A (long) introduction
Hello! I thought my first blog post should be an introduction to me and how I got to where I am with my business. You’ll need a cup of tea though, and maybe some snacks for sustenance as it’s a long one!
To begin with, I'm Catherine and I'm 32 years old from Surrey. That’s possibly all you need to know but I kept writing anyway…
The Early Years + Education
I was told at school never to start a cover letter with, 'I've been creative ever since I was a child' but it’s everyone’s go-to for a reason and is definitely true for me. It was in my blood really, my dad was a full-time artist (Jim Bamber), look him up - he has his own Wikipedia page! (We still to this day aren't sure who wrote it and once we tried to add information about us - his four children - and it was rejected 😅). One of my earliest memories is my dad coming into nursery to help us paint a vase of flowers. The teacher told me she could see where I got my talent from and I remember being so proud. Looking back, she was obviously just being kind as I, and all the other children, only managed to create colourful splodges...
Me + dad painting together in the garden (I seemed to be great at splodges)
Art and textiles were my favourite subjects in school, and apart from a brief stint of wanting to be a vet, I knew I always wanted a creative job. In year 10 my art teacher said I had a very graphic approach to design and she could see me pursuing that as a career. I awkwardly laughed it off as I wasn't really sure what graphic design was and wanted to focus on textiles and fashion.
After school, I decided to do an Art Foundation year at Wimbledon College of Art. My art teachers highly recommended it as a way to choose which creative area I enjoyed most and to give me an advantage when applying to Universities. If you're not aware, during an art foundation year you have the chance to try out different areas of art and design in a more concentrated way than at school. At Wimbledon, we did a few weeks in 3D design, Graphic Design, Fine Art and Costume Design before choosing one to focus on. Although I can't say I loved my foundation year (I was mostly longing to be away at University), it did help me decide what to do next. I learnt exactly what Graphic Design was and realised my art teacher had been right, I loved it.
My first choice University was Nottingham Trent (NTU) and I remember the whole interview process so vividly. As I already had my A-level grades and a big portfolio (thanks to my art foundation), I was lucky enough to be offered a place on the spot.
I then spent three years studying Graphic Design at NTU and loved it. My course offered live briefs (projects set by real companies where you could win a work placement or job after graduating). One of those live briefs was with Abercrombie & Fitch, the prize being a job at their Head Office in Columbus, Ohio. The brief was to design a collection of graphics to go on t-shirts and sweaters. I chose to do the brief because it sounded interesting, I had no thoughts of winning!
A&F uni project, how I spent most of uni, graduation, NTU
Butttt I made it through the first stages and found myself being flown over to Ohio for an interview at Head Office - there were around 30 of us flown over from lots of different universities across the UK and Australia. This weekend was so surreal, we were put up in a 5* Hilton Hotel with all expenses paid for four days whilst they toured us around the offices and Columbus. Our interviews were on the last day and we had three, each around 45 minutes. The next week I was back in Nottingham and found out I got the job 🥳 I remember it so clearly, I was in a newsagents buying milk and topping up our gas meter when I got the call 😅
Columbus, Ohio - my home for four years
Moving to America
I ended up graduating uni with a 2.1 degree and my dream job. Fast forward to February 2015 and I moved to Columbus, Ohio to start my career as a Graphic Designer for Abercrombie & Fitch.
I was placed in Abercrombie Kids Boyswear department which was the dream as I got to design kids t-shirts with dinosaurs, pizzas and astronauts on. They'd accepted 19 other people from the UK and Australia for jobs across fashion design and graphics so I wasn't alone which made the move a lot easier.
My view walking into work everyday, the gorgeous thread room, moose cookies, my A&F family + the famous A&F scooters
I could write a whole blog post about my years in Ohio, I couldn't have asked for a better job straight out of uni. Our visa was for one year and at the end of that a few of us wanted to stay for longer, so they applied for new visas. I had to come back to the UK whilst the visa was being processed and it took a total of 8 months. In those months at home, I decided to set up an Etsy shop called Bamber Prints. Mainly to pass the time and keep busy but I secretly hoped it might become something more.
One of the first card designs + my first logo
My visa finally got accepted in September 2016 and I felt so lucky. (The visa process at the time was like a lottery - the odds were against you). I moved back to Ohio and closed my Etsy shop. I knew I wouldn't have time to keep it up as my work hours were long and my visa didn't allow another income, so I happily left it behind and went back to my Ohio life. I met the nicest people in that job and I enjoyed going to work every day (which I've since realised isn't a given). I also made the most of living in America and travelled to 30 states and discovered a love for National Parks.
Monument Valley, Rocky Mountain NP, Bison in Yellowstone NP
After just over four years in America, I started to get itchy feet and was missing people at home more and more. I made the (hard) decision to leave in December 2019 and moved back to the UK.
2020...
A very foreboding heading but we all know what's coming. Because I was without a job, I decided to go travelling for a while which helped soften the blow of leaving Ohio. I went to Australia for a month and then to New Zealand where me and a friend hired a campervan and lived the dream for five weeks. We had another two months of travelling planned (to Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore) but by then it was mid-March and a new virus was spreading (you may have heard of it...). Unfortunately, we had to cut our trip short and book a flight home to England. We then went into the first lockdown a few days later.
Me with our beloved campervan in NZ
I was quite positive at first and decided to use the time to work on my portfolio and apply for jobs, but I soon hit a wall as most companies stopped recruiting. I needed something to keep me sane and Bamber Prints had been in the back of my mind all those years. I’d been drawing away in the background for a while and had built up a lot of new designs, mostly in my dots which has become the signature style of Bamber Prints. (I’m saving another blog post for how I came to draw in dots so stay tuned for that one if you’re interested.)
I re-opened my Etsy shop in May 2020 with a few cards and prints. My initial hope was for it to keep me busy until I landed myself another job. But after months and months and months of dead ends and rejections; for jobs I desperately wanted, for jobs I was overqualified for and for jobs I really didn’t want, I faltered. If I’m honest, I was in a bad place and had lost belief in myself as a designer. Job hunting can be so soul-destroying and I decided I needed a break from it (it’s not like I was getting anywhere…). But I had Bamber Prints, and I loved drawing for myself and posting out orders. I decided to dip into my savings and see where it took me.
Showing off some designs at my first online market during lockdown
••••••••
Almost two years later and I’m still seeing where it will take me 😅 My wish now is for this to be my full-time job. Some months I think I’m there and then it’ll slow down and I’ll feel so far from it. It’s a rollercoaster! I’m lucky that I have some savings and a few freelance jobs popping up every now and then (mainly gotten through friends) to keep me going.
I’m so grateful for every single order from Bamber Prints, it’s been my light through this whole pandemic and I’m proud of where I am today.
And that is probably the longest blog post I’ll ever write 😅 I’m not sure I’ve written anything this long since my dissertation at uni. If you’ve made it this far you deserve some sort of medal. I probably went into too much detail but also feel like I left a lot out. I find blog posts like these really interesting to read so hopefully you’ve enjoyed it or you gave up and I’m just talking to myself now…
Thanks for reading,
Catherine
2 comments
It was so interesting to hear about your journey! Looking forward to your next post 😀
Wow! What an interesting first blog post! I never realised you had been to America, let alone work there for four years. I love how you just went for it, not everyone would be that brave. I think it must have really set you up with lots of the skills you need for your business now.
Looking forward to your next post 🙂. Victoria x