Kieron Lewis
Published 12th July 2021
INTRODUCTION
Kieron is a South London born Freelance Graphic Designer, specialising in editorial design, marketing, branding and front-end digital design (UI). He’s worked on numerous self-directed and client-based projects ranging across digital and print.
His client list includes Harper Collins, Adobe, Levi Strauss & Co. and Penguin Books. He is a public speaker and has spoken at numerous university institutions including, Southampton, Kingston and Ravensbourne University. This year, Kieron was Judge at the D&AD Awards on the Writing for Design Jury.
Big question, but what gets you out of bed in the morning? (Other than the pressure of paying a mortgage 😂)
I wake up every morning with that feeling of being free and not having to report to anyone. I love it! I genuinely look forward to Monday mornings now..well, every morning if I’m being honest!
Why would you say ‘Still Breathing: 100 Black Voices on Racism’ was the most rewarding and inspirational publication project to date?
This is one of those projects that I will always refer back in years to come. This publication was one of the most challenging I’ve worked on thus far in my career. Creating a 300+ paged publication isn’t something I do that often, ha!
I remember the day I set up my InDesign document, seeing that many pages and thinking...crikey, this is a beast, but bring it on!
However, throughout the process of creating each spread, I really felt as though I was engaging with those featured. When you’re working on a publication such as this, it's almost impossible to just design and not want to read the content. Everyone's experiences shared are powerful and extremely intense.
“I almost felt a sense of responsibility to do justice to the editorial design, to ensure that everyone’s voices within the spreads would really hit the reader hard.”
Reading about how the system has oppressed my brothers and sisters, simply for the way they look was not only heartbreaking, but made me very angry too!
I almost felt a sense of responsibility to do justice to the editorial design, to ensure that everyone's voices within the spreads would really hit the reader hard. Thus, I went down a typographic route within the layout, to ensure that key moments with the copy would be highlighted.
With everything that has been in the media in relation to ‘Black Lives Matters’, people are slowly becoming more ‘woke’ to what is happening in the world...slowly!
Of course, there is so much work to still be done to change the narrative and educate people. I believe this publication will help set up an ‘honest’ conversation relating to race and inspire every reader, regardless of race or sex.
What do you enjoy most about giving talks to young creatives just starting out?
When I speak to young creatives at universities, I like to be very transparent when talking about my career. I am a firm believer in keeping it real!
I remember going to loads of talks/events during university, and listening to talks from creatives who were established and thinking...wow, why is everything so perfect on their end!
If you speak to young creatives on a level and keep things real about your experiences within the creative industry, they will not only respect you for it more, but more importantly, they will have a better understanding of how the industry works. It's not as polished or shiny as social media portrays it to be!
The beauty of sharing those experiences of what went wrong and how you overcame these hurdles is what can inspire others. This carries so much more weight, than just talking about how many awards you’ve won or listing all the impressive brands you’ve worked with.
“The beauty of sharing those experiences of what went wrong and how you overcame these hurdles is what can inspire others. This carries so much more weight, than just talking about how many awards you’ve won or listing all the impressive brands you’ve worked with.”
Was there a turning point or moment in particular that you can attribute to a boost in your own confidence and personal development as a creative?
With every project I’ve worked on, even more so that I’m freelancing now, I do find that I have a better understanding of myself and what I’m capable of achieving. Not just from a skills perspective, but also from a timing one too.
A real turning point was my Adobe Live event I did in February. Not sure if I showed it or not as I haven’t re-watched myself (bit cringe), but this was a very rewarding experience, as well as a nervous one.
As it was a 3-day live-streamed session where I was designing, I felt that I grew more confident as the sessions went on. To be completely honest, I almost forgot I was being watched by a lot of people live and I just had fun designing a booklet, whilst having a lovely conversation with the host!
Since the Adobe event, I have done a few more talks and events. Although I get nervous with every talk I do, I have the mentality now that, if I can do an Adobe live for 3 days, I can just ride the wave of anything that comes my way. As long as I’m enjoying the experience, I will have no regrets!
How would you go about telling your younger self to step out of your comfort zone?
I would tell my younger self to ask more questions.
I remember sitting in my uni lectures and you always have that one person who is sooo ‘on it’ with questions, bursting with confidence and I would also feel slightly intimidated or worried that my questions would sound stupid in comparison.
Now that I’m older, I’ve realised there is no such thing as a stupid question if you don’t know the answer.
Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone will always show their best side on social media. Instagram, LinkedIn, we’re all guilty of me (including myself). But the key is to not get too weighed down by this, be inspired by what you see but do your own thing!
“Now that I’m older, I’ve realised there is no such thing as a stupid question if you don’t know the answer.”
What do you struggle with most when it comes to the business side of being a freelance designer? And how have you gotten better at it?
When I first started out freelancing, I did find it difficult to have an idea of how much to charge. Am I undercharging? Where do we draw the line on feedback/amends etc?
One thing I found very useful was to talk to my friends who have been freelancing for years. I would pick their brains about their experiences and this gave me the confidence to challenge clients myself and come to a financial agreement that would work fairly on both sides.
Also whenever I work with a client, I like to believe that there will be longevity within our working relationship. I do my very best to be flexible with clients, but also very mindful to keep my values in check. To be blunt, I do my very best to not to be ‘mugged off’...maybe that's the South London in me, ha!
How valuable have you found working on self-initiated projects?
So valuable. There is no way I would be the designer I am today, if it wasn’t for my self-initiated projects.
I learned a lot from a skills perspective. Having an understanding of how certain design programmes can integrate with one another. But I also learnt (and this is very important), how to improve my people skills.
I collaborate regularly on self-initiated projects with another creative, Olga Kott, who is a freelance videographer and photographer.
We have a very good understanding of how we both operate within our different disciples, but also we’re feeding our passion for working on community-based projects.
You can visit olgaandkay.com to see our projects.
What’s in store for the future that you can’t wait to get stuck into?
Like every designer, I’m juggling a few things at the moment, but in October I will be speaking at Adobe Max. My talk will be covering key factors within my career such as, editorial design, my community and collaboration. More info relating to my talk structure will be released within the coming weeks from Adobe.
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If you’d like to reach out to Kieron, drop him an email on: kieronanthonylewis@gmail.com
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