Christian Schubert, Designer at I Love Dust

The phrase ‘find your dream job’ is often batted around—so much so that it can be received as being slightly disingenuous. Inviting questions like, Who are these people getting their dream jobs? Do they really exist? Disbelief surrounding the pursuit of said dream job is justifiable, especially in the creative industry when competition reigns supreme. However, every so often the words ‘dream job’ do ring true and for Christian Schubert it really has happened. 

Juggling freelance Illustration clients with a job as assistant manager at UK stationery chain, WHSmith, Christian enrolled at Shillington to broaden his skill set so he could turn his attentions to a full-time career in design. During his three months on the full-time course in London he worked day and night to realise his goal and leave with a portfolio which represented his skills as an Illustrator as well as showcasing his new abilities as a graphic designer. His ambition was effervescent, even involving the carving of not one but two breeze-blocks for his Handmade project. 

Following graduation in December 2016, Christian landed an internship at his ‘dream’ studio I Love Dust which has since developed into a full-time role. Read on to hear about Christian’s experience of life as a designer so far and his highlights from Shillington.

You’ve just landed a job at branding/illustration studio I Love Dust. How does it feel to be part of a team who’ve worked for some major clients such as Nike & Pepsi?

Insane! If someone had told me that in just a few weeks after graduating from Shillington I would be working on projects for Nike at one of the coolest agencies out there, I would have told them to lie down in a dark room with a wet towel to cool the fever they were clearly suffering from.

Everything has happened so fast that I can’t quite believe I am actually here.

I Love Dust are known for their incredible illustrative work. No stranger to Illustration yourself having had a previous career in the field was securing this role something of a dream position for you?

Oh definitely. It’s a dream to be working at a place as fun as this and to actually make a living doing what I love. I could never make enough money freelancing as an illustrator, and had to supplement my income working at WHSmiths. So I am super appreciative to be working on a whole range of exciting projects and learning from a bunch of amazingly cool talented people.

Can you tell us a bit about the work you’ve done so far at I Love Dust? Do you think your days at Shillington prepared you for a life in a fast paced studio?

So far I have worked on some fun projects for Nike, created logos and patterns for a local coffee shop and have worked on a really cool project for Toyota. It’s great as the creative director, Mark Graham, gives you a lot of freedom to do your thing, as long as it’s tonally right. Yes! Shillington absolutely helped prepare me for design in real life. Much like Shillo, most projects here are only a day long.

That discipline and focus Shillington teaches you is absolutely vital to surviving the crazy fast paced environment of the real world.

How would you describe your experience at Shillington? Any particular highlights or memorable moments from the 3 months?

Shillington was life changing. The tutors were super inspiring and and made you feel like you could achieve anything. One highlight that stands out was the briefing we got for a nightclub flyer. We were briefed by the eccentric hipster nightclub owner via Skype who was a cross between Flava Flay and Eminem. He was quite the character, and could only sit on his seat sideways. Turns out it was one of our tutors in disguise. The whole class was in hysterics. That’s another reason why Shillington is so special.

The teachers really go out of their way to give you the best experience possible.

Another highlight was definitely graduation night. It was just a really special evening. After such a tough couple of weeks beforehand, to walk around and see what everyone had achieved in such a short space of time just made you feel really good about life

You decided to make a newspaper format for your eventual portfolio—what was your reasoning for doing this and how did you find the portfolio element of the course?

The newspaper portfolio was suggested to me by one of my tutors Andy. He felt it would suit my style  which was illustration heavy and kind of quirky. In the end I was really pleased with how it turned out. And the best thing about printing it as a newspaper was that I had multiple copies, which I used as a leave behind at the final show and then as a self promotional piece when looking for jobs. That’s how I got my initial placement at I Love Dust. I sent them my newspaper and the next day they invited me down for a week.

Portfolio time was intense! I had a shorter deadline than most as the place I printed my folio, The Newspaper Club, took a little longer than other printers. I pretty much didn’t sleep because of this, but all the tutors helped numb the pain by creating such a positive, fun and structured environment to work in. You never felt alone either, which is so important when working to super tight deadlines. Shout out to Andy for getting me through the week as my assigned mentor. Couldn’t have done it without you bud!

Finally, do you have any tips of wisdom for our current students studying on both full-time and part-time as they work towards their portfolios and enter the industry?

I think what helped me most was always keeping the portfolio front of mind. Any brief you do at Shillo could potentially be a portfolio piece, so try and make the most of every opportunity there. Spend your free time wisely. Improve a piece of work you were not happy with, try to improve everything you have worked on. Practice is so important. And remember, in just 3 months you could change your life. But in order for that to happen you have to put the work in.

So put your life on hold for a bit as you’ll have a better one to go back to!

Head to Christian’s website to see more of his Shillington portfolio or follow him on Instagram for regular updates. 

If like Christian you’re hoping to add more context to your creativity our next intake for full-time is mere months away. Find out more about course dates on our website or come along to one of our info sessions to meet our staff and graduates.