“No matter the sector, brief, even country, ideas are the common currency”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

How do you transition, as a graphic designer, from an advertising/marketing agency to a creative studio? For those who have made that transition, was the change worth it?

I’ve been on the fence about making this career transition, but I know for certain that working in a creative agency is something I would want to try. I find that my portfolio is lacking projects that would help me get into that kind of industry. What are some things recruiters/creative agencies look for when it comes to an applicant’s portfolio?

Katie Cadwell, co-founder of branding studio Lucky Dip and The NDA Podcast:

What an exciting move — it’s absolutely something you can do. I love the idea that careers are made up of chapters. And we’re fortunate that creativity is one of the most transferable skills there is. To break down your question into a few points…

When it comes to portfolios, people are looking for ideas, ideas and more ideas. Craft, style and technical skill is something that can be taught on the job. Great creative directors will be looking at how you solve problems, or examples of original thinking. Whether that’s a smart copyline or identifying how to tap into a specific audience in a brief. If your current portfolio isn’t giving this insight to your process, it’s worth revisiting your projects with this in mind. Focus on demonstrating your thinking and then practise how you’re going to walk someone through it. Being able to sell your ideas is what they’ll be looking for too.

Having worked across both industries, I had the same trepidations about transitioning as you. But we come back to my point on ideas. No matter the sector, brief, even country, ideas are the common currency. Think of your history as an advantage. Most creative studios find their project contacts are in the marketing department. You’ll be bringing a wealth of insider knowledge — so position yourself as an asset. All studios are looking to build diverse teams that come from different backgrounds.

Is it worth it? The beauty of working at a studio (or running one in my case) is that you’re asked to apply your creativity to a myriad of problems. From how a business raises investment, all the way down to how their LinkedIn posts attract talent. My biased point of view is that it's the best place to work in the world. You’ll never be bored. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be more chapters to come for us.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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