She/her | #design #womenindesign
Hey Amy, first of all, how are you?
I’m good, thanks! It’s been a whirlwind getting through the pandemic but I’m very excited for the future now things are getting back to normal.
For those that do not know who is Amy Kilner?
I’m a Creative from Sheffield in the UK, currently, I am leading the creative studio at Rise at Seven and I run a blog/directory called The Design Fix where I help creatives at all levels find inspiration every single day to be the best they can be! I specialise in advertising for the events and leisure industry (especially targeting Gen Z) but I’m pretty flexible on design style and can work with your big corporate clients right down to startups. I’m best known for when Fatboy Slim / Norman Cook purchased a print of me for his smiley room in his house. I posted a piece to my Instagram where his management picked up on it and it all went a bit crazy from that point on!
Give us 5 fun facts about yourself!
I went on the tv show Dick and Dom in da Bungalow when I was a kid!
I’ve designed artwork for Fatboy Slim - he purchased a print from me for his song “Eat Sleep Rave Repeat”.
My fave music genre is dance/house music
I have a little dog that looks like Gizmo from the gremlins film
I collect music records, my fave ones are old sleeves from the 80s!
How did you get into design?
I started off on a photography course at college but ended up switching to Graphic Design as I loved the editing side more! Before that I found myself making videos for youtube with friends - if I was born a little later I would’ve been all over Tik Tok! I’ve always had a passion for media and creativity since a young age but it wasn’t until I had the chance to play on things like Piczo and Myspace with paint shop pro headers and content design that I realised this was where I was heading in the future.
What influences you as a designer the most?
I find the connection between music and art fascinating which influences my personal style but my biggest influence would be when I see work out in the wild doing its job. Whether that be selling a product or getting an important message across. I also love seeing other designers learn how to do this with quality work. Being a designer is like being on a rollercoaster, but once you get on it you aren’t getting off!
Tell us about The Design Fix.
The Design Fix has been my passion project since 2017. I found myself posting my own work on my Instagram with loads of different hashtags so decided I could create my own and hopefully, one day gives other creatives a boost into being found for jobs in the industry. Luckily this is what I do now as we have hit 70k followers! I’ve had a few people find work through the page.
Why did you decide to create the directory?
I have found that agencies often struggle to find freelancers for projects that vary so much. If there was a website that could help narrow down searches I think it would not only help creatives have more work coming in but also fix agencies workload issues. A win-win in my eyes!
How important is it for the creative community to come together and support each other?
I think the day you learn that there are always going to be designers better than you, you learn it is better to collaborate instead of compete. Every single designer can teach another something, even something as simple as looking at a project from a different perspective. Teamwork is what makes magic happen.
You recently joined Rise At Seven as the Creative Lead, are you excited to be working there?
I’m really excited to join Rise, their growth over the past 2 years has been incredible, they’ve absolutely smashed the creative PR side of things, it’s now time to back that up with some top level creativity from the studio team and take it Worldwide, first stop America! We’re currently looking for digital designers in Sheffield, Manchester and London so get in touch if you are looking!
For my final question, what’s next for Amy Kilner?
My next challenge is building a new age digital design studio at Rise at Seven so keep an eye out for what’s coming next from us! I’ll also keep pushing The Design Fix online, as always!
