YVONNE RATH / GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Y V O N N E R A T H

YVONNE RATH is PIXELPOD – alongside her husband James, they run the Wexford-based, multi-disciplined DESIGN STUDIO.

@PIXELPOD @WE_ARE_PIXEPOD @THEPIXELPOD

PIXELPOD.IE

Could you tell us about your background? Where your interest in design began and how you got your start?

As a child growing up in Clare I loved drawing and writing. This love grew, and when I was a teenager I realised that I could have a career in combining images with text and they called it “Graphic Design”! I filled out my CAO form and I started LSAD in 1998. (I’m immediately feeling old typing this!) I completed my degree in 2002 and after some travelling I landed my first proper design job as a Junior Designer for a Dublin Advertising Agency. In 2007 I was offered the position of Publication and Multimedia Officer for the Green Party and stayed there until 2011.

I wanted my own design studio for a number of years, and after managing the design and production of large volumes of material for Local and General Elections I knew that I had the discipline and creativity to give it a shot. I completed a “Start your own Business” course in Sheffield where I was living at the time, and then in September 2011 Pixelpod was born. It wasn’t until 2014, when I moved back to Ireland and my husband James joined me, that the business really took off. We make a great team and have produced some really great work together.

What were your first significant projects? How did they come about?

Being a great designer alone is not going to win you projects. Networking and making connections with people is really important if you want to gain new clients and build awareness and trust.

While it might be uncomfortable at first, you have to put yourself out there and build relationships with individuals, business owners and decision makers. This will afford you opportunities to be asked to tender for projects and then you need to nail it! (By the way, nailing a proposal takes practice and it will include failures but you learn and try again.)

I did a lot of networking and in early 2015 we were asked to tender for a project for Hook Tourism. The brief was to create a family friendly pull out brochure with a map of the Hook Coastal Tour and it was aimed at national and international tourists. It needed to fold to DL and stand out in the Information Office and Hotels display stands. We created a paper craft map of the area and then photographed it and it worked really well. The front cover of the brochure was also hand crafted out of paper and then photographed. A second and third publication of the brochure was translated into German and then French.

This project was a real labour of love we certainly underquoted for it but we have since learned our lesson and it helped us attract some new clients.

Give us an example of one of your favourite projects that you’ve ever worked on and why? Can be personal or professional?

All the projects I have worked on have taught me something valuable about design processes, or about clients or how to get the most out of a collaboration. The work I am most proud of are the Monart brochures. We looked at the ethos of Monart, a five star destination spa, which is harmony and tranquility, and worked through how we could create meaningful material.

Our client was and still is great to work with. He is someone that understands the value of great design and while he had input he also trusted us and had a generous budget for the printing so the brochures are embossed on beautiful uncoated Olin stock. The end result of the brochures were a real success and we continue to work with the Griffin Group across branding, marketing material, packaging and website design and development.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

One of my lectures in LSAD impressed upon me the importance of embracing the new experiences and challenges that Graphic Design brings, as it will help push you and your work.

From a business perspective the best advice I received was to have clarity of purpose. This rings true not only for all aspects of how to operate your studio but also with the creative work you produce.

Your work should be clear, meaningful and have value otherwise it’s not going to be fit for purpose.

Following on from that – What’s the worst piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

That I should use Quark Xpress!

Okay, now choose your weapon: Mac or PC? Any reason why? What tools do you use on the daily?

Macs really are beautiful machines to work with and I would have continued to use them until 2014 when James joined Pixelpod and we needed to upgrade my Mac and get James a new machine and we realised that ….sweet baby Jesus, Macs are really expensive. James ended up building his PC with a gaming graphic card and solid SD drive all encased in our brand orange at the time, and I bought a fancy new PC. Now that I think about it I should probably have got him to build me a customised machine too hmmm...

Can you tell us a little bit about your design process? How do you tackle projects?

Our first step is, where possible, to meet with the client in person, if not then start the scoping process over the

phone. We talk about their needs and then listen. This is a crucial part because it gives the project the right direction and makes the whole process run much smoother. The next step is researching then collaborative brainstorming, and then start to doodle ideas or draw wireframes. Once a few ideas have been created we critique each other’s work make reiterations and then present to the client. After some feedback we will tweak the design and then send back again for approval.

Having open communication with the client throughout the process is really important so that the end result is the best it can be based on the brief and budget.

In your own words – describe your style? Any particular influences or eureka moments that helped inform it?

I don’t think I have a style, not that I can define. I focus more on the design process. Each project is looking for its own unique solution. It’s important to be flexible and sticking to a certain style or trend wouldn’t work.

What’s it like having your own studio? Can you tell us a little bit about what it’s like to be a business owner?

I love the fact that I coown a design studio but living the dream is a lot of work! At the start it was especially overwhelming as there are a lot of skills you need to acquire. You

I don’t think I have a style, not that I can define. I focus more on the DESIGN PROCESS

are not just a designer anymore you are a business owner who needs to understand financial projections and what is expected by Revenue from you.

You are a networker who connects with businesses or public entities who need your expertise. You are a project manager that needs to liaise with clients, bring together the right team for a project and meet deadlines across multiple projects…….Phew. You also need to try to have fun…. I could do with more of that these days!

What does your typical working day consist of?

Coffee and flexibility! Prior to working from home and homeschool my 6 year old during the lockdown, I started at 9am and I will follow up on emails and then James and I have a meeting over a coffee. We agree on tasks and meetings for the day. We work with developers, designers and copywriters remotely so I will follow up with them as needed.

Pixelpod is a branding, graphic design and web design studio so I work on different creative projects every week. But about 50% of my day is project management, producing quotes and proposals and giving presentations or attending meetings.I used to work until 5.30 or 6pm everyday and then start back to work around 8pm for another couple of hours but now I try to get finished at 5pm and find that I am more productive because of the extra downtime.

Work / Life balance seems to be the eternal battle for creatives of any field – do you have any tips or tricks for keeping it relatively 50/50?

Don’t try to do everything, find out what you are strong at and then get support or outsource work. In this way you can make more money, reduce your stress and enjoy your time doing the creative work.

Who’s your favourite designer and why?

It’s probably Jessica Walsh. She is a leading designer and successful creative director in New York. Her work is concept driven and the bold use of colour and creative compositions is clever and stands apart from her peers. Jessica is physically very visible in the work she produces more than most designers. This is somewhat intriguing and it seems to be working for her agency, &Walsh which supports 20 creatives. Jessica retained a number of clients from her previous studio partnership with Stefan Sagmeister and is continuing to attract big name clients.

What are your recommended books to read that you have found helpful, career-wise?

Work for Money, Design for love by David Airey!

What would be your best advice for aspiring creatives?

To give your craft time and inform yourself of what the past and current great creatives are doing in your field. Staying creative and passionate isn’t always easy so look for ways to keep focused and push yourself and your work.

Find ways to be creative outside of your day job and this will help fuel your work. If you can find time, do a personal project.

And lastly, if you could go back in time, what would you say to your younger self knowing what you know now?

This is a good one... so I would tell her to be more confident in her ability and take more risks. I would also strongly advise her to hunt down and kill all bats.