Reading graduate, Connie Worthington, shared how it felt to break into the creative sphere as a designer for film and television – from working on shows like Bluey and The Diplomat to having her own IMDb page.
Connie graduated from Reading in 2020 with a first-class degree in Graphic Communication from the renowned Department of Typography. From the opportunity to study abroad in Germany, to the support she received whilst at University, Connie attests that her time at Reading was invaluable to establishing her creative career.
Connie said: “The course at Reading was wonderful and I received a lot of support from the Department of Typography during my time at Reading. I always knew they were there for me if I needed them.
“I think a good design education is really important. I wouldn’t have had the knowledge or the confidence to progress my career as I have done without my degree behind me.”
Making it in television
After graduation, with help from the University’s Careers Team, Connie secured an internship with Inquisitive Type, before moving to Blossom & Easel, a Hampshire-based company which supports local, young artists to kick-start their career. During her time at Blossom & Easel Connie had the opportunity to work on their Christmas advert, before securing full-time work as a graphic designer at a Creative Events agency called Experience.
Connie said: “It was actually from speaking with one of my Reading lecturers, James Lloyd, that led me to connect with an alumnus from Reading, which ultimately resulted in me getting hired. Working at Experience was the perfect springboard for learning what it takes to work a full-time creative job, from brainstorming ideas to designing project assets.
“But I always knew I wanted to work as a designer for film and television, so after two valuable years at Experience, I took the leap to pursue my dream. After a month of intense job searching I landed a role as a graphic assistant on an Amazon Prime show called Dead Hot.
“My job was primarily taking care of the phone and laptop screens which were shown in the TV show. My role involved reviewing the scene schedule and script, designing the screens to match, obtaining approvals, and ensuring the final designs were ready to download onto the devices.”
Although her dream job, Connie admits that working in the film and television industry certainly doesn’t come with security. She explained: “Whilst at Dead Hot I made a connection which led me to do one week on Waterloo Road. But sadly by September 2023, the writers’ strike was hitting the industry hard, with around 75% of crew members out of work – including me.”
Thankfully the industry has been recovering in 2024 and a major turning point for Connie came when she was accepted into the ScreenSkills Trainee Finder Scheme. She said: “This is an amazing charity that supports talent at every level in film, television, animation, and games. They provide work placements and training, partially subsidising wages to encourage productions to take on additional help. This has been a game-changer for me and has helped me to secure work when show budgets are tight.
“In 2024 I worked on a low-budget Christmas film, which led to me working on a BBC drama. Most recently, I was working on The Diplomat, a Netflix political drama which is really good!
“I also recently worked with the children’s TV show Bluey which was a great experience. I was approached by BBC Studios to create accessible crafting videos featuring Bluey characters, designed for children to watch and follow along at home.
“So far, I’ve made four crafting videos for their channels and they’ve had over 8 million views. It’s bizarre to think my hands have been seen by that many people!
“The internet can be a strange place for children to navigate, so I’m glad the people at Bluey want to put the effort into platforms like Youtube Kids to make it a wholesome place to be.”
You can watch one of Connie’s Bluey crafting videos here:
Seeing is believing
The role of the art department within film and television isn’t necessarily an obvious one. Connie shares that art departments often do their work so well that people can forget that what they are seeing isn’t real.
Connie said: “The role of the art department, in general, is to bring together everything you see in a scene that isn’t an actor.
“It sounds obvious, but none of it is real! Almost every element of the scene has been touched by human hands. From the décor to the props, the art department makes that happen, including all the graphics such as phone screens, posters and receipts.
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“As a trainee my job is to help with whatever the department needs which has given me lots of different experiences. For me, it has been less about creating things and more about being the glue that connects everything. My role is to observe, learn, and begin to understand the intricacies of how the department operates.
“For example, on The Diplomat set, one day I was making protest signs for a scene, one day I was delivering graphics and props to set, and on another I was a standby – this is being the eyes of the art department during filming. I got to watch the actors perform right in front of me which was an incredible experience.”
Being patient
Understanding the challenges that come with breaking into the industry, Connie shared her tips for those embarking on a career in the creative sphere. She said:
“For a while I wasn’t sure if this kind of work would ever happen for me. I have amazing days at work where I think to myself ‘I can’t believe this is my job for the day’. I still can’t believe my career is happening at all to be honest. There’s even an IMDb page with my name on it which is incredible!
“My advice to other graduates is to be patient, ask for help and keep going. A practical tip which really helped me was to keep track of every job I applied for, the people I contacted and the interviews I secured. This gave me a clear perspective on what was working and how many applications it could take to hear back from someone. Tracking the data helped me to not feel discouraged; it motivated me to keep going with realistic expectations.
“Things don’t always happen in a linear way and that’s OK. Sometimes you can compare yourself to your peers and feel insecure, but you’re not living their life. If you are on a path you don’t like, then remember you have the power to change it.”
Read more about Connie’s work on the Blossom & Easel Christmas advert in CONNECTED.
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