Bex Moores is Depop’s world-wandering designer. Starting out in Bolton and having roamed all around the globe between the worlds of fashion and finance, she’s made a home in London (for now) and is giving Depop that visual polish. Outside of Depop she likes to paint and just generally take any excuse to fly to a sunny corner of the world.
Where’d you grow up?
Bolton. It’s not as bad as you’d think, actually quite good. But, I went to boarding school in Derbyshire so I was only in Bolton ‘till I was thirteen.
Was that pretty rural then?
Yeah, countryside. We had a motorbike track and motorbikes we’d go on.
So where’d you go to uni?
Northumbria, only for a year though. It’s the Newcastle Poly. It was for fashion marketing but it was really focused on fashion design, the actual manufacturing of clothing. So, not what I wanted to do. So I stayed for a year and half, had so much fun, made really good friends but then was like “This really isn’t for me”. So then I left and moved to Sydney for a year to do an internship, a digital design internship.
So when you went to uni were you already thinking about design stuff?
Not really, it was more about the creative side of the fashion world I was interesting and the marketing of it and sort um, fashion campaigns and editorial stuff. There was quite a bit of focus on that but the way that they’d teach you things was ridiculous. They would try and teach Photoshop and they’d have twenty people surrounding a computer while they taught us Photoshop and I was like, this is ridiculous. So, I felt like it was a really silly way to spend four years, and a lot of money to spend for just, not that much actual education.
So you just thought, screw this, and then went to Australia?
Yep, to the internship at a fashion designer. But, she was really small and it was just her and four interns. She basically just used us as her workforce, and then I just digital stuff for her like she had a Wordpress I helped her with. I did some email stuff, kinda bitch work — but still way better than uni in terms of what I learned. And I got to live in Australia, and that was cool.
So you’re kind of a self-taught designer?
I’d say so, but I went to New York after that, and then I did do a three month, really intensive design course in Manchester, which taught all of the programs like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator.
So why’d you come back from Australia?
A few reasons. I only had a year’s visa and um, I didn’t actually like it that much and also because I was gonna go do this internship in New York. Oh before that I was an ocean lifeguard in South Carolina for four months.
Wait what?
Yeah I was an ocean lifeguard in South Carolina for four months. Yeah it’s really random. It’s because when I finished uni I wasn’t due to start this internship for four or five months so I didn’t want to just stick around Newcastle and get drunk everyday, so I just went online and found some stuff I could do. My brother was actually in South Carolina too, but he wasn’t anywhere near. He was at uni, he was like three hours away. But anyway, I did all my lifeguard training in Newcastle — which is really hard by the way. You have to pass this really intensive swimming test. Anyway, then I just went out there for four or five months and it was the best summer of my life. That was when I was 19.
So when you got back from travelling, you were kind of narrowing in on what you wanted to do?
So I came back from New York like okay I need to get some proper qualifications or something, I need to get a proper job — so I did that. I actually applied to do a course in San Mateo in California, an associates degree at the College of San Mateo doing graphic design. And I got accepted, got my visa, everything approved and then was just about to move and then I had a really big chat with my parents, like this is gonna take you four years to get this degree… You might as well take a three month intensive course and then just, it’s like half the price. So I ended up doing that and then I got my first job.
Where was your first job?
In Shoreditch, in an agency, a small agency.
Why’d you leave?
Because, well, there’s a few reasons. The type of work they got in wasn’t really what I was into. Well it was alright until I got to one point where they got one client that was a shipping, tracking service — which is interesting but there’s not that much design needed. That was one of the biggest clients they were focused on and they got a load of money for it, and I was like, hmm, not really for me. Also, I was there for a year and I wasn’t really learning much after a while. It was so small, the company culture was really bad. Well, there was no company culture but I wanted to go and do different stuff.
So you went from a really small place with no company culture to, where?
HSBC.
What role were you doing at HSBC?
I was a UX Designer. I never really did much UX before HSBC. I was more sort of visual before that. We were working on a bunch of stuff. A lot of um, concepts, blue sky concepts, wealth management platforms, what else… a money management app called Moneywise. I think they’re about to realise now actually, it’s kinda like Google Now for payments, which is cool. What else, oh, authentication for online banking.
So that was a big shift, from a tiny agency to a massive company. How was that?
Um, it was fine because in my team there was only six of us and we were all quite close. It was just, I dunno you automatically feel like you’re part of a little community whereas I never had that at the agency. It was kind of every man for themselves. I just learned so much there, cause everyone there is really qualified and has really good experience, so it was actually a really good move.
Cool, so… why’d you leave?
Because the problem with HSBC is that you never get anything live. I think at that point in my career I was like I need to start working on stuff and getting it live, um, learning from it once it’s live. You never really get that opportunity unless you wanna stick around for five years. So yeah, there’s too much compliance and legal stuff that you gotta break through, too many barriers.
So you came straight from there to Depop? Why Depop?
Mainly because of the lack of barriers, to getting something live. Um, fast paced start-up, really interesting product, also it’s kinda more into the fashion side of things that I was really interested in. Um, and yeah just the whole company culture and it was just something really different to work on.
What do you do outside of work?
Oh hobbies. Hobbies, hobbies, hobbies. I travel. I paint. I don’t know if you know this? I haven’t done it in a while. I like to paint, portraits.
Portraits? Did you ever train for it?
Nope. Well I did at school. I did art A-level. Um, but no I never learned at painting school. I’d like to though.
What medium?
Um, acrylic and oil. More acrylic, on canvas.
Have you ever done commissions for anyone?
No, I’d to though. It’s just a hobby. I’d really like to actually properly get into it. I’ve been asked but I’ve never got round to it. It takes a long time.
I always feel like people’s hobbies tell you a lot about them. Do you think you find painting satisfying because it’s like, simple visual craft?
Um, yeah I find it really therapeutic. Yeah I actually really love it. It’s one of those things I wish I had more time for, cause it does take a lot of time. I also like doing really big paintings.
I guess it’s kind of an antidote to UI design?
Yeah. Yeah it is, especially cause I’m really quick at UI stuff. I make sure I’m quite speedy and it’s a kind of completely different process.
So where do you wanna travel next?
I wanna do Patagonia, really badly, but in March I’m going to Tokyo. But if I had the choice for my next place it’d be Patagonia.
Where would you like Depop to be in the next five years?
Um, I’d like it to be the number one place you go to to buy something completely unique, that you just can’t find anywhere else, that you see something on the street and think, “I bet she bought that on Depop”. That’s kinda where I’d like it to be.
So you thing uniqueness is big?
Yeah it think it’s a place where people can have their own original style. It’s definitely not a place that you go to and just sell your shit that you don’t want anymore. I think it’s definitely about people expressing their identity, who they are and why they’re different and I think that’s what people love about it, and will love about it.
What do you wanna be doing in ten years?
I have honestly no idea. I’d like to have lived in a few different countries. That’s probably my only real requirement. I’d just to like to experience different cultures, and not just travel there, actually live there and work there.
Do you think you’ll be designing in ten years?
Um, I think I’ll be designing but I don’t know if it’ll be necessarily digital design or some other form of design. Definitely something creative. But I’m open to different areas of design. I’d like to try different things, actually.
