Team Spotlight — Ben
Welcome to our latest Team spotlight, where we introduce the faces bringing energy and ideas to the studio. This quarter, we’re excited to introduce Ben, a recent graduate from Leeds Arts University who embraces the latest digital tools and technologies to bring concepts to life. From student projects to client-ready campaigns, Ben’s already making his mark. We sat down to get to see how he’s found his first few months as part of our creative team…
1. What drew you to MONO and how have you found your first few months?
My first few months at MONO have been an incredible experience. Transitioning from university into a design agency has been a big learning curve, but it’s already helped me grow and develop my creative practice in so many ways. What drew me to MONO from the start was the diversity of its work. The range of different clients and projects they have worked with immediately stood out to me. Being part of MONO has been both exciting and inspiring, and I’m looking forward to learning and contributing more to the team!
2. What excites you most about working in a creative environment?
Being surrounded by the different talented and experienced people and having the opportunity to work with others who have so much experience and insight into the industry – it really has me inspired to learn from everyone in the team.
3. Can you share a bit about your background and how your experience shapes your design perspective?
I grew up in a very creative household, with both my parents and sister working in the design industry. So, creativity has always been a big part of my life! Being surrounded by design from an early age naturally sparked my own passion for it, but it was only until I began my A levels when I thought this was potentially what I wanted to do for my Career! At this time, I was also conflicted with the idea of going to university to study sport science or chemistry. However, this is when I realised the reason I was so interested in these subjects resolved around my fascination for problem solving. This massively impacted my perspective on design as it shifted my focus from just creating something visually appealing to designing with purpose.
4. What’s a unique or unexpected source of inspiration for your creative work?
Alongside my passion for design, I’ve always been interested in other subjects like math, sports and science. Growing up, I feel that these subjects have also had a big impact on the way I approach my creative practise. As a result, I find myself invested in the research phases of my projects, where I like to explore many different areas of the subject to try to come to a unique and informed outcome and rationale. I really enjoy researching these more technical case studies or theoretical frameworks as it allows me to pick out key words that could be used to inspire the creative elements of my work.
5. What’s one design trend or innovation you’re excited to explore in your new role?
Motion Graphics is an element of design I have had a strong interest into and during my 2nd and 3rd year at university I was able to start exploring the design trend more closely using the different programs I had available to me at the time. I’m hoping that I will be able to continue to develop my skillsets in this field and potentially look at new areas of motion design which I haven’t been able to explore yet.
6. If you could describe your creative style in three words, what would they be?
Utilitarian, Systematic, insightful
7. What’s the one goal or ambition you hope to achieve with MONO?
My main ambition at MONO is mainly to do with developing my creative practise and understanding of the different elements of design in industry. Since I am new to the industry my knowledge is only based on the experiences I have had during my education. Although I am just at the beginning of my journey into the graphic design industry, I’m really excited to learn and progress my creative practise further!
