How Nicole Weatherby Combines Technology, Art And Design In Business
What drove you to pursue a career in graphic design?
I’ve loved art ever since I was a kid. I had a hearing disability as a child, so the easiest way for me to communicate was through drawing. At university, I studied a BA in Arts and Culture in South Africa, in which I specialised in multimedia. I knew from an early stage that I wanted to work in digital design rather than doing the traditional print-on-paper design, but I just didn’t know how exactly that would take form in my career.
After completing my BA, I did my Masters in the UK, where I learnt to mix design with coding and make it into something that people can interact with. My favourite bit was always the design side though! One of my lecturers suggested I should go into graphic design, and I haven’t looked back since. I love it, it’s great!
I originally wanted to be a vet, but then my mum pointed out that I would sometimes have to put puppies down, and I couldn’t do that! So, from then on, I decided maybe art was a better choice for me.
Technology is ever-changing, do you find you have to adapt your work a lot because of this?
For sure! Luckily for me, because I already had experience with doing video and programming when I entered the graphic design world, I already had that mentality of constantly adapting to new technology and design trends. When I first started out, 3D animation was just taking off, and now it’s a huge part of marketing businesses — people want 3D logos, they want GIFs, and although these are easy enough for me to design, it is definitely a constant learning curve! As a designer, you really have to keep up with the development of social media too, and all the new design programmes that are constantly being released, but it’s fun because it keeps the work interesting and different.
What’s the greatest challenge you’ve faced in your career, and how did you overcome it?
My greatest challenge was deciding what design path to take. I know that might sound pretty simple but finding your niche can be really difficult. I love so many aspects of design that it was hard to pick just one! It’s important to find what comes most naturally to you, and what inspires you the most because that’s where you’ll produce your best work. I eventually found what I was great at and have stuck with it ever since.
What makes Green House Media different from other design companies?
I think I have more of a unique taste in designing because I’ve worked in different areas of art. First, you must know – technology makes possibilities, design makes solutions and art makes questions. I use all three every day as a Graphic Designer to create absolutely unique designs.
Going from being a visual artist to being a designer is what brings my uniqueness, as well as the fact that my hearing disability gave me strong communication skills, so I’m able to really listen to clients and tailor my designs to their needs. They can give you a brief, and you can do exactly what they want, but I feel you need to give clients other options, to collaborate and come up with something amazing, together. Being a Graphic Designer is having the opportunity to work with a brand that can make a difference.
Additionally, at Green House Media we work in partnership with many marketing agencies, startups, and businesses that don’t have the resources or the necessity to hire a Graphic Designer full time. This means I get to work with loads of different companies, giving me the opportunity to learn from a variety of different projects at the same time. Many agencies in the UK and the USA outsource their graphic design work to us because we can provide a fresh perspective, as we have a different idea of graphic design to designers in those countries, so we are often able to provide them with a design that’s really cool and unique, which they wouldn’t have received from designers in their home countries.
Another benefit of outsourcing your company’s graphic design work is that often this gives you a large saving on costs. In the USA and the UK, it can be incredibly expensive to hire a Graphic Designer. Here in South Africa, by outsourcing your work to us, you can get high quality work at a potentially more reasonable price, as the exchange rates are favourable to you, meaning you can save money and still get the standard of design you are expecting.
A third benefit of outsourcing to us here at Green House Media from the UK and the USA is that there is no language barrier! We will be completely able to understand what your requirements are, and to work together with you to get the perfect design. So not only is there potential to reduce your costs and get a more unique design, but you can also be certain that we’ll be able to communicate with you effectively to get exactly what you want.
What do you think the future looks like for the design industry, especially now after the pandemic?
I think the design industry is going to grow. With the design you don’t have to have a specific place of work, you can work remotely, so in that sense, the pandemic didn’t impact the industry too negatively. I think people are now starting to realise how important it is to grow their businesses and having a strong brand identity is a huge part of that.
They say that every 5 years you should look at your brand and see if you’re still with the trends of design. Even your website you have to update every 3 to 5 years, it used to be once every 10 years. Technology is just progressing so fast. I think the ever-changing nature of technology will definitely be beneficial for the design industry, as it will create a lot more work for designers.
If you could create a design for any brand or social cause in the world, what would you choose, and why?
I just got goosebumps! I’d love to help any animal charities get out there by working with them on a branding package. I support a charity called FOUR PAWS in South Africa, that is focused on protecting and rescuing animals in need, mainly the Wild Cats.
Our vision is a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding, so it would be great to help them grow their profile. The thing with animal charities is that a lot of them don’t have the money to run a huge marketing campaign or create a logo that actually attracts people, so I’d love to do that!
Interview by Lola Sherwin. Find Lola on LinkedIn here.
