The scenic route.

I’m Lisa, a freelance graphic designer living and working in beautiful Aberdeenshire. I returned to Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen in 2020 graduating with first class honours in Communication Design: Graphics last summer. I’m 40, I’ve been married 15 years and I have two boys aged 13 and 11.

I always say I’ve taken the scenic route in terms of my career. I don’t regret any choices or decisions that I’ve made, but I might have reached my destination quicker if I’d taken another path. But where’s the fun in that!?

I decided I wanted to be a graphic designer after I won a competition to design the Torcher parade poster when I was 13. I didn’t end up at my first choice uni (the course I initially signed up for was undersubscribed and didn’t run) so I went to Gray’s instead. Maybe it was written in the stars.

The 1998 Torcher Parade Poster

My very first day of uni, was my 18th birthday. I studied Design for Digital Media and although I didn’t really know what digital media was (in my defence it was 2002) but my class had a boy girl ratio of 5:1 and I was more excited about that…

Needless to say, I partied too hard and didn’t take the work seriously. There was a pub across the road and a lot of my student loan disappeared on lunchtime pints and toasties and I spent very little time figuring out how to code. Our whole class based most of our work on a class night out when we went to see Chesney Hawkes. We included Chesney in so many designs, imagine a whole room of 2002 Mac computers with Chesney’s face on them. That was our class.

A reconstruction of uni in 2002

It was a very fun year and I do wonder what the class are all up to now - there was no social media so when I lost my ericsson flip phone and all the numbers, I never heard from anyone again. I did have a mature student moment almost 20 years later when a couple of my tutors turned out to be alumni of the same course. Thankfully I don’t think they were around when I was asking Chesney Hawkes to autograph my body.

Since I couldn’t figure out coding, I thought I’d never have a successful design career. I lacked confidence and panicked about the prospect of future employment. We didn’t call it Imposter Syndrome back then. So I did the most sensible thing. I watched Legally Blonde and moved along the campus to study Law and Management. I gained my first degree and took at job at an Aberdeen law firm. Four years later I was a team leader with really big clients, a huge workload and depression. I missed being creative. I quit and applied to Aberdeen college to study Visual Communication.

I loved college. I was a mature student but I was only 25. I remember thinking I was really old since I would be in the same category as Wagner in the X Factor but honestly, that over 25 category was offensive. It was going really well until during the summer between first and second year I became pregnant. I was married and wanted a baby but it just happened a lot quicker than I had expected. I also, naively thought I’d just crack on with college and have a baby but college quite rightly told me I was crazy. When my baby was born in February I stopped caring about anything other than my beautiful baby - I even got an invite to graduation and just forgot to go.

Doing college work 3 days before giving birth

I moved from the city to the countryside and my folks moved just round the corner. I had a weird few years, my Dad was diagnosed with MSA (Multiple System Atrophy) a degenerative neurological condition with no treatment or cure. My second son was born two months later while my eldest wasn’t even two yet. It was a lot. Dad’s health deteriorated quickly and less than a year after diagnosis he contracted sepsis and sadly died. As much as my career was non existent at that time, I am so happy I was there and that Dad was able to see the boys most days.

My Dad hanging out with the boys

My husband’s job took him to Schiedam in the Netherlands but I chose to stay in Scotland. Monday to Friday I was proper suburban Mum but always designing, sketching, making posters, my boys birthday invitations were elite. When both boys started school I began feeling that I needed to do something for myself. I had unfinished business. Thankfully my husband’s job allowed him to be based back in Aberdeen and I started seriously thinking about my own career. In March 2020 I applied to study Communication Design at Grays. I was now 35.

I spent a lot of time over in the Netherlands and I absolutely love it. These are some images from my many visits. The text is a Dutch saying “Don’t aim for success if you want; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.” I love that.

Covid happened (literally a week after I applied for uni) but if anything, it was a blessing for me. Hybrid working allowed me to navigate university with very little childcare. I had an amazing four years, I learned so much and I confirmed that I really was meant to work in the creative industries.

I was delighted last year to achieve first class honours and then to win the Principal’s Award for Design was the absolute cherry on the cake. I took some time out in the summer and in August I applied for a corporate job. I felt this is the path I needed to take since I’m based in Aberdeen - if you know the Aberdeen economy, you know. I was delighted to be offered the job. However, for a number of reasons, I knew it wasn’t a right fit for me. In January 2025 my anxiety was at an all time high. I’m so thankful for being able to take action that benefits my mental health as I know it’s a luxury that not everyone can enjoy.

Couldn’t resist illustrating one of the metaphors used in CBT - what’s been filling up my stress bucket

And now, here I am. I don’t really know what I’m doing, I want to do work that I feel good about and I want to maintain the enthusiasm I enjoyed at uni. I want to do a lot of different things and I’m hoping that if I keep doing all the little personal projects they will be like little seeds that grow into something bigger and more beautiful. If that metaphor makes any sense…! L♡