Women In Design feat. Lydia Maers

Introducing Lydia Maers, a graphic and motion designer at Halo in Bristol. Her journey began at the University of Gloucestershire, where her passion for branding and design flourished despite the challenges of graduating during COVID-19. Lydia freelanced and interned before landing her role at Halo, where she thrives in a supportive studio environment, tackling packaging, branding, and motion graphics projects. Here, Lydia shares her 5 stand out things she would like to share with her peers.

Could you please introduce yourself as well as your background?

I’m Lydia, a graphic and motion designer at Halo in Bristol. I studied at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, where my love for branding and design truly blossomed. After graduating in 2021 just after COVID, internships and jobs were few and far between, alongside any real world placements. I freelanced and worked on multiple internships before working at a web and digital design agency. After university, a work from home job felt like a great step from what I knew, whilst pushing my new skills with some of my first client projects. Now working at Halo, my skills are pushed more than ever! It was definitely a big jump into the deep end, but being able to work on packaging, branding and motion graphics almost every day, I’m incredibly grateful and proud of myself for getting to work in a great studio environment. With Halo being my first ‘big girl job’ in the design industry, I’ve never felt more supported or confident in the future of my career.

What are 5 “stand-out things” you’ve learned that you’d like to pass on to your peers as well as the future generation of talent within your sector?

• Round out your extra skills. Having something else under your belt, whether it’s self-taught or through a short course, allows for you to not only understand wider perspectives on a project but also creates a broader experience when you’re first starting out.
• Don’t be afraid to speak up. Design is always going to be subjective, so allowing yourself to proactively give your opinion on work is only ever going to lead to extra discussion, which then in turn only improves work.
• Kill your darlings. This specifically came from my design director at Halo, and it’s something I’m still improving on! Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to hit refresh on a brief and start again, without looking at it as a failure but a new opportunity to tackle a different angle.
• Take your time getting started! When I graduated, it took me 3 months to secure my first placement. I saw this as a complete and total failure – when actually, I wish I spent more time freelancing, building up my skills and figuring out where I wanted to position myself as a designer.
• Recognise your value. Grads and entry-level designers are some of the most creative people I’ve worked with. Keep your creative scope wide, reference everything, not just design, that allows you to bring something new to the table.

What’s your take on the importance of role models?

My role models throughout my career so far are often the ones that challenge me. From lecturers to friends and colleagues, designing boundary pushing work often means a healthy balance between my own design voice and those who see the potential for expanding ideas, problem solving with the best possible end result. Listen to your role models! But don’t forget to listen to yourself.

If you’re inspired by the stories and wisdom shared in our ‘Women In Design’ series and would like to contribute your own experiences, we’d love to hear from you. Creatives at all levels, please email Olivia and your story could be the next we feature.