Growing with instantprint: Jennie

Here at instantprint, we’re dedicated to change and growth. Whether that’s in the latest technology or in our people, we make sure we invest our all into making sure we’re the best at what we do. That way, we can help our customers reach their customers with high-quality print that makes them look amazing. As part of our constant growth, we’ve seen a lot of career progression within the office.

In celebration of our colleagues’ growth, we went behind the scenes to find out more about their instantprint journeys. We spoke to Creative Lead, Jennie, to discover what big changes she’s seen during her time here and what advice she’d give to someone just starting out as a graphic designer.

1. What does your current role consist of and what aspect of this do you enjoy the most?

I’m the Creative Lead for instantprint. This means that I’m responsible for the look and feel of the brand and any of our creative outputs. I also look after the Creative team which includes managing the team’s day-to-day activity and workloads. The team consists of our Copywriter, Jessica, our Design Online Template Creator, Kirsty, and our Junior Graphic Designer, Ryan.

2. When did you first starting working at instantprint?

I first started working at instantprint in July 2015, just after the factory moved to the Manvers site.

3. What’s the biggest change you’ve seen during your time here?

Definitely the people. When I first started, I was in a department of 6 people and we were all in an office with all the other departments in one section of the building. Now, I’m part of a team of 12 and we’ve had to have an extra extension built to fit everyone in!

4. What standout training opportunities have you had whilst working here?

I’ve actually just completed a 3-day training course in London where I learnt about the basics of UX. I am so grateful to instantprint for giving me the opportunity to go down to London and learn more about how customers interact with websites. I’m starting to implement some of the things I learned so I’m excited to see the results!

Also, whilst I’ve been at instantprint, I’ve undertaken some leadership training to help me become a team leader for the creative team. In this, I learnt about learning styles, dealing with conflict and how to give effective training. This training was invaluable, because I use these skills every single day.

5. What’s made you stay at instantprint?

Even though we only have one website (although saying that, it is huge!), there’s never a shortage of fun things to work on. Every week is completely different and we’re always working to improve something or create something completely new for our customers.

6. How do you see your role flourishing in the future?

With my recent training, I want to delve further into the world of UX and make sure our customers are getting the best experience possible from our website.

7. What’s your best memory of working at instantprint?

We have a lot of fun at instantprint; it’s great to work with people I have a lot in common with in a company that places a huge amount of value in looking after their staff. I think my favourite memory was watching one of our directors, Adam, take part in a space hopper race on our annual sports day event – it's safe to say, he spent more time on the floor than on the hopper!

8. What challenges have you faced in your role and how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been becoming a team leader. I’m not a natural born leader and I feel like the training I received really helped me to understand that everyone needs to learn how to lead others, not just me; leadership and managerial skills are not a natural thing for everyone to grasp. I overcame this challenge by understanding that things take time and I can learn from mistakes I make.

9. How do you feel you’ve grown during your time working at instantprint?

By far, I’ve grown in confidence. In my interview, our director James asked me where I saw myself in 5 years’ time. My response was, ‘a mid-weight graphic designer’. After 9 months of working at instantprint I went from junior graphic designer to Creative Lead. Then 1 year and a half later I was managing the Creative team.

10. What advice would you give to someone just starting out in Graphic Design?

The main advice I would give is to start looking at experience opportunities as soon as you can. In my first year of university, I decided I would send emails out to local companies offering to come in and work for free just for experience! Luckily, I was able to work within an agency and, although my main role seemed to be making coffees, it didn’t matter as I was exposed to the world of working in design.

Another piece of advice I would give is to always be modest, employers aren’t looking for someone with bags of confidence saying they can do this, that and the other. They are looking for potential in the work you show and your attitude to feedback.