Role: Cinematographer, Designer And A Lecturer
Company: Southern Regional College
Track Record:
What does your job entail?
The great thing about my job is that every day is different. Four days a week I lecture at the Southern Regional College — three days on the Lurgan Campus and one on the Banbridge Campus.
Lecturing on the HND Graphic Design course is brilliant, and the nature of the course means that every day I’m working on something different with the students. One day it could be on the design of a new brand for a small company, and the next I’m teaching character design or creating packaging for a new product.
When I’m not lecturing, the majority of my time is spent working on Story of Eve, which is a small film-making company I set up two years ago. I create short wedding films and work quite a bit on fashion and style shoots, which continually bring new challenges and adventures, which I love.
And when I’m not lecturing, out shooting or editing, I also run a graphic design studio under the alias Sugar Island, which has been going for six years now.
Is it 9-5?
My lecturing hours are mainly between 9am–4pm Monday to Thursday, but when I’m out shooting or working on design projects, I often start around 8am until anywhere close to midnight. If a deadline is looming, then you can find me at my computer working away into the wee hours.
How did you get into this line of work?
Strangely enough, I never had any plans to go into lecturing or teaching, but six years ago I got a call from Southern Regional College asking me if I’d be interested in delivering a Page Layout class on the journalism course.
The idea of standing up in front of a class was pretty horrifying, but I knew right away it was something I’d love to try, and six years later I’ve never looked back.
It is not uncommon to hear the phrase, ‘People who can’t do, teach’, but lecturing has helped me understand my process more fully and has undoubtedly made me a better designer and cinematographer.
I’m also blown away by the dedication, commitment and passion of the teams I work with everyday and the amount of time and effort they put in to supporting our students to succeed.
Outline your career to date?
I wish I could look back and remember being a model student who always worked hard and got high grades, but this certainly wasn’t the case.
Right up until I completed my GCSEs I couldn’t wait to leave education. But a family friend convinced me to try a media course in Banbridge and that changed everything.
Suddenly I actually enjoyed what I was doing and how it was being delivered. After my two years on the course, I left a very different student and progressed to a degree in Interactive Multimedia Design at the University of Ulster.
Both of these courses were a fantastic platform in covering a wide range of skill sets, which I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to explore in my professional career.
Nevertheless, editorial design was always one of my favourite areas in the field of graphics. On my days off, I volunteered in a local publishing company, which was an amazing opportunity to experience the industry first-hand, not to mention getting to see work I’d designed sitting on the shelves in Easons and WH Smith.
I was fortunate to work for design agencies across Northern Ireland before I eventually set up my own studio six years ago and haven’t looked back.
Tell us about your qualifications / training.
My journey began with a GNVQ Art & Design, which led me to a BTEC National Diploma in Media Studies and ultimately a 1st Class Honours in BSc Interactive Multimedia Design.
From here I entered the world of work as a middle weight graphic and web designer, moving up the ranks to a senior graphic designer before finally going out on my own creating Sugar Island and more recently Story of Eve. On top of all this I have been lecturing at the Southern Regional College for six years taking my journey full circle.
What qualities are required for your job — personal and professional?
Working as an educator often requires many of the same skills as a parent. I think you need to be able to communicate well, be supportive and encouraging, have good listening and organisational skills, and empathy is vital.
I remember what it was like to be the unmotivated student, and so it’s important to keep in mind that every student coming through the door has a different set of hopes, fears, ambitions and backgrounds.
Working in the film-making and design industry is high pressure. It is extremely deadline driven and that can take some adapting to. You have to be focused, but at the same time keep an open mind if you want to stay creative.
I think having a love of learning has helped a lot as the qualities and skill sets are continually evolving.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of your work?
I think if you ask most people working in education or freelance what the challenges are, then the answer would probably be keeping on top on the admin. I’m diligent with my paperwork, which means I stay on top of it, but it can feel like there’s a different form for just about everything!
The rewards undoubtedly outweigh any challenges. Working in education is hugely rewarding as you actually have a chance of changing people’s lives. I bump into students regularly who are finishing degrees or working in the industry and it’s great to think I may have played even a small part in this.
Seeing a logo I designed drive past on the side of a bus, or watching someone cry with happiness at one of my short films is pretty special as well.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
My wife Aisling is great, and supports me in everything I do, and I’m a daddy to three girls, so trying to have a balance between work and family is top priority.
Needless to say, I don’t ever get to control the television remote control, but that’s fine, as I’ve actually grown to enjoy Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. I even have a couple of favourite episodes, but I’ll not discuss these here!
We keep chickens and two African Pygmy goats so we spend lots of time as a family out in the garden when the weather is dry.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
I’m embarrassed to say that thanks to my three daughters, I can literally sing every word to Disney’s Frozen soundtrack — very manly!
Who has inspired you most in your life?
That’s a really tough question as so many people have inspired me, and continue to inspire me everyday. My Granny lived with us until she passed away when I was nine years old. She was very humble, disciplined and always believed in me, which I felt overwhelmingly even at that young age.