By Aisling McCarthy

Tell us a bit about your venture that you started last year, Studio / Shop?

I starting working at an advertising agency straight out of varsity because I felt like it was the natural thing to do with my degree. I only lasted 7 months before I decided to start freelancing full time. My goal was always to do my own thing; the agency was the only traditional job I've ever had.

Throughout my life, I've always had more of an entrepreneurial spirit. To make money at school, I was a vendor at the local I Heart Market. Studio / Shop is me trying to figure out what I want to do with all my creative energy.

It's a hybrid of my staple 9-5 work (which is still very commercial design work) and my kind of pipeline dream jobs that I work on after hours. There are many aspects of design that I'm interested in and want to explore.

2015 was a great year for you, receiving the Top Student Award at the annual AdFocus Awards as well as a D&AD New Bloods Award nomination and an exhibition at the Loerie Awards for the Adam&Adams Student Showcase. How has this success affected your work?

I'm not sure if it has affected my work too much, but it definitely brought me out of my shell and made me more certain of my own capabilities. It put me in situations I would never have willingly put myself in and exposed me to a myriad of very supportive people.

Each new experience helped me understand the professional world a little more; what I want to emulate and what I don't want to be. As a student with no idea what she wanted, these were all great learning experiences.

Your work has been featured in publications such as One Small Seed and New York Art Biennale. Tell us a bit about your favourite campaigns you have worked on?

I really enjoyed the Jungle Oats redesign, mostly because it was an illustration job. We also had carte blanche to do whatever we wanted - which is any designer's dream.

Who do you think is getting things right, in the advertising world, at the moment – and why?

Oh, the dreaded question! I'm not too sure to be honest. I think the industry needs a revamp, fresh eyes.

I really enjoy Miami Ad School's approach - they're quite tongue and cheek, which I think helps deflate the egos of any up and coming ad students. Maybe it'll set them on the right path to change things.

I really love honesty in advertising. Advertising that is genuinely brave and positive. Bodyform's "Blood" was amazing for all those reasons. I'm also a huge Adidas fan. I thought that student-made advert "Break Free" was wonderful. It's emotional, stays true to the brand's ethos and includes real human beings. Adidas decided not to air it, which greatly disappointing me. The video has 12 million views on YouTube already, which is a testament to the quality.

Durban designers tend to flock to the hubs of Johannesburg and Cape Town, yet you have remained there. What do you think this adds to your work?

Durban is a very mellow city - probably too mellow. I think my approach to life is to try and remain as laid back as possible in all the chaos. Even though I am always working on some new big idea, I want to stay grounded and unaffected by all the conventions of "being successful". I don't believe your work should consume your life - I'd probably move to the Drakensberg before I moved into a big, bustling city.

Finally, tell us a bit about how you got started in the design world?

I've always been a visual person, always creating things for friends and family. Since I was little, I've gone through phases of obsession with one creative form or another; books, magazines, photography.

I just followed the natural flow. My parents suggested I go to Vega because it had a really good reputation. I loved being an idealistic student. Unfortunately, I have to pretend to be an adult now and setting up shop has not gone as quickly as I wanted it to. Studio / Shop is my continued obsession with creating beautiful things.

For more information, visit between10and5.com

Interested in Between10and5’s creative showcase? Read more in our article, Uno de Waal: Curating Creativity