISS Branding: https://kissbranding.co.uk/ (https://kissbranding.co.uk/) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kissbranding/ (https://www.instagram.com/kissbranding/) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kissbranding/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/kissbranding/) Substack: https://brandsthatkiss.substack.com/ (https://brandsthatkiss.substack.com/)

3. 

   24 Aug 2026

   Building a small studio without a formula with Katie Cadwell

   Two years into running her own studio, Katie Cadwell will happily tell you there's still no system — and that's rather the point. She's built Lucky Dip on a simple belief: you can do great work, have a good time doing it, and grow entirely on your own terms. Katie is the co-founder and creative director of branding studio Lucky Dip, and the founder of the NDA podcast. Fresh off her first OFFF Festival in Barcelona — where she reckons she learnt more standing at the bar than sitting in the talks — she joins Jack to talk honestly about what the early years of a studio actually feel like, from starting out as employee number one at someone else's studio to taking the leap into founding her own. They get into the freelance-to-founder jump and the flash of confidence that finally pushed her into it; what it was like to read all 800 job applications herself, why the identical AI-written emails don't land, and the small, human touches that made people stand out; why she deliberately doesn't hire for "culture fit"; and how she keeps freelancers — Lucky Dip's "dippers" — feeling like part of the team rather than a resource to bill. Plus the case for growing slowly, staying small on purpose, and not having every answer yet. If you're thinking about going out on your own, chasing more freelance work, or sending off applications and wondering what actually gets noticed — this one's for you. You don't need a five-year plan, a fixed studio address, or a tidy system to be doing it right. Sometimes the most reassuring thing is hearing someone a step ahead admit they're still figuring it out too. Find Katie: Lucky Dip Studio (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/luckydip.studio/ (https://www.instagram.com/luckydip.studio/) Lucky Dip Studio (website): https://luckydip.studio/ (https://luckydip.studio/) NDA Podcast (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/thendapodcast/ (https://www.instagram.com/thendapodcast/) Katie (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/katiecad4/ (https://www.instagram.com/katiecad4/)

4. 

   17 Aug 2026

   Creativity Isn't About Drawing with Lee Weaver

   Lee Weaver doesn't think creativity is about drawing — or that you need a "visual" brain to belong in design at all. Some of the best designers, he reckons, think in words first. Lee is the co-founder of OneMay, a brand design studio in Liverpool making what they call "unfair advantages for ambitious brands." Over 15+ years he's gone from a Vogue internship to senior roles to launching his own studio in 2022 — and made a deliberate choice to keep it small, so he and his co-founder can stay hands-on with the work rather than end up managing it. Jack and Lee get into the debate around design education and whether it's even meant to make you "industry-ready"; what actually makes someone creative once the cliché visual skills stop being the whole story; why Lee would rather see a messy working file than a polished portfolio full of mockups; and how a culture of sharing early — and giving feedback on what was actually asked for — makes better designers on both sides of the table. There's a healthy pile of AI hot takes, too. If you're wondering whether you're "creative enough," or whether not being able to draw counts you out, this one lands as reassurance: there's more than one way in, and the gap between you and the designers you admire is a process, not a verdict. It's also for anyone now on the other side of the table — responsible for feedback, nurturing new talent, and trying to do it with a bit more care. Find Lee: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lee_weaver_/ (https://www.instagram.com/lee_weaver_/) · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeweaver/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeweaver/) Find OneMay: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onemaystudio/ (https://www.instagram.com/onemaystudio/) · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/onemaystudio/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/onemaystudio/)

5. 

   17 Aug 2026

   Showing Up With Nothing To Show with Laura Palmer

   When anyone can push a button and get something that looks good, what's actually left that matters? For Laura Palmer, it's the idea — and the slow, unglamorous, occasionally frustrating process of getting there. A senior digital designer now freelancing, Laura came into design sideways. She studied art history at Leeds, where the assumed path led toward the art market and internships at the big auction houses — a future she knew wasn't hers. She'd been teaching herself After Effects and Illustrator making posters for a DJ friend, and a Shillington course during lockdown turned that instinct into a career: an internship within months, and years of studio and agency work since. The conversation gets into the pull between efficiency and craft — where AI tools genuinely help, and where reaching for a shortcut robs you of the satisfaction of learning something the hard way. Laura and Jack talk about designing against sameness, and why she now starts projects away from the screen — at a record store, or reading the type off the back of a spray can, rather than looping through Pinterest. They dig into the messy middle of the process — the word maps, the walking away, the days you show up with nothing to show — and what freelancing across a run of agencies teaches you about process, feedback, and holding onto who you are. If you've ever worried that a roundabout route counts against you, or that everyone else is further ahead, this one's a reassurance: you don't need a straight line, a design degree, or a tidy-looking process to be on the right path. Sometimes the swerve — and the stretches that look like nothing — are exactly where it starts.

6. 

   10 Aug 2026

   What AI Can't Generate is Taste with Studio AntiGravity's Jordan Yates & Rachel Cook

   AI can generate a logo in seconds. What it can't generate is taste — and for Jordan Yates and Rachel Cook, that's exactly why bold, considered design matters more now than it ever has. Jordan is the founder and creative director of Studio AntiGravity; Rachel is its studio director. Married, Manchester-based, and four or five months into running the studio in its current form, they trace the honest, slightly messy work of turning one person's seven-year freelance practice into a proper studio — pulling every process "out of Jordan's head" and building something that can stand on its own. Along the way they get into scaling slowly and deliberately rather than growing too fast too soon; why networking and simply reaching out has shaped both their careers far more than any cold pitch ever could; how staying curious — and getting made redundant early on — kept Jordan learning; and where AI actually belongs in a studio's process: a tool that speeds up the middle of the work, never the idea, the craft, or the human judgement at the end of it. If you're a student or early in your design career, this one's a reassurance. You don't need a perfectly mapped-out path, a straight line into your dream studio, or every answer figured out to be heading somewhere good. Curiosity, the right people around you, and a willingness to show up count for more. In this episode: getting everything out of the founder's head · scaling a studio without losing altitude · why reaching out beats the cold pitch · staying curious after an early redundancy · AI, taste, and the "stink" of slop · and the cardboard cut-out of his own head that got Jordan more contacts than placements. Find Studio AntiGravity: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studio.antigravity/ (https://www.instagram.com/studio.antigravity/) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/studio-antigravity/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/studio-antigravity/) Find Jordan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-yates-a8881b6a/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-yates-a8881b6a/) Find Rachel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-cook-009618133/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-cook-009618133/)

7. 

   10 Aug 2026

   The Perfect Creative Doesn't Exist with Rose O'Mahony

   Rose O'Mahony has stopped asking whether her work is "good." After twelve years in branding, she measures it by something steadier — whether she's proud of it, and whether she can stand behind it in the room. A senior branding and packaging designer at Springetts in London, Rose has spent over a decade shaping brands people actually feel something for — Weetabix and Dulux among them. This episode traces her path from a Chelsea foundation (and a creative dad who warned her off the industry) through internships across web, editorial and illustration, to twelve years at one studio that kept meeting her where she was. We get into the project that made it click — a ten-country charity rebrand she led five years into her career — and what it taught her about leading under pressure. Rose talks candidly about feedback: how to take the hard notes when you speak to clients directly with no account handler to soften the blow, and why staying flexible matters more than staying precious about your work. She makes the case for mess — sketchbooks, ink drawings, garden-centre field trips — as real work rather than a warm-up. And she's honest about the parts the industry tends not to say out loud: flexibility for mothers, who's still missing from the top, and why staying curious away from the screen keeps the whole thing alive. If you're early in your career, or quietly wondering whether you've taken the "right" route, this one's for you. You don't need a straight line, a finished-looking portfolio, or a fixed definition of "good" to be on the right path — you need curiosity, the willingness to learn the bits you don't love, and enough conviction to stand behind what you make. Find Rose: LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rose-omahony (https://linkedin.com/in/rose-omahony) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseom_creative/ (https://www.instagram.com/roseom_creative/)

8. 

   4 Aug 2026

   From Freelance to Studio Goodwork with Katie Price

   Great design doesn't just look good — it does good. That's the belief driving Katie Price, founder of Studio Good Work, a brand design studio built on research, reality, and respect for community and craft. In this episode, Katie joins us to talk about carving her own path in social design after two redundancies, five months "in the pit," and a coffee-shop job that kept her going. She shares the stranger's advice that changed everything — that a career is a path of stepping stones, and only you decide where to lay the next one — and what it really takes to back yourself when the obvious route doesn't quite exist. We get into the honest reality of working solo: the loneliness no one prepares you for, why clarity is kindness when it comes to clients, and how to build a "team" through freelance collectives, family, and community when it's just you. Katie also opens up about being a woman with chronic illness in a reactive industry, why no job is worth your health, and the mentors and connections that shaped her along the way. Whether you're a student heading into the industry, thinking about going freelance, or figuring out what doing good work actually means to you — there's something here to reassure you that you don't need a five-year plan to be on the right path. Find Katie: On Instagram: instagram.com/katiedoesgoodwork (http://instagram.com/katiedoesgoodwork) Studio Good Work: https://www.instagram.com/studio.goodwork/ (https://www.instagram.com/studio.goodwork/)

9. 

   3 Aug 2026

   The Power of Curiosity in Design – Welcome to Open Studio

   In this first episode of Open Studio, we sit down with Yas Banks — Community & Social Coordinator at Shillington — to kick things off with her insights into the creative industry, her journey into design, and practical advice for aspiring designers. It's a fitting way to open the series: a conversation about how curiosity, authenticity, and continuous learning shape a successful creative career, from someone who's built hers from the ground up. Yas Banks' Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/yas.design/ (https://www.instagram.com/yas.design/) Yas Banks' Website - https://yasbanks.co.uk/ (https://yasbanks.co.uk/)

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