An interview with Alkaa

Published: October 26, 2017

Michael and Sharon are our graduate residents who run Alkaa, a multidisciplinary Graphic Design agency that specialises in Branding, Identity and Illustration. Willing to take up any creative challenge that comes their way, their key business aims are to be customer-centric and to focus on building relationships with local businesses and individuals.

Where would you like your business to be in 5 years?

Michael: The 5 years plan; always a tough question. Speaking from experience, it is impossible to say if a business will be successful. Previous to this venture, before moving to Belfast, I ran a business in my hometown of Omagh – a record store which for 12 years went from strength to strength but unfortunately the downturn in physical format music sales meant the shop inevitably had to close. That being said, it is never too late to start again, if you are passionate about what you’re doing and prepared to put in some hard graft, then there is no reason a business won’t see success.

With this new venture, over the next 5 years, I know we’d like to see regular work coming through the door from a strong client base, in turn leading to an expansion of the business, meaning we’ll be in a strong position to hire more creative types to join our little team. Once established, we both feel strongly about spreading the gospel of design and would love to set up regular workshops to teach and inspire others.

What motivated you to create the business?

Michael: The majority of my working life has been spent doing my own thing; therefore, creating this business seemed like a natural progression. Setting up a design business means you can put your own creative stamp on your work, giving it meaning, creating something to be proud of.

Sharon: I think the idea of being able to control our own working week and setting our own hours is what attracted me most to the idea of setting up a business. I think it’s also important to focus on doing work that gives you joy as retirement is a long way off!

What do you hope to receive from the graduate program?

Michael: The studio space at Blick for one; not just for the fact that we now have somewhere to base the business, somewhere to call home, but being surrounded by other creatively talented and like-minded people is an excellent environment to be in.

Sharon: Having our own space is more than we could have imagined but I hope to receive some valuable mentoring from the programme as well as get the opportunity to network with similar-minded people.

How does your educational background help you with your business?

Michael: Graduating in Graphic Design at Belfast Met. helped me massively with the idea of starting my own business in the design industry. The course tutors were exceptional, providing me not only with an extensive range of design knowledge but also a wealth of information regarding the industry itself.

Sharon: Last year we both took part in the Belfast Enterprise Academy as an additional qualification to what we were already studying so that gave us a real insight into how businesses work. It made us realise that it wouldn’t be as difficult as we thought to get started.

What work throughout your university career are you most proud of?

Michael: While I enjoy all aspects of graphic design and will take on just about anything that is thrown at me, during college I quickly learnt that my strengths lay in the brand identity and packaging design. However, the project I am most proud of comes in the form of an advertising campaign that was set by The Royal Opera House, London. A UK wide competition, students were tasked with designing the advertising for The Royal Opera House and their contemporary production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata.

From the initial concept proposals to the final outcome, my finished work, a photography based design, was added to the Northern Irish shortlist and sent to London to be reviewed by their in-house designers. In the end however, I was not chosen as overall the competition winner. But, I was genuinely humbled to have been shortlisted and the entire experience gave me heightened confidence in my design work.

Sharon: Towards the end of the course I started to move away from my usually drawing style and began creating some interesting vector images. This is something that I would like to continue with. I would also like to shift towards a more abstract aesthetic at some point in the near future.

What inspires you to create/work in this way?

Michael: Everything! Even just taking a walk down the street we’re surrounded by some great design, but also some not so great design work. In a way this inspires me, I’m always thinking about what can done to improve it, is there a solution to get the message across to the target audience in a more apt way.

Sharon: I have always been inspired by my background in fine art, so I find a lot of inspiration at the late night art events. I think that art and design have a complex relationship where they each inspire the other. I also try to look for functionality and purpose in the work I produce.

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