Meet Eve: Six months as a Junior Creative

I’m Eve, Great State’s Junior Creative!

I started at Great State 6 months ago. Today I find myself designing all things creative for the Royal Navy's social channels. My role involves a mix of shaping new ideas to developing existing ones beyond visual expectations. I love that I'm creating scroll-stopping visuals for users to interact with online and I'm finding collaborating on ideas and pushing pixels to turn them into a reality super satisfying.

So safe to say, I'm in the right place! But I very nearly ended up with an all together different kind of career...

So, how did I get from studying business to being a creative in a busy digital agency?

Getting started

Initially, I was adamant I would study business at university. I developed a passion for it during my A-levels and a few years later, I found myself with multiple university offers to study Business with Advertising.

But then my brother and I got talking. He's an amazing strategist and has a lot of experience working in agencies. He showed me how I could turn my passion for branding businesses; all things logos, packaging design and illustration, into a career that I hadn’t known existed before.

During my A-levels, I applied for some work experience at Great State after my brother suggested I consider a career as a Graphic Designer... and I haven’t looked back since.

I spent a week shadowing Lead Creative, Lucy, which made me realise that studying Graphic Design at university was what I wanted to do. During that week I had the opportunity to experience the creative world of briefs, brainstorming, and the utopian world of ✨Adobe✨. Not only that, but Lucy proved to a 17-year-old female that she can, too, grow to become an important, talented and influential woman in the world of a digital. A pretty impactful week…

Taking a chance

Three years later I Graduated from Arts University Bournemouth with a degree in Graphic Design. I then travelled across South East Asia to expand my experiences and, after returning, I put together my first portfolio.

Great State wasn't advertising a role at the time but I took a chance and sent it through. The team got back to me quickly and I was given a mock-brief, asked to submit 2-3 design routes and then presented these back to the Creative Director. It was a bit nerve wracking but they put me at ease - ultimately they just wanted to see me succeed!

So seven years after completing my work experience - I was taken on as their Junior Creative!

Whilst university is an amazing space to learn initial skills, nothing will beat actually seeing your work in interaction with real clients and users. Especially as my role involves quick adaptation to an ever-changing world of social. Being in a fast-paced industry keeps me on my toes, and having the chance to express my creativity through my work is very fulfilling.

6 months into my role, where am I now? Well, it's been pretty hands on! I’ve visited the Marines training centre, helped concept ideas for their new upcoming campaigns and worked with the Royal Navy on elevating the website experience (check out our Webby Award win). I'm working to bring a Gen Z perspective on all things digital, from their social media recruitment efforts to modernising CRM designs.

I often find myself comparing how different my job is to something like maths, for example. In the creative world there’s never a definite answer; there’s always a way to progress, develop, and grow from ideas. That’s the beauty of my job. I always find myself expanding my skills and ideation.

Once it’s right, you’ll be thinking “how was it ever anything else before?”. And the beauty of the Great State team is that there are so many talented people to conceptualise, develop and adapt ideas with. 

Six months in

I’m thriving from being thrown into the fast paced, deep-end and continuing to learn every day.

Our team is always one step ahead when it comes to jumping on trends and new ideas. Recently we've been exploring the world of AI and seeing how we can maximise some key features to include in our concepts.

Today, Lucy is my manager, and a recent conversation with her has remained at the front of my mind. She reminded me of the importance of my work, how it's helping people see how a life in the Navy could help them thrive. It makes my job feel fulfilling, not only from a design perspective, but also because of the positive impact it's having in the real world.

6 months has absolutely flown by and I feel like I’ve learnt and grown so much as a designer. Jumping forward to another 6 months, I can imagine I will have even more skills and confidence and work to be proud of; I’m sure looking forward to it.

Interested in working with us?

We're always on the hunt for more great people to join our talented team. Take a look at our current vacancies here.