My Placement at Buttercrumble: Emily
We wholeheartedly believe that design isn't just a job. Creativity is a mindset that becomes connected with all aspects of life. It’s empowering when you embrace it!
We are bonded to everyone we partner with, and their bold missions. That’s why it was a pleasure to invite Emily to the studio. Read on for Emily’s experience at Buttercrumble…
Hi, I’m Emily.
I’m a Graphic Design and Communication student at the University of Leeds.
My placement at Buttercrumble has been my first-ever proper grown-up job in an area I’d love to work in. I’m not saying that making tea and coffee in my dad’s office, or taking the bins out at my local chippy isn’t valuable work experience, but my time at Buttercrumble has been focused solely on improving my skills as a designer, not just “character building”.
Chloe and Abigail are practically celebrities at the University of Leeds. I remember visiting for an open day and one of the tutors wouldn’t stop bragging about the alumni sisters that set up their own biz. At the time I wasn’t listening overly keenly; Leeds had already won me over, (stunning campus, fantastic facilities, nice and far from home…) but it would seem the name ‘Buttercrumble’ stuck in my mind. I wonder why?
Above: Emily (bottom-left) enjoying a learning lunch with the rest of the team.
Fast forward two years. I’ve chosen to do a year in industry because “everyone’s got a degree” and “graduates haven’t actually worked a day in their lives”. I reach out to Chloe and Abigail, who invite me into their studio for my first ever proper grown up interview.
So, did the placement meet my expectations? Yes, actually. No big shocks or scares. No crumble stumbles. Turns out it’s incredibly reassuring when you enter an environment where everyone is speaking your language. When your world revolves around creativity, a passion for design and appreciation for a well laid-out page, it’s comforting to know there are others that share this madness. Both women have taken their time with me, given continuous feedback, and made me feel like a real designer within their small team. It’s clear they value education and the progression of young creatives within this industry, they want to nurture talent and encourage through acceptance and teaching.
I may have lied earlier, I was shocked and a bit scared at how much they actually let me do.
Early on I got to work on Buttercrumble’s in-house documents, learning about the importance of brand identity, continuity and typesetting. I was given the privilege of developing my illustration skills, something I wanted to learn from Chloe and Abigail, who are the crème de la crumble of doodling. I made patterns, logos, social media graphics and avatars. I was able to do an illustration for a blog post that I wrote, that was pretty cool, and I got to play around with layout and fonts for numerous different projects (as a self-proclaimed font nerd, these were my favourite tasks).
“Turns out it’s incredibly reassuring when you enter an environment where everyone is speaking your language”
Surely it can’t all have been good? Well, only one day with Abigail’s dog, Toby, was a little disappointing. It’s also been challenging doing the whole 9 till 5 thing, turns out a proper grown-up job is hard work, who knew? Even as a super-hip gen z’er, I found uploading TikToks quite tricky. I’ve avoided the app through fear of becoming addicted, like many of my friends, but apparently it’s a useful tool for businesses to appeal to the youth. Nevertheless, everything I’ve done here, even building some flat-pack furniture, has reaffirmed my knowledge of the fundamentals of design, has improved the confidence I have in my own work, and has allowed me to work collaboratively with other designers and clients to produce high quality creative solutions.
Above: Examples of Emily’s work, including an editorial illustration created for this blog resource around Squarespace vs. Shopify.
“I was given the privilege of developing my illustration skills, something I wanted to learn from Chloe and Abigail, who are the crème de la crumble of doodling.”
I will be forever grateful to Chloe and Abigail, who I genuinely believe have kick started my career. I feel incredibly lucky to have learnt from two inspiring young female designers, who set up their own business from scratch and are rapidly making waves in this industry, at home and abroad.
Thanks for having me.
Go Gryphons!
By Emily Pritchett, Graphic Design Placement
“Emily is a fantastic young creative, and I loved working together. Emily can solve problems using composed creativity – professionally and with a positive attitude. There is true tenacity, which I so admire! I’m confident Emily will continue to achieve and go far.”
It was pure joy to share industry insights, and gain learning from Emily too. It’s always a collaborative approach at Buttercrumble! We’re passionate advocates for the creative industries, so if you have any questions – please do get in touch.
