My Placement at Buttercrumble: Harry
My name is Harry Mabbs, I am a student at the University of Leeds studying Graphic and Communication Design. Not many people can say that their employer did the same course as them at the same University – but I can! When I first emailed Chloe and Abigail, they were so welcoming and supportive of my goal to secure a design placement. Along each step of the way, they have gone out of their way to support my development as a designer and I couldn’t be more grateful to them.
Illustration by: Harry Mabbs
Working at Buttercrumble has been an experience packed with learning, insight and fun. At the end of the day, that’s why any of us designers do what we do, because we genuinely have a passion to produce amazing design work. Buttercrumble is an agency which has this at their heart. I have been most surprised by the amount of different sectors that require illustration. Buttercrumble’s clients are from a range of different sectors so I have enjoyed watching how each design challenge is tackled depending on the company and brand guidelines. Also, it has been invaluable to see how Buttercrumble uses marketing to drive business and potential new clients to the agency. I have learnt the power of marketing yourself and the various ingenious ways of doing this, such as: networking events, interactive social media posts, and engaging blog content. It was surprising to see the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes in a creative studio environment. I have been eager to learn about this and Chloe and Abigail have been more than supportive in showing me the inner workings of Buttercrumble.
I have enjoyed working with the brand ‘Cub’ the most who have a Scandinavian set of brand guidelines. I like working with the design assets Buttercrumble has created for Cub as they are very creative and have shown me the importance of keeping to brand guidelines in order to maintain consistency and constantly engage a customer base. I have also enjoyed shadowing Chloe and Abigail. They have taught me their tricks of the trade and I am very grateful! As designers and as business owners, Chloe and Abigail have shown me how to be a more efficient designer and deal with design challenges to complete a brief to the best standard and understand what a client is looking for.
Whilst at Buttercrumble, the most challenging part was juggling different tasks and prioritising which client work should take precedence. However, with regular meetings and check-ups, I began to feel confident to manage and prioritise which briefs needed the most time or attention. Coming from studying at University to an industry environment can be a bit of a challenge, one minute you’re listening to your lecturer wondering if you will ever get to put what you hear into practice, then you are in this amazing creative environment working on live, real-world briefs. Buttercrumble has made this transition smooth and interesting, and I have loved being thrown in at the deep end but also given the utmost support and guidance.
I am inspired by the work of designers who don’t represent objects and forms in the conventional way. I like seeing a designer’s unique interpretation of creativity. For example, Nate Kitch’s almost ‘Guernica’ and ‘Piccassoist’ style of illustration is intriguing. The texture and shape Kitch uses to me, is different and feels like a visual puzzle which the eye digests and makes sense of. Moreover, the use of multimedia in illustration interests the eye and means that the viewer is constantly intrigued by the work. This sense of representing the human form in a disjointed and geometric way inspires my work and links back to my desire to not present things in a conventional way regarding illustration. Another illustrator who inspires me and informs my design thinking is Nick Dwyer. Dwyer is the illustrator behind the amazing artwork for Beavertown. His can designs have always intrigued me, again creating this complex and intriguing visual artwork. I appreciate the way a designer or illustrator can tell a story with their work and draw people’s attention. This is an element I strive to have in my design work. Buttercrumble have been instrumental in developing my creative voice and have constantly supported me along the way.
Thank you to Chloe and Abigail! I am so appreciative of them making time for me amongst their busy schedules.
By Harry Mabbs, Graphic Design Placement
