Last week, I attended graduation for my Masters in Heritage and Interpretation at the University of Leicester. The run up to graduation day has left me reflecting on my undergraduate graduation for my degree in Graphic Design back in 2012. Lots has changed!

I’m using this as a bit of impetus to start writing more. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed, but lost my way over the years. One of the reasons for going back to studying was to shake myself out of the familiar, and question what it means to be a designer. Over the years I had mentally separated the ‘creative’ and the ‘academic’ because that’s what the tone was back when I was studying my undergraduate degree in Graphic Design. I parked writing and, to an extent, true critical study.

But, hey! Here I am now, having completed a 2-year course in museum studies, critically thinking about broad, fascinating, infuriating, challenging, uplifting and important topics. Stretching my writing muscles again that were withered since my A-Level English days.

But how did I get here?

My undergraduate design degree was equal measures of joy and frustration. I’d love to say I graduated with a buoyed sense of my creative talent and potential but, in truth, I didn’t quite know where I fit in the graphic design world. Throughout the course, I didn’t have an instant affinity with one particular aspect of design. No pull to web design, no award-winning font design, I wasn’t a brand wizard and I couldn’t really draw. I looked around at my course-mates and one-by-one everyone seemed to find their thing. The problem was, I liked everything. Like a magpie I dabbled in a bit of everything, but never feeling like I’d hit my stride.

Much of the work we did was heavily self-directed. We were often given small, open briefs from which to explore our creativity. While some I did find freeing, I mostly found them frustrating, I lacked the impetus to get going as everyone around me cracked out these Pentagram-worthy visuals..

I’ve worked as a designer for the last 12 years since my degree, cutting my teeth on every type of media imaginable across various corporate and commercial briefs. I learnt fast. Those small things which you can’t possibly learn at university, both technical and the realities of changing ideas and client needs. I grew in creativity, skill and confidence over the early years, but still hadn’t found my thing.

After five years I was at a juncture where I needed to assess what I’d learnt and where my skills and personal motives best fit. And, if I’m honest, I was beginning to feel less umpf in design purely intended to sell. My personal and professional lives are intertwined and I’m grateful that I was in a privileged position that I could step back and choose what to do next.

In my personal life I had always had an interest in museums and cultural experiences. But would you believe it, I never actually considered someone designed these. But when I looked, I looked. This led me to joining creative studio, Fuzzy Duck, with a desire to explore the heritage sector, not just as a visitor anymore, but to go ‘behind the curtain’. The next 6 years were a whirlwind of creating physical exhibitions, digital interactives, apps, film, animation, and being part of multi-contractor interpretive experiences.

The more I worked on these wonderful projects in a design capacity I got more interested in how interpretive experiences are developed. For one reason or another, some projects came in not fully formed, there was a topic to interpret but it hadn’t been realised yet. I was drawn to these projects, often bridging the gap between museum teams and end-production. I progressed to a new role as Senior Creative Lead, meaning I could work across creative direction, interpretive planning, and content development. I was no longer restricted to simply graphic design, but starting to explore interpretation design as an integrated field of study.

As a way of dipping my toe in the water I completed short courses in interpretation and attended various conferences. I had the pleasure of meeting fascinating interpretation practitioners, all of who only further cemented my wish to develop my skills in how to interpret heritage sites, objects and stories.

After the world-changing pandemic and time to think in the various lockdowns I decided to jump in fully and pursue a postgraduate degree in interpretation. As mentioned at the start, the last two years have been a refreshing and revitalising time of study, meeting new people and broadening my understanding of the museum and cultural sector. It also, ironically, led me back to loving design again. The core values of audience and message in interpretation design is what suits my magpie nature, as the output could be many things! Going forward I’m not concerning myself with labels of things such as ‘digital’ or ‘print’ designer. But simply Designer and Creative Producer – being able to morph and adjust to what a particular story or audience needs. I can’t wait to see where the next 12 years takes me!