Meet Kristina, our newest designer, who joined us in our second week of our new home! She’s had a little while to settle in now so we thought it was time for you to find out a little more about her.

Kristina

How have you been finding emc so far?
It’s been great thanks! Working freelance is a pretty solitary business so it’s a really nice change to be able to work alongside so many talented and lovely people every day. It’s flying by, I can’t believe it’s been a month already!

What is it about graphic design that you love?
Well, what I really love is being able to create something that people will enjoy looking at. I used to do a lot of posters and flyers and there’s nothing better than seeing your design out in the world and someone picks it up and says, ‘this looks cool’. It means you’ve done your job right.

How did you make the transition from Illustrator (although you still draw) to designer?
It was a bit of an accident really. Freelancing you get a lot of different things thrown at you and when you’re starting out you say yes to everything! I had quite a graphic portfolio coming out of university so it was quite a natural transition really. Plus I found I enjoyed it and people seemed to think I was good at it so I took it from there! It means I’ve been able to do all kinds of things I maybe wouldn’t have done had I stayed purely as an illustrator; web design, mobile phone apps, animation, brochures, magazines, I’ve done the lot! I can’t quite let go of my roots though; I’ve had more than one employer joke that I still mange to sneak a little illustration into almost every project.

So, you still do lots of illustration in your spare time, can you tell us a bit more about the Circus of Illustration and some of the nice arty things you get up to in and around Bedford?
Of course! The Circus of Illustration is a collective of local artists and illustrators who want to raise the profile of illustration in Bedford by getting as many people as possible involved in drawing. There’s a small group of us who do all the organising and over the last few years we’ve put on all kinds of events ranging from exhibitions, murals, kids workshops and pop-up shops to big community drawing events like Dress-up Drawing and the Drawing Room. We covered everything in a shop front in white and invited people to come and draw all over it!  We’ve made our own illustrated zines and even designed our own range of paper ‘foldee’s’ of famous Bedfordians (which you can buy on our website – sneaky plug, apologies, I had to do it!) It’s also a way to encourage local artists by building a community of like-minded individuals who can support each other professionally as well as forging friendships at the same time. At our monthly Drink & Draws we’ve got a lovely crowd of regular doodlers, some of whom work in the industry, but some of whom just love to draw. Funnily enough, if it weren’t for some emc employee’s coming to our Drink & Draw’s and encouraging me to apply, I wouldn’t have my job here!

How fortuitous! Well if that wasn’t incentive enough, why else should people get involved in the Circus of Illustration?
Well I’m biased of course but basically I think the circus offers something for everyone. If you’ve got little ones, we run all kinds of fab kids workshops throughout the year (our Halloween spooky spectacular at the Kiosk is always the highlight of our calendar), as well as plenty for those of us who are a little more grown up. If you’re an illustrator, keep your eyes on our Facebook and Twitter for opportunities to exhibit with us or to take part in our next Zine, or if you fancy something more informal, come to a Drink & Draw. There’ll be a fun and probably ridiculous drawing activity to take part in but no one’s under any obligation. If you just want to hang out with a bunch of cool people then join us anyway. Our website has all the links to our various social media outlets so head there if you want to find out more. www.circusofillustration.com

 

Sounds like great fun. We’ll be at the next one for sure! Now, we eased you in a little with those questions but it’s time for the tough stuff. You can only pick one…

Cake or ice cream?
Ice cream

Pen or pencil?
Pencil.

Tea or coffee?
Tea.

Old or new?
Old 

Truth or dare?
Truth, I’m a wimp.

The book or the film?
Always the book!

Pc or mac?
mac, obviously.

Who’d win in a fight, a crab or a terrapin?
Haha, the terrapin, they’re slower but they have a proper bite!

And finally which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The egg surely?

Well, we’ll probably never know the answer to that last one but excellent responses nonetheless. Thanks for answering our questions Kristina and I’m sure we’ll have you on the blog again soon.