Anna Wanczyk
I’m an independent graphic designer working out of Duke Studios in Leeds.
I love getting up to my elbows in interesting projects for awesome clients. I love the kind of design problems that make my brain fizz and my fingers tingle. The projects that have me waking up at 5am with an idea that’s clawed its way out of my subconscious.
I also love bringing together teams of freelancers for jobs that need more than just a graphic design solution.
In my 15 years as a designer I’ve worked in-house, for agencies, at agencies (I was head of design at magpie before I went solo) and as an independent. I’ve done high-profile branding projects, packaging, design for web (and, yes, a bit of UX), campaigns… all of it, really.
It’s diving into a brand, puzzling out their identity and then setting off creative fireworks that I love best, but I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves and graft away when it’s time to get the roll-out done.
When you get right down to it, it’s all about finding creative ways to solve problems. If you have a problem that needs some creative energy zapping at it, get in touch.
AWESOME DESIGN. COLLECTIVE WORKING. NO FAFF.
Agencies are great. I’ve done some brilliant work with agencies. But you don’t always need an agency. When you’re an agency everything can start to look like a multi-pronged focus-tested blah-de-blah, and you end up with overheads oozing out of your eyeballs. Sometimes you just need the right team of creative freelancers to get in, do their bit and get out again.
I love working this way, bringing together a few brilliant people who fit the job spec, doing some ace design and a bit of project management for the client, then getting out of the way. It’s agile, it keeps things fresh. No faff. No bullsh!t. It allows you to do powerful work for great clients who don’t necessarily have the budget to work with a massive agency (or maybe just want that budget to go further). And, let’s be honest, a lot of the best people are freelancers!