How I Became a Designer
Hello, Chloe here!👋🏼
I’ve always been creative and had a passion for art and design. I guess you could say my creative career started in art. I’d spend hours drawing and painting; I also took on the odd commission. These days, it’s just a hobby and a way for me to de-stress. Check out some of my art below.
I first began designing during my college years. A few people approached me to design logos for their wedding invites or I’d just design things for friends and other business ventures. I didn’t have any Adobe softwares back then, so my designs were hand drawn and scanned to my laptop or created on a Word doc... this was even before Canva’s time. I found the thought of using Photoshop and Illustrator daunting and was happy to stick to the more traditional approach of art and design. Below is some of my earliest design work… not bad for a girl without Adobe nor a design background.
A card I made for my friend when she passed her driving test.
A flyer I designed to promote my art. Now my skills have improved, the layout is triggering my design OCD.
A logo for a wedding invite.
Ariana Grande merchandise re-design.
Hand-drawn Dolphin design.
One of my favourite designs from my clothing brand.
Fast forward a few years later, I was working at a small technical print company. During this time I set up a sustainable and ethical clothing brand, still hand-drawing my designs instead of using Adobe (old habits die hard). I soon realised how tough the fashion industry is and put the brand on hold, but I did learn a lot about the industry that was interesting. Please avoid fast fashion when possible.
Still at the technical print company, I became more interested in design and finally learnt Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. It actually wasn’t as daunting as I feared and something I found reassuring was a close friend telling me “I’ve been using Illustrator for 8 years and I’m still learning new things on it” - technology and softwares are constantly evolving so there’s always something new to learn. Thanks to YouTube, an online course for a Level 4 Diploma in Graphic Design and popular design books, I quickly picked up the skills I needed. I wasn’t in a position to study a degree and with my natural creative talents, I thought surely I can learn everything I need to know about design on the internet. With YouTube tutorials, online courses and newsletters, you can learn anything. I soon started designing brochures and social media posts for the company I worked for. After 3 months of learning Illustrator, I received my first client!
In my bedroom studying design and branding.
I quickly completed Google’s UX Design Certification. I took the graduation pictures to replace the school photo of me from 10 years ago my mum still had on the living room wall.
After a few months of building my portfolio, I studied UX Design with Google. Their online courses are great btw! I completed the course in half the time I was expected to - I’m impatient and like to get things done so I can move onto the next, this trait is useful in some situations but not ideal in others. Just 2 weeks after receiving my certification, I landed a job in UX/UI Design for an insurance company.
Now in 2023, I’m running Wilkin Design and taking on freelance projects. I also work on personal projects to continue developing my design skills.
- Chloe Wilkin, owner of Wilkin Design
