Crying in public is part of the process with Lizzie Curtis

Open Studio

Lizzie Curtis discusses the accidental but purposeful founding of her agency, Design Impact Studio. The conversation explores the transition

Key takeaways

• Lizzie founded Design Impact Studio by leveraging clients left behind when her previous agency closed down.
• The studio prioritizes 'purpose-driven' work, where Lizzie can connect her design skills to tangible social benefits.

Main topics

• Founding of Design Impact Studio
• Purpose-driven design philosophy

Notable quotes

If I can see that end point and that end point is social impact... then I'm back on track.

Conclusion

The episode provides an inspiring blueprint for designers looking to a

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:04) So Lizzie, tell us about Design Impact. Why did you start it? Speaker 2 (0:10) Well, Design Impact Studio has been on my dream list of things to do since I was a junior designer working away in my first branding agency in like 20... Speaker 2 (0:27) 2013, 2014. So it's been a long-term vision, but I didn't know that it was going to be called Design Impact Studio and I didn't know what it was going to be. I just knew that I wanted some kind of female-led studio that did stuff that was good, essentially. The way it came about was actually a little bit weird, in a way. as I guess like a lot of people's design careers, the past doesn't necessarily follow the way you might expect. I imagine this situation where I'd be like maybe working as a designer and then work part-time and then part-time start building up my own little studio and like just gently, gently gather clients and then maybe find a co-collaborator and then we'd gently, gently build it up together. That's what I kind of imagined in my mind it would maybe take about five years to sort of... get to the point where I could quit my job and then launch the agency. That's kind of like what was in my mind. But what actually happened was I was in an agency that for one reason or another closed down. The two co-directors were just going off in two different directions. And then there was this agency with a load of clients and nobody to run it. And they were like... What are we going to do with it then? So I had the choice to either take over that agency, which was very exciting and brilliant, and I very much considered doing that, or it was like fast track my dream of having my own agency, scoop up all the clients that were left without an agency and then start something whilst on. So yeah, so that's what I did. I got a month's redundancy from the agency closing down. And in that month was when I scrabbled about, basically created a notion and then put all the clients into that notion. There were about nine. And then just hit the ground, not running, hit the ground like scrambling madly, thinking like, oh no, oh no, oh no, what am I doing? And so that's how it started. Speaker 1 (2:35) I mean, I like the idea of just having, did you have a sort of vision board in your mind of what this studio would almost look like when, you know, going back to what you said about working in agencies and having this idea of having a female led studio. Was that something that you were picturing? Could you visualize it? Or was it still something that felt like it was maybe just you on your own? doing everything or did you imagine collaborating and working with people at that time yeah Speaker 2 (3:08) I never imagined doing it on my own I was like I'll find this amazing team so the visualization was like this really cool studio it was like really neutral and neutral beige everywhere everyone's like everyone's like wearing beige and then like there's like whiteboards and like magnets and all that Speaker 1 (3:28) Me and you go way back. We used to teach together and see each other five days a week, 7.30am till sometimes 6pm. So we very much got used to each other's wardrobes, didn't we? I feel like you had the capsule wardrobe down to a T, at least from my perception, whereas I was always waking up in the morning scrabbling to say, did I already wear this outfit this week? Yeah, I feel like me and you, me and you eventually almost ended up at times dressing the same. Yeah. Just, you know, just reverting to wearing black, sometimes wearing green trousers and blue tops. That was another thing of ours. I'm actually wearing the Speaker 2 (4:13) green trousers today in honour of our longstanding clothing relationship. Speaker 1 (4:21) Exactly. So we go way back. at Shillington. What's your first memory you have of being in a classroom together? I guess one of those moments where, whether that's a sort of, whether that's about teaching together or whether that's about actually just what teaching was like in general. What's your first sort of memory? Speaker 2 (4:45) Because we started fully online because of COVID. Speaker 1 (4:49) Yes. Speaker 2 (4:50) So I remember being very, very keen. Very enthusiastic. I remember coming in thinking like, here we go. I'm going to do this. And I think we had a team meeting in the way I first met you and Emma. And I can just remember us. Oh, and there was someone else as well. There were four of us on the screen. Speaker 1 (5:12) And Speaker 2 (5:12) I can just remember us all just smiling like. Speaker 1 (5:18) Or waiting for someone to speak. Speaker 2 (5:20) Yeah, yeah. Sort of like, oh, hello. Then I think I've got a really strong memory of us meeting in person for the first time. And after having taught together very intensely for however long, three months. Speaker 1 (5:35) Was Speaker 2 (5:36) it that long? Yeah. Like Speaker 1 (5:38) January 2021. Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:42) Yeah. And then meeting you in person and just being like, wow, a 3D human being. And also you and Emma are just massively taller than me. Like you're both like literally twice the height as me. So you're like a literal child. Speaker 1 (5:57) You can't really tell that, can you? I have a really funny memory of us going for a drink after. So this is when we'd obviously then finally met in person. We went for a drink in person and we gate crashed a university's, I guess, like graduation party or something where none of them had met in person before. So they just assumed that we were also on their course and they were like, hey, have a drink. Come on in. We just went in. So, you know, why not? It's funny, isn't it? Yeah, I think. Have you heard of this sort of seven second rule of it's definitely more prevalent with online teaching, but I think it also applies in person as well. Maybe it's shorter in person. If you ask a question online, you've got to count seven seconds in your head because that allows someone to sort of process the question. And also if there's any like lag. And all of those things. So sometimes maybe one of the things that me and you learned together when we were teaching online together was... Speaker 1 (7:05) not being afraid of the silence or the or the perceived sort of void because if everyone you know you can't see someone shuffling or see the body language you're just seeing their faces sometimes blank faces if you've asked a really complex question um I don't know Speaker 2 (7:21) it's funny though because I actually I actually genuinely love the online setup like because I obviously came at a time when it had been in person and then it was online in an unexpected and not planned way, obviously. But I actually just really felt like I just vibed with the online setup. There's something about just having like your little space that you create and you present in that space. And then you can see everyone, you can see all their names, don't need to ask their names because they're all written there. Speaker 1 (7:52) And Speaker 2 (7:53) it just feels like I was really into it. Speaker 1 (7:56) I mean, I agree. I mean, that's our business now. um if i wasn't into it i'd be a fool yeah you know but i think i think it is interesting to just think about the difference in how you sort of like communicate with someone online versus in person and there probably are differences but as you say um it does give you a chance to maybe yeah know someone's name not not miss someone out because you can kind of see them all in front of you I guess you've got a bit more of a focused window into sort of how someone is actually really doing because you've got different ways of communicating with them. You can talk to them, you can message them, you can do all those different things. So yeah, it's really good for all those reasons. And I think one of the things I want to talk to you about today is definitely the sort of work that you're doing within Design Impact Studio. And I feel like a lot of the work, well, all of the work that you're doing is purpose-driven work. Speaker 1 (8:51) One of my biggest questions initially for you was probably quite an obvious and easy question to even answer, but I am interested in what you might say to this. What pulled you into that purpose-driven work? What drew you to that being more of a specialism for the studio? Speaker 2 (9:09) Good question. So having worked Speaker 1 (9:12) in regular branding agencies, I've Speaker 2 (9:15) definitely discovered over the years that... My style of working generally is to pour my heart and soul into something. Like I said, with being very keen with teaching, I'm all in, you know? Speaker 1 (9:30) And Speaker 2 (9:30) I'm all in. If someone gives me a design brief, I'm like, OK, let's do this, you know? And I think what I discovered was that I'm pouring my heart and soul into something. Then I'm looking at then where that design is going or where that piece of work that I've just poured my heart and soul into is off to. Like what life it's then living beyond. beyond me. And I think I've realized that if that thing is then not something I believe in, I find it really hard to then be motivated to really like do a good job, make it the best it can be, pour my heart and soul into it basically. And then I realized like, if I can see that end point and that end point is social impact, making someone's life better, someone somewhere is benefiting, the world is somehow benefiting, then... I'm like, I'm back on track and I can really feel like I can pour my heart and soul into it, essentially, which I think has its drawbacks as well, because you can't pour your heart and soul into every single thing. That's what I'm discovering. You also have to just to do some things in a normal way. Speaker 1 (10:32) That's okay as well. Speaker 2 (10:35) But I think when it comes to design work, I want to get in the zone with it. I want to get to the best answer I possibly can. I want to keep working, I want to dig, I want to get deep into it, you know. And then if I can then see that that thing is in some way improving something somewhere, then I think, yeah, I can do this. And so I guess the vision then for the studio is let's see how much impact we can make using these skills we've got. Because, like, I'm no doctor. I'm not an aid worker. I'm not a charitable. whatever any of those things that do great things I'm a designer and an illustrator and um but I absolutely know that design changes people's experiences good design improves people's lives and that's where I want to that's where I want to that's what I want to do I want to see how much impact the studio can make how Speaker 1 (11:34) would your co-director Rebecca describe working with you Speaker 2 (11:43) I mean, I assume that she enjoys it because she hasn't laughed. Speaker 2 (11:52) You know what? I feel like this is what I absolutely love about working with Rebecca is I feel like we've got such an open relationship as in like we are very open with each other. One of my things when we first met up to talk about like, shall we run a thing together? Which is quite a big step to take with someone. But we did it. What Speaker 1 (12:11) was the calendar event for that meeting? Lunch round mind? Coffee catch up? Speaker 2 (12:18) Come round mind? Lunch? Come and have lunch. Agenda, let's start Speaker 1 (12:21) a business. Speaker 2 (12:22) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shall we embark on possibly one of the most difficult journeys together? But yeah, we just sat down on the sofa and I was like, basically what I want for this, whatever this is going to be, is we're in a situation where you never feel like you can't ask for help. You never feel like you can't really say. how you're actually doing with something. Because I've been in so many agency contexts where I'm like suddenly realized, oh no, I don't know how to do this thing. And then I'm like Googling it and then I'm like working it out. And then I'm like sitting there trying to hide that I don't know how to do the thing. And then maybe overcompensating and then like being like, yeah, Speaker 1