The journey we take in our career shapes us – our surroundings have an effect, positive or negative, it’s also how you handle these surroundings that helps too. Laura Hawkins has taken a few routes to her current path and she’s done so with nothing but the most infectious positivity.

So you’re a graphic designer and an illustrator, what came first? Did one lead into the other or has that been the plan from the offset? I started off in design and moved across to illustration myself.

Well, I’m a graphic designer by trade – I studied Graphic Design at Uni and then worked for a design agency, then a publishing company before going freelance in 2013.

My Fine Art tutor at college suggested illustration as a degree, but I decided to go for Graphic Design as I assumed there would be a better chance of employment at the end. I never really considered a career as an illustrator until a couple of years ago, after meeting Ben (Tallon). He was a freelancer and I’d been commissioning his work for a magazine I was Art Directing on at they time, and he really inspired me to first go freelance but then to explore what I might really love to do creatively – and that led to experimenting with the bird illustrations, hence Little Birds Talk!

It’s only in the past 4 or so months since moving up to Manchester I’ve started working with the paper illustration (which I LOVE), that has got me thinking that I could move into illustration as my main income in time. At present I would call myself a graphic designer who likes to illustrate but hopefully eventually it might be the other way around!

You’ve gone from Cornwall to London and now to Manchester, how has this trek across the English Isle treated you in terms of work and inspirations?

Haha, that question made me laugh! It has been a bit of a trek from south to north! Maybe Scotland next? In terms of work and inspiration… well I think Cornwall was wonderful as it was such a beautiful place to live – I think it was a very inspired time of my life as I was a student, and everything was new and exciting.

I love getting out and about – at uni on Sundays me and my friend Jo used to grab a pasty and trek up to Pendennis point along the coast in Falmouth, followed by a bracing walk back along the beach and I think being outdoors so much and close to the sea influenced my design and perspective on life.

I was very interested in ethical design, I wrote my dissertation about the First Things First manifesto and was very keen to try and tailor each project to something to do with things like fair-trade, protecting nature, recycling – I was a bit of an eco warrior! And cornwall totally nurtured that in me I think.

And London…?

My very first job in London was at a design agency who’s whole ethos was based around ethical design – I met them at New Designers in 2005, and my work must have given off that vibe, as they offered me a placement and then a full time role! I loved the work they did there and was really inspired by the fact that they had such strong beliefs.
I didn’t actually move up to London until 2012, and by this time I was working in publishing and soon after went freelance.

I think once I found my feet a little, London was amazing as there’s such an overwhelming wealth of information and imagery pounding your mind on a daily basis, and you see so many people doing cool things that you challenge yourself more perhaps and think that maybe you could do that too.

I started going to lots of makers markets after I’d re-discovered my love of painting, as I’d been on a screen printing course at the University of the Arts and a sewing course in Clapham, and thought maybe this was an area I’d like to get into. I was majorly inspired by all the amazing makers and designers, and this spurred me on to having a go at designing my own fabric prints using the bird illustrations and creating a range of cushions, lampshades, aprons and tea-towels and trying my hand at some craft markets too.

I think moving to Manchester, being able to afford a centrally located studio space in a really lovely building, full of all sorts of wonderful creative people has really spurred me on to do something more ‘me’ and that I love. I’m feeling really inspired since moving here and have much more time to actually enjoy the work as I’m not commuting for hours each day and have a bigger and more functional space to work in too.

Have you found the creative scenes very different between each place?

I guess for Cornwall its harder to say, as I was there as a student – but it is a very creative part of the country and has a strong sense of its own identity – the Arts uni in Falmouth is of course full of creative types, and St Ives is a hub of independent stores, so I think there’s a lot of maker-type creativity going on down there.

London has everything, but I think its a very double edged sword. There are obviously thousands of creative people living and working in the city, but I think for freelancers or small business especially, they tend to be more grouped together in the suburbs. In my personal experience, a lot of the freelancers I knew there found it hard to just work on their passions and often had a side job, and studio rent was so expensive that you’re really pushed quite far out to afford a good space. However the creative community is really welcoming, there was a great meet up that I went to from time to time called Yo Illo which was full of lovely freelancers wanting to get together, have a drink and a chat and they’d often have speakers.

I’ve found the Manchester creative scene massively welcoming and approachable. I think because the city is smaller, people know each other and you see lots of the same faces at regular events. There are also so many things going on from design-related talks and conferences, to workshops and meet-ups that there’s a massive wealth of resources. I think the north is a wonderful place for creative people, and is getting stronger, and people really want to help each other out here and encourage them, which is fantastic!

Your bird watercolour illustrations that you use in pattern and stationery is a departure from your other work. The paintwork is gorgeous, is this a return to a first love of painting or something you developed later?

Aw thank you! That’s very kind! Well, I loved painting when I was younger, and as a child (who doesn’t!). At college, art was my favourite and I loved the laid back lessons where we’d just sit and paint. My mum was really surprised actually when she saw my final show as she said as a kid my drawings were pretty average! However, at uni, I learned more digital skills, and even though I like to still create hands on work, for a long while after my degree I don’t think I even looked at a paintbrush, and everything I made was digital.

I think the birds came from a mix of frustration with my design work, and the need to do something really creative and hands on. I didn’t even know I liked birds so much to be honest! But once I started painting them, I loved it and just kept going. I really liked the act of putting paint on paper and the way the watercolours bled and ran, it was very cathartic. And I think I was as surprised as anyone with the results. It opened up a new perspective for me and I felt that maybe this was worth exploring some more.

What inspired you to create this range?

I’d tried the patterns and the making, which I’d really enjoyed, but I soon realised that being a full-time maker wasn’t really for me. I loved making one or two items, but as soon as it became ‘work’ the fun kind of dispersed. So I thought about how I might use the birds in another way. I’d had a go at some illustrated typographic greetings cards and tried pitching them to a local card shop in Balham, but the owner wasn’t having it at all (which was fair enough, they weren’t great!), and I’d done some notelets with the birds for some craft markets which had sold well, so I think this must have been the kick off point for the cards – it’s hard to remember!

I already had the name ‘Little Birds Talk’ before the cards were actually ‘talking’, so adding the speech bubbles and having the birds say things seemed the obvious thing to do really! I wanted them to be a bit different though and appeal to my (somewhat dire) sense of humour (I love a pun and a bad joke), and thought the contrast of a delicate, watercolour bird illustration, and some modern text-type language might be funny… so started there!

The first card was the Toucan saying ‘LOLZ’, and then I think it went on to the BOSH and BOOM, and so it began… I was absolutely over-the-moon when card publisher Whale and Bird contacted me and said they’d like to publish 12 of my designs – and seeing the cards in actual real-life Paperchase (my stationery mecca!!!) on Tottenham Court Road was possibly the highlight of my career so far!

Firstly, awesome news about Paperchase! You mention you don’t want to be a full-time maker? Is your idea now to create things you enjoy and if you see a way of up-selling them you will?

Thank you very much! It was VERY surreal – I have been in love with that shop for decades and never dreamed that they would ever stock something I’d drawn, so that was incredibly exciting. Regarding the making, I guess so, yes! I want to focus on the paper art for now and if there’s a way that can evolve into something I can make an Etsy store from then amazing!

How important is it to you that you create work you love? I ask this because more and more I’m seeing people in the creative business getting despondent doing work for others and not being invested in their work as much.

I think as I get older (and in theory wiser?!) I’m really starting to see that you CAN actually get paid to do things you enjoy and you really don’t have to do work that you hate (at least for most of the time!). The more you enjoy a job, the better you’ll do at it generally, so I am trying to follow that advice and turn down things I don’t like to give me time to make more things I do… I listened to the Arrest All Mimics podcast with Kerry Lemon, and was so impressed by her work ethic of thinking ‘what would I like to do’ and then ‘how can I get someone to pay me to do it’ – and sticking to that, and she’s done some incredible work!

Sounds like all 3 places have had a really positive influence in your career path? Did you think that would be the case as you went from place to place? Your positivity is infectious and great to see – do you feel this helped make the best of the experiences?

That’s very kind of you to say, Ste! To be fair, I’ve had some great opportunities and have been so lucky to have had the support of my family and friends along the way. My parents have never laughed at me (well, not to my face) when I come home with another hair-brained scheme, or despaired when I’ve told them I’m moving house for the umpteenth time!

I suppose wherever you are you’re influenced by the things around you. I really love having the city and country mix, I crave the beauty of the countryside, but also need the crazy, dirty, hustle and bustle of the city. I really enjoy wandering around really old cities like London and Edinburgh and thinking about all of the people who’ve passed by before and all of the amazing things that have happened through the centuries – its really thrilling when you think about it!

Do you think the journeys and visits helped get you to where you are quicker than if you hadn’t?

I think maybe moving about and living in different places has given me more life experience, so maybe more confidence generally. And it’s been great for meeting other people in the industry, which definitely pushes you, as you see that all these different things can be achieved! If I’d never left my home town (well village to be fair) I probably wouldn’t have had the experiences and meetings that have led me to where I am now, so yes I think actually I wouldn’t be doing the job I’m doing if I hadn’t moved around, and potentially it would have taken longer – or not happened at all!

You’ve recently started to work with paper to create illustrations and collages from different types and colours of that medium, can you tell me how you developed into that? For me there’s a link to the fluidness of watercolour with your work, very colourful and allowing random chances to inspire artwork – is that something you see yourself?

YES, that’s a great way to describe the paper art actually – I think the random chances are exactly what makes the style work, and what I really like about it. I started working with paper as a bit of an experiment, I’d been using the watercolours for my bird cards, and was trying to expand that to other things, but it just wasn’t working. I’d seen people on instagram working with paper, and some beautiful mixed media work where one illustrator was using watercolour and paper collage, and thought “ooo that looks fun, maybe I could have a go at that”.

However, I ended up just using the paper, and after a few experiments found I liked the results & also really enjoyed creating things in the style. I like to work quickly, so the tearing thing was ideal, and using lots of existing paper alongside painting my own and tearing that up meant that the artwork was really different each time, and also used up all sorts of paper-based things that might usually be thrown away, which is a big bonus too.

Can you see or have you any ideas how you would like to develop this style or are you enjoying seeing where it takes you?

I’ve got a few ideas, and things that I’d like to try – and so many people have given me brilliant suggestions of ways I could develop the style and content, so I have a lot to think about and crack on with! I’m just about to launch a website dedicated to just the paper, its all very new, but over the coming months I’ll be adding more content and hopefully a few live commissions if I’m lucky…

I had my very first paper commission in January for a digital magazine called ‘Ambition’, which is the magazine of the Association of MBA’s. The fabulous editor David Woods-Hale let me have a crack at the cover and some internal spreads, so I can’t wait to see that!

Lastly, what’s the one thing everyone should do today?

I’ve just got a puppy, and having a pet about the place is awesome, so I would say go and pat a dog. (ask first though if its not yours, obvs.)

A very big thanks to Laura for her time. Check out her work on her website, and follow Little Birds Talk on Twitter.