Lunch With The Hepworth's Graphic Designer - Rachel Oliver

In order to speak to the Hepworth's graphic designer, Rachel Oliver, I asked my supervisor to put me in touch with her. This meant that she was more likely to respond as I was being referred by a trustworthy source. I sent her an email explaining how I admire her work and would like to learn more about her practice and get some advice. In the email I was polite and flattering, I also kept it fairly informal with a smiley face and emojis in the subject line - this was to make sure the email reflected my personality. She responded immediately and we arranged to meet the next day. I was nervous for this, but the meeting felt incredibly mature and I found it easy to view her as an equal as we discussed design.

Rachel Oliver has worked in some truly aspirational places such as the V&A and at 20:20 in New York. We discussed that in every piece of work she does she needs to find a driving force behind it, otherwise she becomes incredibly bored. As a designer you cannot be complacent. This was important for me to hear and immediately gave me a certain level of motivation. She suggested that to have success it's important to read a lot about design and heavily research grids, which are also two things I hope to improve in future.

She suggested that when I move to Coventry, I should send things to people in and around the area - including Birmingham. She said to make sure my personal branding and Instragram is of a high standard. She also suggested I should offer to do pieces for free and make contacts in any way possible - these are all things I will adhere to.

We also talked about our own projects and she gave me some interesting advice about design for exhibition posters which has influenced my own practice. She suggested that adding a coloured filter over a photograph can heighten it's contemporary aesthetic and is often used for gallery branding. After this discussion I began noticing this tecnique more and more and adopted a varitaiton of it in my own work. We also discussed her work - and a garden catalogue which she has been tasked with. She said she was struggling with this, so I resolved to brainstorm some ideas for it which she could potentially use for inspiration - furthering our connection.

Meeting Notes

Notes for Rachel's Garden Book

I contacted Rachel again, asking her if she would be interesting in having me shadow her for a day or several. However, since she is only at the Hepworth 3 days a week and doesn't have much desk space, she had to decline. Instead we met up for lunch again to discuss out work further. This was again very beneficial and as a result I have made a useful connection. She also said that if there was ever a need for an intern, she would be back in touch.

Overall this has been a very beneficial and motivating experience. It has given me a better idea of what being a designer for a gallery is like and Rachel's experiences have given me something to aspire to. I hope to work with her in future one day.