No degree? No problem!
Intro written by Lauren Archer, with contributions from:
Nick Rees, Taaryn Brench, Tim Easley & Rosa Kennedy
Published 30th November 2021
Since finishing my A-Levels and quickly escaping my hyper-academic hometown, I spent a good three / four years doubting my decision not to go to uni. At the time, I’d been offered a place to study Business at a decent institution, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I knew there was something better out there for me - I just had to find it.
For those few years, I hustled my way into part-time jobs, where I could build up some experience for my CV and (most importantly) get a feel for what it was I really wanted to do. I started every job application with “I know I’m not a graduate…but!” undermining myself and not owning my decision, until I hit a turning point.
I know now it was absolutely the right thing for me, but following on from ‘No awards? No problem!’ and ‘No internships? No problem!’ we wanted to explore the journeys of a few fellow creatives, who also walked a similar path.
In this piece, we hear from four top-tier creatives without a design, illustration or photography degree between them, to find out how they made it here today.
© Bulletproof - Cadbury
Name: Nick Rees
Job title: Chief Creative Officer at Bulletproof
How did you get started in the creative industry?
It was more luck than judgement. My roots were working-class and pretty humble. Dad worked in a sheet metal factory. He painted pictures in his spare time and pulled me towards creativity from an early age, which I loved. He passed away when I was 12 and my mum struggled to keep me on the straight and narrow after that.
Art stayed close to me but manifested itself through graffiti and general rule-breaking. I didn’t apply myself at school which I still regret today, although most of my textbooks were filled with doodles and planned graffiti pieces. I was directionless but, by chance, ended up covering someone else’s work experience in a small local design studio. Despite being cheeky and hard to manage, I ultimately got on well with everyone and worked hard. Frankly, I was blown away that people were actually getting paid to do this.
“Art stayed close to me but manifested itself through graffiti and general rule-breaking.”
I was only 16, but when they offered me an apprenticeship, I thought all my Christmases had come at once. Once I understood that there was a possible path for me, I grasped it with both hands. I never took no for an answer and soaked up every opportunity to learn. My career became my missing parent and gave me focus, direction and a creative outlet.
Why was a degree not the right route for you?
Both college and university were never an option for me - put simply, they were never even a part of my family’s vocabulary. I’d always been taught that hard work was the way to success though, and ultimately, that has served me well. I’d also been instilled with an inquisitive yet competitive nature. While I lacked the discipline for the education system, working on real-life brands and creating tangible work for them had me hooked.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with many talented people who have come into the industry via university. I respect them and their journey – there are definitely benefits to both sides. I often wonder where I’d be if I had followed that route myself, but on the flip side, I also wonder where I’d be if I hadn’t been given that initial break. I think both need to be presented as viable options to young people. University seems to have taken precedence and it’s clear that the industry needs to do more to recognize that it’s not the only path. Talent is talent regardless of background or privilege.
What advice would you give to any emerging creatives who worry that not having a degree will hold them back?
It’s bullshit. After spending this long in the industry, I’ve seen a hell of a lot of privilege and an equal lack of diversity. Too often agencies fish from the same small pools of talent. It’s lazy and does nothing but inflate the wages of the few and, in turn, reduces the number of positions available. A degree doesn’t gift you talent but it does show you a clear path into the workplace. Something that many others are denied.
While the industry can at times be fickle, there are many great people with big hearts; people who want to open the industry up and provide alternative paths that are just as clear. At Bulletproof we’ve made this a priority, most recently partnering with Shillington on a Diversity in Design scholarship which includes regular mentorship sessions with our senior team. We’re all here because, at some point, someone gave us a break, so we want to push that energy forward.
“Too often agencies fish from the same small pools of talent. It’s lazy and does nothing but inflate the wages of the few and, in turn, reduces the number of positions available.”
© Taaryn Brench
Name: Taaryn Brench
Job title: Freelance designer & illustrator
How did you get started in the creative industry?
I’ve always been a bit of a creative type in various ways but I never really understood it could be a viable career option. In my mid-20s, I was working in client services and marketing but I was always a bit more interested in what the graphic designers were doing! I ended up doing an apprenticeship to retrain and part of it included working full time as a junior graphic designer for an educational publisher.
Why was a degree not the right route for you?
I would have loved to have studied graphic design at university but I’d already been to study something else (which I then dropped out of, twice!) so I wasn’t able to get any funding for another degree. I still needed a full-time job as I wasn’t living at home and still had rent and bills to pay. Opportunities for education seemed a bit thin on the ground once you’ve left school, especially if you’re broke. An apprenticeship seemed like my only real viable option, it allowed me to earn some money but also get a qualification out of it.
“Opportunities for education seemed a bit thin on the ground once you’ve left school, especially if you’re broke.”
What advice would you give any emerging creatives who worry that not having a degree will hold them back?
Honestly, no one even asks you about a degree or even cares! The most important qualities for someone getting started are to be able to talk through your work, be curious and willing to learn and be a nice person. Everything else can be learnt!
© Tim Easley
Name: Tim Easley
Job title: Illustrator, Designer & Photographer
How did you get started in the creative industry?
Mostly by accident! I always loved drawing when I was a kid, but I'm from a working-class background so there was no talk of the creative industries in my house, nor in my school, and it was never presented as a viable option for someone like me. I was expected to leave school after my GCSEs and get a 'proper' job - I think the arts were just seen as something you went into if you didn't need to worry about an income. I did do a year at college (studying maths, physics and computer science), but had to quit for financial reasons, then after a stint of unemployment, I managed to get a job as a games tester, which is probably where I was first introduced to the idea that there were creative jobs around.
“I was expected to leave school after my GCSEs and get a ‘proper’ job - I think the arts were just seen as something you went into if you didn’t need to worry about an income.”
A couple of years later I opened a record store and through necessity ended up doing all of the design for that - the website, the sign, flyers, in-store signage, the logo, stickers etc, and when that closed I had a few enquiries from people asking about logos. I worked in a variety of jobs after that, including a few design-related ones - I founded a sneaker website that I had to design and build, and I worked a small stint in Tokyo helping a friend with very menial design tasks for some Japanese magazines - but in the end it was very hard to break into the graphic design world without a degree or years of agency experience, so I ended up going freelance as an illustrator, where your portfolio is 99% of your credentials. I still feel like an outsider in the creative industry but I've definitely found that being freelance works a lot better for me.
Why was a degree not the right route for you?
To be honest I think that a degree probably would have been a better route for me. It's not necessarily the case for everyone, but I had absolutely no careers advice in high school, and coupled with the fact that my parents just expected me to get a job after school meant that I really had no idea about the options available to me, or even what I was interested in working as. Also coming from a working-class background meant that I didn't even see university as a route for me - none of my family had been to uni or even college, so it was never spoken about or nurtured like I later found out was the case in middle-class families.
I think that university would have been invaluable to me at the time, and would have helped in so many different ways, especially in interacting with people different to those that I grew up around. Nowadays you can definitely learn the technical skills you need in many different ways - I'm completely self-taught and that's worked well for me since I feel like that style of learning is a lot more suited to my personality - so I don't necessarily regret not having been to university, but it would have been helpful when I was starting out.
What advice would you give any emerging creatives who worry that not having a degree will hold them back?
Just that it's definitely not as big a deal as it used to be! If you have a good body of work and you're enthusiastic that's definitely more important these days than having a piece of paper saying you passed a test. A strong portfolio will always trump someone that has a degree but very little to show for it, and it's most important to show prospective employers that you have passion and a good thought process alongside great examples of work, rather than just letting them know what degree you have!
“If you have a good body of work and you’re enthusiastic that’s definitely more important these days than having a piece of paper saying you passed a test.”
Name: Rosa Kennedy
Job title: Freelance motion designer
How did you get started in the creative industry?
I was about 25 and a friend who was starting up a club night asked me if I knew anyone who could do posters for it. I offered myself up. I’d always liked design and had done little jobs for friends every now and then. Once the pandemic hit, bars closed down and I lost my job. I had to think what to do as a career, I knew I liked designing the posters so I went head first into teaching myself more.
Why was a degree not the right route for you?
At 18 I had no idea what I wanted to do. I did graphics at college and Ioved it. But I don’t think I was confident enough to go to uni with it. I ended up doing a degree in French and Spanish. When I graduated I still had no idea, so I ran away to Spain. It took a while for me to realise I was good enough to do design. Going back to uni and getting into more debt was definitely not an option. I also felt that even if it was, I wasn’t sure what degree to take. I loved design, but also illustration and had just discovered the world of animation. I felt more comfortable designing my own path. So I took to Google and YouTube.
“I loved design, but also illustration and had just discovered the world of animation. I felt more comfortable designing my own path. So I took to Google and YouTube.”
What advice would you give any emerging creatives who worry that not having a degree will hold them back?
My advice is to not stress at all. If anything, not having a degree gives you more freedom to explore. You’ve just gotta be a bit more disciplined. Map out short term goals and keep yourself accountable. Create your own projects and reach out for collaborations. Listen to podcasts, read articles and books, consume from where you can. Get a part-time job to keep you afloat. Network on and offline.
Remember it will take time. Give yourself breaks, take time away to recharge and not burn out. Everyone in this industry is constantly learning still, so you’re not trying to ‘catch up’, because no one’s finished. You’re just aiming to learn and create what you want to create. The jobs will come after :)
“Everyone in this industry is constantly learning still, so you’re not trying to ‘catch up’, because no one’s finished.”
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