Berlin based graphic designer and art director Zoe Spurgeon, creates work that delves into the realms of contemporary graphics that is accompanied an inviting colour palette. Zoe is currently working as an art director for Kemmler Kemmler in Berlin – a creative agency specialising in fashion/lifestyle brands and design. On top of this, Zoe creates work as a freelance graphic designer/artist in which she has formed a unique aesthetic inspired by her personal thoughts and feelings. Zoe has also started exploring fashion design within her work through making and reworking clothes to create new and more interesting garments. Carry on reading to hear more from Zoe about her stylistic work and future plans.

How did you initially get into working within the creative industries?

I dropped out of uni where I was studying Graphic Design and became obsessed with moving to Berlin. People kept telling me it was where all cool/talented/interesting people were (jury is still out on that) but I really wanted to go. After contacting hundreds of studios and magazines and doing quite a traumatic internship, I got a social media internship at INDIE Magazine, which began to involve more and more digital design until that’s what I was doing there most of the time. Berlin has a really interconnected creative industry, which made finding my next job a lot easier than it might have been elsewhere.

How would you describe the aesthetic of your work in three words?

Sentimental, colourful & ironic.

Can you tell us about a project you are currently working on?

I’m currently working on a logo for my friend’s new radio show which is called ‘No Love Lost’. It’s fun because making a logo feels like “proper” graphic design, which sometimes I get imposter syndrome about.

What would say is your biggest influence at present?

I’m trying to do 15 minute ‘awe walks’ a day, which sounds kind of ridiculous, but it’s basically a type of mindfulness that is meant to make you more hopeful. It’s all about going outside and looking at things you’ve seen a million times with a new sense of wonder. It’s a nice way to really focus on the intricacies of small things and feel like you’re in the presence of something much larger than yourself.

It’s led to lots of journal entries which are usually the starting points of my personal work - words and phrases which feel special, important, and even kind of silly or depressing sometimes. I like making really indulgent posters and pieces of design which are basically just my thoughts and how I feel. So yeah, trying to feel OK is definitely my biggest influence right now, like lots of other people I imagine.

You are currently working as a Junior Art Director at Kemmler Kemmler in Berlin – can you talk us through what your job entails?

The agency has a super diverse range of culture-sector clients, but also has a really keen interest in emerging Berlin-based artists and creatives. I’m lucky enough to work on both sides, so some days I’m creating work for more large-scale corporate campaigns, but other times I’m working with independent artists on really optimistic, experimental work for our blog and Instagram channel, which is basically like a laboratory for creativity. I feel like the title ‘art director’ can mean tonnes of things and sometimes even I don’t know how to explain what it is…especially because everyone in Berlin seems to be an Art Director.

I can see from your Instagram you have created a selection of garments – can you tell us a bit more about this work?

I love making and reworking clothes and it’s very refreshing when I spend so long in front of the computer for all my other work. I am definitely not the best sewer, but I love learning from YouTube and am obsessed with thrift-flip TikTok right now. It’s so cool that lots of people are shopping second hand from these types of videos, and that TikTok is making basic sewing skills accessible and fun… that’s how all creative education should be so I’m really into it! I made a TikTok of me sewing a skirt, but it didn’t go viral which was pretty devastating.

I would absolutely love to produce a line of clothes at some point in my career, and incorporate graphics as well, but I want to wait for a really good idea because I don’t think the world needs that many more graphic tees.

If you had a choose a favourite project you have created or collaborated on, what would it be and why?

So hard to pick but making the artwork for my friend Louis’ music (https://soundcloud.com/louisravens) is always really fun. The cover art and animation for Big Shell felt like quite an important moment where I pushed my personal boundaries with both the typography and image making and made something very unique. Working with friends can either be a disaster or a really fun process, and luckily this project was the latter.

Where do you see yourself in the future as a creative?

Apart from obviously creating a body of work I’m proud of and working with inspiring clients, I’d really like to be able to make the design world a little less homogeneous and un-penetrable. Starting out in the creative industries is really soul destroying, and there is so much exploitation going on. I’ve personally had really terrible experiences as a young designer and most people I know have been mistreated or taken advantage of. I’m really inspired by projects like This is Intern (https://www.instagram.com/thisisintern/), and Where Are the Black Designers? (https://www.instagram.com/wherearetheblackdesigners/), who offer real advice on how to price your work and know your worth. They highlight the gross under-representation in Graphic Design. I hope that in the future I can make some kind of change in that regard or at least introduce some transparency into the industry. There’s so much advice which is just ‘follow your dream and keep on creating!’ It’s like…can you tell me how much to charge for a poster design when I’m just starting out?