Creative Lives

Our guest this week is Phoenix Perry, an independent game designer, lecturer, and activist, and was recorded on July 27th in London. Born and raised in the states, Phoenix moved to London in 2015, joining Goldsmiths as a lecturer, where she established her own MA programme.

With a love of making things, building communities and exploring topics close to her heart, Phoenix has already lived a few different lives both creatively and professionally – from attending art school, to becoming a touring artist, band member and gallerist, then finding success in the world of advertising, before giving that up to pursue a more fulfilling and independent path.

She fills us in on the current landscape in game design, why she decided to co-found an organisation to teach women and non-gender conforming individuals to code, and her advice on starting out.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Indi Davies and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

Our guest this week is photography agent Rosie Wadey. Rosie has worked at East Photographic, a London based agency representing talent including photographers, set designers, and stylists, since 2014. She starts by telling us what her role looks like, how she describes the job of an agent and the essential skills she uses every day.

Rosie’s career in photography began at the London College of Fashion, where she embarked on a BA in fashion photography in 2009, straight after completing her A-levels. But she soon found herself frustrated with the course’s lack of business training and real-word experience, and decided to make that first year her last. She reflects on the realisation that taking the pictures wasn’t necessarily for her, before making a B-line for the production and representation side of photography.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Indi Davies and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

At school, most of us are taught not to do your research on the internet. But for motion designer Jace Harrison-Crowley, it’s proved to be his most valuable resource: “It is the dictionary, or encyclopaedia. For better or worse, if you’re looking for something, you’ll be able to find it.”

For the past two years, Jace has been working at luxury fashion brand Stella McCartney as part of the brand’s first ever in-house motion design team; a role that has seen him work on everything from look books and videos for the brand’s Instagram page to billboard displays for Piccadilly Circus. On the podcast this week, he talks us through some pivotal projects; his work with architectural collective In Situ; and discusses some considerations of producing work for online platforms.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Marianne Hanoun and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

The likes of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, designer Kate Moross and even theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli have found themselves in front of Lauren Maccabee’s lens. Having graduated just three years ago from the University of Brighton, it’s an impressive feat for any emerging photographer.

But for Lauren, it’s always just been about capturing people, regardless of whether they’re a household name or her own sister. On the podcast this week, she chats staying calm behind the camera and instilling confidence in the people in front of it.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Marianne Hanoun and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

This week we find out how our multitalented podcast guest, Nicole Crentsil, went from a degree in product design to carving out her own unique path, acquiring a number of job titles along the way. By day, Nicole is head of partnerships and marketing at Creative Mentor Network, a charity connecting diverse young talent with industry. But in her own time, Nicole is also a speaker for platforms like TEDx, and the founder and curator of Black Girl Festival and Unmasked Women.

We find out how her journey has unfolded so far, and she imparts her advice for others who might also be questioning following the ‘right’ path: “Don’t panic. Those traditional routes aren’t the only way. There’s just so much more you can do.”

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Indi Davies and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

In this week’s podcast we get to know Otegha Uwagba, whose job title spans a diverse range of roles – from author and journalist, to brand consultant and speaker. As the founder of advice-based platform Women Who, she’s become something of a role model in the field of self-designed career paths. We talked to her about everything from the benefits of personal branding and building a diverse skill set, to how in-house experience can pave the way for success as a freelancer.

Otegha’s journey proves that drawing on multiple skills and turning a topic of interest into your specialism can really set you apart in the world of work. Earlier this year she was featured in Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list, and she is also a Sunday Times bestselling author, thanks to her first title, Little Black Book. With her regular output including writing, hosting events and workshops, all the way to brand consultancy, she begins by sharing her approach to professional plate-spinning – from time management to planning.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Indi Davies and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

Our guest this week is Anoushka Rodda, co-founder and managing director of London-based design studio TEMPLO. Anoushka gives us insight into what happens when you graduate as a designer, but discover new and unexpected roles in your field; roles that are far better suited to your skill set and character.

Taking a job as a designer at agency The Parters straight out of college,

Anoushka soon found that the design part of her role wasn’t the bit that excited her most, as she became more interested in the strategic and client-facing side of the work.

Joining renowned branding and communication studio NB as an account executive, Anouska stayed on at the company for nine years, progressing to account manager, account director and eventually associate partner. Then in 2013, she started her own business, together with partner Pali Palavathanan.

Anoushka tells us some of the most unexpected parts of her job, her advice on discovering alternative roles in design, and her thoughts on what makes for a rewarding internship.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Indi Davies and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

In this week’s podcast, we chat to Matthew Tinsley, a freelance postvis supervisor and compositor for visual effects, based in London. Specialised in feature films, over the past few years, Matthew has worked on titles including the recently released Jurassic World, Paddington and the last three Bond films. Often working out of production houses Soho, Matthew describes the process, timeline and scale of his projects, as well as the skills involved.

As an ever-evolving and expanding global industry, he tells us where VFX is flourishing across the world, and offers his advice for aspiring VFX artists and those hoping to work in feature films. He also shares his tips on what makes for an attention-grabbing showreel, and why it’s so important to build and maintain good relationships.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Indi Davies and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

Innocent Drinks are known for their uniquely chatty and conversational tone of voice. Whether it’s a playful product description or pun-filled posters, their decision to ditch cold corporate terminology has helped them stand out from the crowd. This week, we visited Fruit Towers, Innocent’s astroturf-lined headquarters in West London to chat to Hayley Redman, the brand's senior copywriter and self-professed ‘brand guardian’. She tells us more about her journey to the juice brand, shares some essential tips for budding copywriters, and how to go about writing copy that’s both funny and friendly.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Marianne Hanoun and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

After graduating with a BA in animation from the University of the West of England in 2013, Oliver spent four years at Cartoon Network Europe, working on the animated TV series, The Amazing World of Gumball, before recently going freelance.

Starting out as a character design assistant, and later a storyboard revisionist, his role sees him work alongside a director to plan episodes. And after reading the script, Oliver will spend up to a week drawing it out as panels that will tell a story. Although studying animation helps with this, for Oliver, studying comedy has proved just as important.

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This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Marianne Hanoun and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand patrons – they include ustwo, GF Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.