What I Do All Day: A Day in the Life of a Designer

Imagine if being your own boss meant sleeping in until 10am, doing a bit of drawing, and clocking off at 3pm. That does happen sometimes. This blog post explains what I really do all day.

I’m Gail. I’m a surface pattern designer and illustrator. I work from my studio in Manchester, creating bold, colourful designs that I sell as greeting cards, art prints, homewares and clothing.

You can buy my work direct through my website or through Etsy. I also wholesale through Faire and my own website to places like The Whitworth, Manchester Museum and Salts Mill.

This is what should happen in a typical working day. It rarely does but I can dream.

I’m a sole trader. That means I’m the only employee. I do everything. There’s no one else, so my days rarely go to plan. Pete, my cat and studio assistant tries to help out. He’s really good at sitting on things I need.

First things first : A strong brew or two

This is non-negotiable

The Morning: A trip to the Post Office

I make daily trips to the post office to get orders out. If something sold overnight, it needs packaging up before I go anywhere near a screen.

Mid-Morning: Getting the admin out of the way

Orders to check. Emails to answer. Wholesale orders to chase. I manage my own website and shop, Faire for wholesale and Flodesk for my email newsletter. Each one has its own dashboard, its own notifications, its own way of doing things.

Lunchtime: A break, in theory

I take a break. Usually. My studio is at home, which has its pros (no commute, Pete) and its cons (washing that needs doing, Pete wants to play, it’s easy to just check one more email). Having a rough routine helps. Stepping away from the screen at lunch, even for twenty minutes, makes the afternoon far more productive.

Afternoon: Everything else

Afternoons tend to be for the business stuff, all the stuff that isn’t design but is just as important. Writing product copy. Updating the site. Planning and scheduling social media. Wholesale outreach. Pitching my designs.

I take on commissions too, album artwork, brand illustration, surface pattern for licensing. I’ve worked with musicians like Tim Burgess from The Charlatans and Dave Rowntree from Blur, and on licensed designs for Anderson Entertainment, the studio behind Thunderbirds. Commission work happens in the afternoon too, briefing calls, amendments to designs, sending across final files.

Late Afternoon : Designing

Finally, I get to do what I actually set out to do. I sketch ideas and use Adobe Illustrator to bring my ideas to life. I create my designs using vectors to draw repeat patterns and illustrations, and test out different colourways. I love the shapes and colours of mid-century design, and I’m also really inspired by architecture and music. That’s how I ended up creating collections like my Brutalist Collection and Record Collection.

What I've Learned

When you work for yourself, you never really switch off. You spot something that needs sorting at 5pm and you sort it. You get a wholesale enquiry at 6pm and you reply. You get a query while you’re watching the telly and you feel the need to reply. I’m not moaning. It’s just how it is when you run your own business. When it’s yours, you care about it a lot more.

The design is the starting point, but it’s a tiny proportion of my working day.

I didn’t plan this as a career. I built it gradually, around other things, until it became my main job. Now I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

If you’d like to see my work, you can browse the full collection at gailmyerscough.co.uk. Cards from £3, prints from £9, all designed in Manchester and made in the UK.

If you’re interested in working together on a commission or collaboration, you can find out more on my design services page or send me an email info@gailmyerscough.co.uk