Fabric Assistant Becomes Creative Designer

I’ve always enjoyed being creative and I love trying new things. Growing up, I had a passion for textiles and sewing, so I learned to hand sew at an after-school sewing club and went on to develop my sewing skills to a high standard.

I studied Art and Textiles at school, followed by Textiles A-level, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after college.

ELIZABETH PINNIGER – UK

GRAPHIC DESIGN – LEVEL 2
ADVANCED GRAPHIC DESIGN – LEVEL 3
VISUAL COMMUNICATION – SPECIALIST DESIGN LEVEL 4

creative designer

I started working when I finished the Art Foundation Diploma as a Fabric Assistant in a local homewares brand. At the same time, I began creating my own digitally printed textile pieces that I sold at markets, craft fairs, Etsy and through my own website.

After a few years of working in retail and making textile pieces on the side, I realised I wanted to focus more time on creative work and less on retail.

Although my passion had always been in textiles and sewing, the element that I was actually enjoying the most in my little side business was designing the retro repeat patterns for my fabrics.

As I enjoyed this a lot more than sewing, I decided to look further into digital arts which lead me to Graphic Design.

LP LEVEL 1 PICS scaled

My Journey to Becoming a Graphic Designer

I found The Creative Design School after lots of research into different Graphic Design courses.

I needed to carry on working whilst I was studying, so I was looking for something part-time and preferably online so that I could structure the course around my retail job.

The school stood out to me as the courses were all online, with an option for a part-time flexible course length and every course came with a tutor who you have one-to-one Skype calls with weekly.

I especially liked how the courses were structured, where there is an initial learning section followed by the ‘application of knowledge’ in the form of projects.

 

Amazing Progress & Support

In less than 2 years I have completed the Beginners Graphic Design Diploma Level 1, Advanced Graphic Design Diploma Level 3 and am currently studying Visual Communication Speciality Level 4.

During my time studying, I have also started working part-time as an in-house Graphic Designer for a local independent business, as well as taking on a few freelance projects along the way.

I am so pleased and encouraged when I see how much my skills and design work have developed over the last couple of years. Now I have started to develop my own design style that begins to tie together all of my projects. Also, I have recently started to enjoy typography and hand lettering and am excited to develop these skills further.

The course and guidance from my tutor have been fantastic and I would thoroughly recommend the school to anyone looking to get into Graphic Design at any level!

I’ve always received the perfect balance of encouragement and support when I’ve found things potentially overwhelming (especially during busy periods with my other work!).

I’ve felt challenged and pushed outside of my comfort zone and when I go through my earlier projects, I can’t believe just how much progress I’ve made in such a short period of time, all thanks to The Creative Design School.

Starting something new can be scary, but I’ve had just the right level of mentoring at each step of the way and can’t thank the school enough for facilitating such an exciting and challenging career change for me.

Once I have completed my current course, I plan to continue working in my current in-house Graphic Design position whilst aiming to gain more freelance clients and projects too.

GRAPHIC DESIGN INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lizziepinnigerdesigns/

TEXTILE DESIGN INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethpinn/

LP MAGAZINE COVER
LP LIME GIN MARMALADE LABEL 2
LP POOCH HOLIDAYS LOGO OPTIONS 2018
LIZZIE PINNIGER LOGO
LP POSTER MOCKUP
LP MAX COGHLAN LOGO
LP ALRESFORD PROJECT POCKET GUIDE