So first off, tell us a little bit about you?
My name’s Deanna, and I’m an integrated-designer and illustrator currently living and working in London. During the day you can find me working as a Senior Designer & Illustrator with IRIS Worldwide, and by night usually illustrating or adventuring around for ice-cream and a good film to watch. I’m originally from Canada, where I completed a Bachelor of Design and have been working in the industry ever since in various roles from in-house, to small studios to most recently a large agency.
What path led you to your current position with IRIS Worldwide?
I started right out of school, working in-house and job-hopping a little with studios and in-house companies to figure out what I was interested in. I learned very valuable lessons, and enhanced my skills but I was never very actively engaged in those roles so I took a leap and moved to London.
I came to London without a job (oops), but within the week found work with a small branding and digital comms studio, where I stayed for 3 years. I loved working in a role where I was actively engaged with my clients and consistently working on something new. This is where I really started developing my illustrations and cheekily knitting them into any client project I could. It was fantastic to work with a tight-knit team, and have creative control, but I knew it was time to keep challenging myself.
This year, IRIS reached out to me as they were looking for an illustrator/designer, which was a dream, and I knew it was the next step for me. I wanted a role where I could continue to learn from a larger team, while managing my own projects and having the chance to work with larger brands, and of course, illustrate! I’ve always had the mindset to take new opportunities especially if you are way too comfortable with your current situation, and I can happily say I am being challenged by my new role on a daily basis.
What are your goals for the near future?
I’ve really enjoyed the flexibility and creativity that comes from freelance projects, so I am hoping to continue to grow this side of my work. And of course, to keep learning. As an illustrator, it feels like second nature to bring motion into illustrations, and therefore I am set on adding motion as an added skill to enhance my work.
As many of us are aware women are paid less than their male counterparts, is this something you have personally experienced in the workplace?
I have! And from a young age too. We’ve been told over and over again to not talk about our salaries. However, it’s been through open, candid conversations about salary that I’ve discovered that many times I was being under-paid compared to male counterparts (even female counterparts) for doing the same job.
It’s pivotal that salary isn’t a taboo topic, otherwise we won’t be able to move forward or champion equal wages.
What should companies be doing to tackle this worldwide issue?
That’s a difficult one, and I wish it had a simple answer, but I do think there is a place we can start.
When we think of the wage gap, there are two aspects to it. The first is, the scenario when two people who are doing the same job are not paid the same amount. Companies need to level the playing-field here, and if they are not willing to do so, it’s important that we foster a culture where we can be open about salaries, to prevent these occurrences from happening. The second is when we look at people in more senior positions (who are generally receiving high salaries), we do not see a lot of diversity there, which is driving the wage gap even further. A lot of inequality comes from not having under-represented groups in more senior/leadership roles and this can be altered by promoting internal growth and championing under-represented candidates.
Getting females involved in these top-line roles, and actively removing bias would help to champion female creatives and begin to tip the scales a bit.
Getting females involved in these top-line roles, and actively removing bias would help to champion female creatives and begin to tip the scales a bit.
Do you believe there is bias within the industry to employ men over women due to the ‘threat’ of maternity leave?
100% and it’s fantastic now that there are laws in place where you cannot ask questions such as “Are you married?”, “Do you plan to have kids?” etc. I think it’s really helped to account for some of those biases that can arise quite quickly.
What can the creative industries do to combat this?
Oddly enough, I think one solution is more equality around the subject of mat/pat leave. If we can move away from the cultural mindset of females being the primary caretaker of children, this question wouldn’t remain such a threat to females in the workforce. If we were more encouraging towards paternity leave, and splitting time, this bias wouldn’t sit solely on a female's shoulders.
Companies should make it clear they want to offer equitable options to their employees and focus on ensuring you have a work/life/balance, rather than viewing pregnancy/kids as a burden or a women’s only category.
Companies should make it clear they want to offer equitable options to their employees and focus on ensuring you have a work/life/balance, rather than viewing pregnancy/kids as a burden or a women’s only category.
Just as women are gravely affected, so are minority groups; do you think in the last 5-10 years there has been any improvement in diversity within creative jobs?
I think we’re just getting started. With recent events, it’s really opened up the playing field for creatives from minority groups. Agencies, studios, people in general are looking to make diverse decisions and look a bit harder in terms of talent.
There is still a huge lack of diversity in the creative industry, but that also comes from the opportunities from a young age minorities can be given. I think now conversations are happening on both ends, which will hopefully see a rise of under-represented groups following creative paths, and further being hired into these roles.
The next step would be to make sure these under-represented groups have the same opportunities to move into senior level positions down the line once they’re ready.
The next step would be to make sure these under-represented groups have the same opportunities to move into senior level positions down the line once they’re ready.
What can be done to create more equal opportunities for women and POC?
Many companies talk about diversity, equality and inclusion, but very few walk the talk. There are techniques to address this from unconscious bias training to blind recruitment (where identifying characteristics are removed from resumes like names). But fundamentally, it comes down to removing the structural bias we have in society. Now that people are more aware of this issue, hopefully that will materialise better outcomes for marginalised groups. And hopefully, these companies that adapt and learn will be stronger for it.
As you are a Senior Designer/Illustrator, what advice would you give to those just starting out to get their foot in the door?
Try out anything and everything. It’s of course fantastic to have a dream job or a goal when you just start, but when I think of what my hard-wired plans were when I graduated, they’re nothing like what I’ve ended up doing. Trying out new opportunities gave me the ability to learn new skills, and develop in other areas and really figure out what I liked / disliked in the industry.
And secondly, if you have a passion or a knack for something, don’t forget about it - showcase it. I’ve been on the hiring side, and I can tell you, I love side projects, side hustles, whatever you want to call it, it’s great to see what you are about outside of your course/ professional work.
Trying out new opportunities gave me the ability to learn new skills, and develop in other areas and really figure out what I liked / disliked in the industry.
In your opinion, what is the most effective way to climb the career ladder?
Going beyond ‘creative skills’. These are obviously the reason we go into the industry, but it’s so important to be more than just your job title, there are inter/intra-personal skills that will be taken into consideration as you continue to move through your career.
Those silly soft skills that people that we always overlook, are actually quite important. Don’t mind the buzz words (sighs) - stakeholder management, project planning, etc, these things aren’t necessarily taught but you have to find opportunities both in and outside of work to build them. I promise, being a personable human-being makes a huge difference! There are a lot of people who can make something cool, but when you’re looking to move up, you need to not only be able to do that, but also handle the behind the scenes side of things.
What is the most important thing to keep in mind while struggling to grow in your career?
I have definitely reached a plateau at a point or two - and it’s beyond frustrating, but remember you aren’t alone. Don’t be scared to seek out fellow creatives or have a conversation. You’d be surprised how much support you can find in your own network. But most importantly, don’t close yourself off and let this eat you up. You can’t always rely on your work to be your driver (and that’s okay), so it’s important that you push yourself outside of it, and make new opportunities for yourself.
don’t close yourself off and let this eat
you up.
As you told us in your application you love ice-cream! What is your go to flavour? (or combo)
Controversial for some, bubblegum. On a tamer day, mango or ube.
What do you believe is the most important thing we can do to help amplify minority groups' voices?
Give them a platform to speak and actually listen, and quite simply, uplift them.
Lastly, who are some of your favourite influential she/they creatives we should all be following?
Manjit Thapp (@manjitthapp)
Truthfully, you don’t see a lot of brown creatives, but she is out there killing the illustration game all while creating lovely, meaningful pieces.
@mamimutokyo
Her slogan is literally “on a mission to inject optimism into the world” - you can’t ask for more really. Everything she does is delightful.
Natalie Byrne (@nataliebyrne)
Her work is all about feminism, mental health, social issues, equality (everything important) - and she’s someone I admire for really using her platform to leverage her voice.
The Other Box (@_theotherbox)
This one is more of a community, but it’s run by three lovely ladies, and they’re there to educate, promote and build an online community for POC - I have benefited from them over and over again.
Big thanks to Deanna for this interview.We both found this interview very inspiring! You can keep up with what Deanna is up to by following her on instagram.
