10 Key Lessons From Ian Pitt Founder and Creative Director of Me,Him&Her Design Studio’s February Creative Talk
Ian Pitt, founder and creative director of Me,Him&Her design studio did a wonderful talk for us back in February!
He began by talking about his early experiences working as a designer for Marks and Spencer before working for FCUK where he learnt a lot about the value of simple well written copy and effective marketing and communication and in a fast-moving industry. In 2007 he realised he wanted to experience something different and in partnership with his then boss he set up his own design studio Me,Him&Her in London where he lived at the time. In 2022 he moved to Belfast and he now runs the design studio between both cities. Currently as well as working on client projects for Me,Him&Her Ian is working on a new project Belfast Artmart. A contemporary gallery/ art shop championing and selling Irish and UK art which Ian hopes will be an inclusive space helping artists to make money from their work.
Here are 10 key lessons from his talk!
01. Remember why you started
When times get hard when running a creative business it can be helpful to remember the reason you first started. “ Enjoy the creative freedom – Pay the bills” was Ian’s early business motto, one that has stuck with him and one he keeps coming back to.
02. Find value in every piece of work you create
You can’t always work on projects you are passionate about, but Ian shared how he believed to create your best work you should always try and find some value in every piece of work you create. With every potential project ask yourself what can I learn from this experience and/or where can I find joy in this experience?
03. Keeping your business small can be your super power
Small is personal, small is accountable, small is agile. Ian talked about how keeping your business small can give you an advantage over other businesses with higher overheads and less flexibility.
04. Focus on building relationships with your clients
Ian talked about the value of being nice and working hard as a creative business owner to build good relationships with clients who will then come back for repeat work and help you secure additional ‘word of mouth’ work with their friends and contacts.
05. Good things often come from what initially can be viewed as a set back
Ian shared how he believed running a creative business is easier when you learn to embrace happy accidents and go with the flow. For example for Ian when retail budgets started to shrink he used it as an opportunity to seek out new types of work, grow as a designer and experience new things.
06. Be strategic about free work
Ian talked about how working for free can be beneficial when you are strategic about it. For example when Ian moved to Northern Ireland to build local connections and awareness he ran a campaign ‘12 days of Giftmas’ where he worked for free for 12 days for selected Northern Irish artists and charities.
07. A practical tip for credit control is to make up a staff member to make interactions less personal
If you find it hard to ask for payment or chase up overdue invoices Ian suggested a practical tip of making up a staff member and email account and sending emails from them to chase up any money owed to you to make interactions less personal and awkward.
08. Running a design business is more than just designing, make sure you have all the skills you need to succeed
Ian spoke of how as a design business owner you need a variety of different skills to be successful. Including business, communication and marketing skills. He also spoke of how important it is to be flexible in your approach and understanding of your clients needs and tastes and not to be too precious of your personal tastes, ideas and creative work.
09. Running a successful creative business is an ongoing process
Ian shared how in his experience there is no set end point where you have made it and are now successful. Usually when you think you have made it something gets in the way. You have to try and enjoy the journey.
10. Ian’s Book recommendation Do Fly by Gavin Strange
Ian recommended this book Do Fly by Gavin Strange as a great source of inspiration for him on his creative journey.
