Meet Keir M Barnett, Shillington Manchester Graduate

Keir Mucklestone-Barnett always knew he wanted a creative career but didn’t realise it was graphic design that he enjoyed most until completing a degree in Fine Art at University. It was shortly after graduation when Keir  found himself enthralled by visual communication, ‘creating typographic posters and animations using large text and vivid colours’. Eager to learn more Keir began to search  for alternatives to another long-winded educational route, which led him to Shillington.

Since graduating from the 9 month part-time course in July 2015 Keir’s been rocketing his way into some of Manchester’s best design studios such as Music and Holden’s. 

You may have already seen a snapshot of Keir’s portfolio in Shillington Post 05—The Anniversary Issue. Read on to hear more about Keir’s decision for studying at Shillington, his highlights from the course and top tips for current students. 

You studied fine art before enrolling at Shillington, what made you realise you were better suited to graphic design?

I did a 3 year BA Degree in Fine Art, specialising in sculpture and time based media—it wasn’t until we were getting ready to put up our final show that I decided fine art wasn’t for me and instead I started creating typographic posters and animations using large text and vivid colours. I didn’t truly understand what direction I was taking until I reflected on the work and saw that I still wanted to make things and be creative but my interest was in graphic design. I suppose doing a degree is just as valuable at showing you what you don’t want to do, as well as what you do.

Having the experience of learning in a creative environment did mean that I approached design in a unique way which has definitely helped develop my style and responding to briefs.

Why did you decide on Shillington rather than another education provider?

After graduating and finding that I was totally obsessed with graphic design, I started to work on projects for friends and designing work for myself, unfortunately doing this solely from YouTube videos and books was a real struggle for both motivation and gaining important critical feedback. Looking at local MA courses I was disappointed, 2 years part time was too long and they didn’t seem to produce the kind of portfolio I needed. After looking online for short courses that could improve my technical skills and teach me the theory and principals of graphic design I found Shillington. I knew that from the first graduate show I visited that this was the right course for me because it was intensive, focused and I could reach my goal within 9 Months. Fast forward almost 3 years later, 5 graduate show visits, 2 open days and some serious saving I was ready to enrol.

What made you decide to study on the part-time course? Did you study while managing other commitments throughout the course and if so, how did you balance the two?

The part-time course was the only option for me as I had a full time job working in administration at a University. Balancing full-time work and the part-time course was a real challenge for me and there was a lot of late nights, but ultimately it came down to planning my time carefully which did mean seeing less of friends, my wife and pretty much anything social and it meant more research, concept development and time learning the Creative Cloud programs. For me, it was important during the hard times to remember why I was doing the course, I wanted to be a graphic designer and learn the skills you need to have to make your way in the industry.

The late nights, early mornings and saying no to friends was, ultimately worth it.

Can you tell us about your experience of Shillington? What part of the journey did you enjoy the most and why?

My experience was great, from the very start the tutors built up my knowledge in digestible steps, mixing technical skills with the theory of how to apply them. It was invaluable having someone with of you who had industry experience and who could give constructive criticism of work in a way which helped push my work further and create more successful responses to briefs (and let you know the keyboard short cuts, which will slash a project time in half!). One of my most enjoyable sessions was a guest lecture from Bruno Maag from Dalton Maag type foundry, not only was he funny and passionate about typography and graphic design but he delivered some real truths, ‘remember, we are not artists. We are designers. We have a job to do’.

Are you pleased with your portfolio, is it what you expected to graduate with when you started the course?

I’m very proud of my portfolio, it contains work that I never thought I’d be able to produce at the start of the course.

It’s helped give me confidence in my work, I’m now happy to show people my work and talk through the details and concepts of my project. It’s also helped me get 2 internships and paid freelance work so it’s doing its job!

We’re big fans of the variety of work you created at Shillington, do you have a favourite project or an area of design that you find most appealing?

Thank you! I think my favourite project would be the ‘Street food to end street food’, the brief was to design a campaign for something that might be perceived to have an image problem. I did mine for the homeless charity Shelter and I wanted to show that the approach to not giving spare change to the homeless could be combated with giving your time, a conversation or food.

It was really great to design for a social cause as I think designers have a responsibility to use their skills for positive social impact for the world we live in.

I went down the route of creating very lo-fi posters with inspiration taken from traditional Mexican and Indian street food signs, with bold colours and typography to advertise an event for the community and the homeless population to get together to create street food to sell. I’d like to work more with non for profits and the cultural sector because of it.

How have you found life since graduating? Would you say it’s been a positive experience with regards to career options?

Life has been good since graduating, I decided to quit my admin job and get stuck into getting as much experience as possible—this has been the most terrifying and the most exciting step I’ve taken and I’m not looking back. I’ve interned at two Manchester agencies, Music and Holden’s which has been amazing, it’s a whole different league working in an agency but going in at the deep end is the only way to learn how the industry works and to refine your craft.

I was confident that I had the skills to make an impact because of Shillington.

I’m also freelancing with clients such as The Manchester School of Art and Cartwheel Arts and i’m looking forward to working with more clients and studios in 2017.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking about enrolling at Shillington?

Treat it like a job, turn up on time, engage with every lesson and listen to advice from your peers and tutors. You’ll never know what conversation will spark an idea or improve your design. Oh and Command + Z, you’ll use that one, a lot.

Follow Keir’s design journey by following him for regular updates on Twitter and Instagram. 

If you’re interested in retraining as a graphic designer Shillington may be the place for you! Come along to one of our info sessions to find out more and ask us any questions.