Over the past 16 years, Christie Brewster has been very busy. She has worked in Sydney, London and New York, providing creative solutions for brands such as Qantas, BBC, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Pinchgut Opera, Open Data Institute, Hitachi Vantara, and TEDx London. We chat with Christie about her career, and how she gets to do what she does.
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I’m currently Senior Graphic Designer for Medium Rare Content Agency working with brands such as Qantas magazine, Coles magazine, Bunning, Officeworks and David Jones. I’m responsible for digital graphic design presence, and also work closely with our Art Director on storyboarding, illustration and mock-ups, to on-location shoots and social media executions – I love seeing a creative project come to life from concept to completion.
Having studied Photography a few years ago, and choosing to work with a ‘somewhat’ controversial mirrorless camera – I’ve enjoyed approaching photography with consideration between image and typography and partnering the two to generate a meaningful and engaging piece of content.
What is your current business/creative pursuit/job?
I’m specifically inspired by travel, hospitality, the arts and fashion with my short-term goal to be Art Director for a magazine brand. My bigger picture of goal is to own my own creative agency one day.
How would you describe your career so far and how did you get into this industry?
My role has varied over my career, starting out as a junior designer operating digital print presses, to working as an in-house designer for marketing departments in art organisations such as The Sydney Symphony, BBC Proms, and Australian Chamber Orchestra. These roles contributed to several career highlights, including attending the Last Night of the Proms after-party at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and meeting Ita Buttrose to work on the Sydney Symphony concert brochures, to photographing Lang Lang at the Sydney Opera House and traveling as the resident photographer for the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s tour to Tokyo, Japan. I’ve been incredibly fortunate that graphic design has opened my world to travel and experiences that I could never have imagined when I graduated from Western Sydney TAFE 16 years ago.
Last year, I chose to broaden my experience and skills in an agency environment, where I see long-term progression to Art/ Creative Direction. Medium Rare Content Agency delivers high quality, best-in-class creative digital, social, and print native content across a diverse range of clients which I have been fortunate to work with on many levels. I enjoy collaborating and coordinating with internal and external members.
What does a typical work day look like for you?
At the moment our office is working remotely and the team starts every day with a work-in-progress Zoom call at 9am sharp where current and ongoing work is reviewed and divided amongst the team. Each workday is varied for me – from working on advertorials for brands such as Armani, Destination NSW, or Rockpool Restaurant who advertise in Qantas magazine, to designing HTML 5 webtiles for Amex or Red Energy or storyboarding Officeworks’ latest ‘Geeks to You’ video – each day is diverse and deadline-driven which keeps me engaged and on my toes!
What is the most important aspect of your job/ creative pursuit?
Creating honest output and contributing quality work that is an asset to my team.
Researching insights and trends that are occurring in Australia and abroad and applying findings to relevant campaign pitches.
Sharing knowledge, being helpful and kind to others.
What have been some of the biggest challenges in your career?
Professionally, making the switch from being an in-house designer to agency designer, when so many others were transitioning the other way. In hindsight, I probably had a lot of anxiety around it because I’d heard many horror stories about agency work. I’m fortunate that my current place of work value work-life balance and are a great team of creatives who genuinely care about creating quality work.
Personally, I’ve really benefitted from having some guidance in defining my career direction, specifically related to how I make the next step to Art Direction. In addition to engaging a career coach, I recently completed the CWC Member Mentoring Program, a great initiative that provided me with support to connect and develop my skills. I’ve found both experiences incredibly valuable - providing me with a framework for my career, a timeline for my goals and a new way of thinking about the way I can adapt, evolve and transform in my journey.
What are some of the things which inspires you?
Beautifully designed publications that have gorgeous paper, finishing, typefaces or clean font styling, some titles I love are:
Qantas magazine
Numéro magazine
Vogue magazine
Gritty Pritty digital magazine
Best creative memory?
Managing the editorial design for the BBC Proms Guide in London and designing the first Proms Guide Ebook – an exciting digital development that gained promotion from Apple and met sales target within two weeks.
What would you tell your younger self?
Listen to your instinct – if it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.
Make that move overseas you’ve been thinking about – you won’t regret it!
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to break into the industry you are in?
Bring something someone else can’t. I’ve wanted to work in magazines for most of my career, the reason I was got to where I am today was that I could bring a different way of thinking.
When working on creative projects aim to bring a holistic approach to your design method – look at the end result first and assess how the content will be utilised, whether that be in print or online, then work backward and divide the creative process into manageable tasks to deliver your vision.