Talking Creative Careers with BBC Bitesize

Recently I joined BBC Tees and Bitesize on the road to deliver three 1-hour careers sessions to secondary school audiences in Teesside.

I ended up speaking to an audience of 950 pupils at Our Lady at St Bede's school, to inspire the next generation to look at careers in the creative industries. This is a subject very close to my heart and so I positively jumped at the opportunity to be involved! It was an exciting day of Q&A and chatting with the kids.

The panel had a ‘Question Time’ style setup featuring a panel of three professionals, including myself. It was hosted brilliantly by Capital Radio presenter, Sarah Story. 

(L-R) Sarah Story, Rianne Thompson, myself and Nina White

The focus was on my career journey and the educational route that formed part of it, so I was asked to talk about my business and show examples of some of the wonderful work I've been lucky enough to be involved in.

I wanted to offer some insight into the world of creative work and hopefully shine a light on at least one route into the world of design and illustration, that many of the young faces in the audience might not have considered. Judging by the feedback I've had from the day, I did a pretty good job of that! All in all, I was truly struck by the maturity of the questions asked by the pupils. 

The empty hall before the students came in

Speaking from my University Experience, I know how inspirational it can be to hear from people who followed their passion and set a business up themselves, but it can be a continual struggle to have confidence in your talents at such a young age. I wanted to assure the pupils that being in Teesside can provide plenty of opportunities to carve a creative career path for yourself. 

Being interviewed was a great opportunity to reflect on my journey. Keep your eyes peeled next week as I'll be sharing a transcript of the Q&As! 

Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End) Tour Posters are Looking Sharp

Between October 2018 and September 2019, Holly Gallagher is touring her latest show Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End). Holly is a theatre-maker, director and facilitator who was keen to create a recognisable brand for herself and have promotional materials for her shows that will stand out from the crowd. The goal was to create bold promotional items, but also set a distinct style, colour palette, font choices etc. so Holly’s future shows can follow suit.

The show was produced and commissioned by ARC Stockton, and funded by Arts Council England, and supported as part of the Third Angel Mentoring Scheme 2017 in association with Sheffield Theatres.

Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at Your Wit’s End) tells the story of three different characters all experiencing stress. The stage is full of buckets which act as a metaphor for stress, at one point in the show, the audience is asked: Imagine you have a bucket; and all the things you have to cope with in life as water going into that bucket. Raise your hand if your bucket is A) Empty B) Half full C) Overflowing.

After discussing the show over a hot drink with Holly, we decided an illustration involving an overflowing bucket would be perfect for the promotional materials. I included the show description ‘A Show About: Stress, fear, pressure ,sadness, mental health, when things are all a Bit Too Much and then the cat goes missing’ within the bucket which is spiralling into an abyss, much like how it feels when you get so stressed you can’t think straight. Holly also received brand guidelines which give her the colours, fonts etc. she needs to continue using her brand online.

“I have been a fan of Abby’s work for some time now, and have always particularly loved the boldness, detail, and colours used in her work. So when I needed a designer to work on my new show’s poster it was a no-brainer for me to approach Abby.

The process of working with Abby has been a real pleasure! This was my first time using a graphic designer to create content for a show, as well as the largest tour for a piece of work I had put together. So my timeframes, deadlines, and expectations were continually changing. Abby was understanding and flexible with every change that happened, and has been more than generous with her time and dedication to the project.

The final design Abby created is a beautiful piece of artwork and has really done an effective job in advertising the show with countless people complimenting its posters, flyers, and social media images! I’m beyond happy with the professional finish Abby has gifted my show with and am so pleased to have a proper brand design for my future work now too.

I would recommend anyone to Abby for graphic design work if they want a high quality, fast, flexible, and personable experience!”

— Holly Gallagher

Holly Gallagher’s stage set up for Tensile Strength (or How to Survive at your Wit’s End). Photo by Davey Poremba