Educating the Next Generation

We’ve had a great year here at Creatomatic, not just working with our clients but we’ve also had the chance to work with lots of young people this year, educating them about our industry. We love sharing our knowledge and creating pathways for people to enter the digital world. 

Back in July, our Design Team were invited to speak at the University of Cumbria’s UX/UI Design short course. 

Paul shared insights into the web design process, covering everything from budgets and client feedback to wireframing and final designs. 

After the presentation, they had an interactive session reviewing the students’ work, providing feedback and offering tips on how to refine their designs. They were incredibly impressed by their progress and creativity just over 6 weeks into the course. 

The UX/UI bootcamp has been hailed as a great initiative where over 6 weeks, the free to access course offers insights into design’s fastest growing industry to professionals around Cumbria. Focusing on the laws of UX, design systems and fundamentals alongside hands on learning. 

Lecturer Vincent Walden from University of Cumbria stated: “It was a no-brainer to invite Paul and Rosie from Creatomatic, potentially my favourite local agency – to provide a talk about their work and help give feedback to the students. After 6 weeks of work, each student was confidently producing detailed digital designs on Figma for their final module and the Creatomatic team’s feedback was key to helping them to elevate their work”. 

As well as visiting educational institutions around the region, Chris McWhinnie, has been working closely with Lockerbie Academy and has hosted a group of students every Tuesday for 8 months to complete their Foundation Apprenticeship in Creative and Digital Media at SCQF level 6. Every week, they’ve joined the team at our headquarters to learn more about what it’s like to work in a 5-Star Creative Agency. 

The course has covered a range of areas from working effectively with others in the Creative Industries to preparing for and conducting interviews in Creative Media, communicating using marketing and sales channels and using digital and social media marketing campaigns. 

The students have learned from many members of the team and thoroughly enjoyed their time within the agency. 

Chris McWhinnie said: “It has been a great opportunity for us to engage with the next generation of digital media professionals. Being able to offer real life work experience to young people is so important at this stage so that they can make decisions about where they’d like to take their career in the future. This sort of insight in a working office is invaluable and I hope that it has inspired the young people that we’ve worked with to consider a career in this industry.”

This year, we also teamed up with the Dumfries Town Board for their new logo and branding project. Dumfries Town Board hosted a design competition involving four Dumfries High Schools. Our role was crucial in selecting the winner and transforming their design into a professional brand identity. 

The competition showcased the incredible talent of the young creatives of Dumfries, with Sienna Mutch from Dumfries High School winning for her design that includes the town’s iconic Midsteeple building, along with a unicorn and stag, symbols from the Dumfriesshire Coat of Arms. 

We were very impressed by the calibre of designs and supported Sienna to refine her winning concept into several logo variations, ultimately chosen by the Dumfries Town Board as their favourite.

Paul and James had the pleasure of meeting with Sienna, along with Lisa Callendar Bone from the Dumfries Town Board and Kirsty Hamilton from the Dumfries High School, to present the final logo and brand identity. Paul guided Sienna through the design journey, discussing development choices and highlighting the strengths of her original concept. 

Sienna’s winning design not only secured her place in Dumfries Town Board’s history, but it also came with a fantastic reward. She received two tickets to the upcoming sold out YouthBeatz festival, including meet and greet with the headliners, Saint Phnx. Local shops and vendors across Dumfries collaborated to create a special goodie bag filled with treats for Sienna to celebrate her incredible achievement. 

We are passionate about educating the next generation of young people considering a career in the digital industries. We believe that there are so many opportunities especially as the world of technology is advancing at such a significant rate, there is so much to offer in a career that’s fast paced and exciting and we are looking forward to continuing this work into 2025.