Evie Turns Placement into Business

A Hartlepool College student has turned a work experience placement into paid work and is now planning to launch her own design business. Evie Basford, an 18-year-old Level 3 Art and Design student from Hartlepool, is preparing to begin her second year at the College this September. Her route into art and design was not straightforward, having explored business and accounting before finding the course that suited her skills.

“When I left school I tried a couple of courses elsewhere, then I applied for the IT course here and was pointed in Lauren Morrell’s direction and ended up on the art course,” Evie said. "I asked Lauren, my tutor, for some work experience; I wanted my name put forward for it. About March time, Lauren told me she had found a work placement."

That opportunity came with Angela Carney of Carney Consultancy. Evie met Angela to discuss the placement and how she could support the business. Angela was developing a new part of her consultancy focused on leadership coaching. Ange and Jen’s Coaching Workshops plans to hold its first workshop this November, ahead of a year-long course launching in January.

Evie was allowed to develop its visual identity and social media marketing. She said: "I have been involved in doing a social media plan for her. I made the logo from scratch, and last week I was finishing off. I designed the layout, adding the images of them, and graphic design for each day of the week."

Working closely with Angela, Evie created a range of ideas and presented several options to find the right identity for the workshops. "For the logo I wanted to play around and had a look at what I could do,” Evie added. “I suggested some to Ange, sent around 15, and gave her two fonts she liked. Basically, I sat and changed the names around, and worked closely with the client to get her the right result. I have finished the logos - one in blue and one in gold -, and she has to pick between the two. And with the social media posts, she loved the look of them."

Evie’s professionalism, creativity and commitment soon made an impression. "Evie has been a breath of fresh air since she joined us for her placement," said Angela. "Her professionalism and creative vision have blown us away. She listened carefully to what we wanted for the coaching workshops and transformed our rough ideas into a stunning visual identity and a highly effective social media plan. She fully deserves every bit of her success, and paying her for this outstanding work was never in doubt."

What began as a work experience placement quickly developed into a paid commission."It was hinted at the start I could get paid, but then a few weeks ago I learned I was going to be paid for the social media plan and the graphic design," Evie shared. "I am so pleased, and it has made me feel good."

Evie credits her tutor, Lauren Morrell, for helping her find the opportunity and supporting her throughout the placement. She said: "Lauren at college has been amazing through the whole process. It has given me a taster of what I want to do. Now I’d love to start my own business, where I have my own set of clients to design for.”

Local businesses interested in offering Evie further work experience, design or social media opportunities can contact her directly at eviebasford6@gmail.com Evie has permitted her email address to be included.