Open Studio

Shillington

0.0 (0)
Design

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.

30m ago

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_/ · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeweaver/ Find OneMay: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onemaystudio/ · LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/onemaystudio/
30m ago

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.
Aug 10

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 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseom_creative/
Aug 10

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/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/studio-antigravity/ Find Jordan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-yates-a8881b6a/ Find Rachel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-cook-009618133/
Aug 4

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 Studio Good Work: https://www.instagram.com/studio.goodwork/
Aug 3

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/ Yas Banks' Website - https://yasbanks.co.uk/

6 Episodes

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.

Creator

Shillington
Years Active

2026
Episodes

6
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2026 Shillington
Show Website

Open Studio