Laura Tricker: BA(Hons) Textile Design graduate

How did you get to where you are?

From August 2005 to April 2006 I did work placements with Karen Nicol (embroidery designer), Baxter-Fawcett (textile design studio) and Brewster (textile design studio).

Then in April 2006 I had an interview at Westcott because the sales person at Brewster told me Westcott were looking for in-house designers. During my placement at Brewster I had designed some t-shirts and I got the Westcott job based on those. A friend at Brewster told me to make a 'look book' - a little book filled with pictures of your work - and that did the trick I think.

I had applied to Brewster but didn't get the job as I was told wasn't experienced enough - so don't give up as someone will take you on.

Please describe what you do

This has varied over my time working at Westcott, ranging from t-shirt design to embroideries to hand-painted prints. Now I mainly design prints using Photoshop, which are digitally printed and sold to fashion companies all over the world.

Work also includes trend research and prediction, putting together colour palettes, and styling designs into fashion shapes. All the Westcott work is styled to garment shapes. I really enjoy the styling part - I enjoy giving the print movement and imagining it on the body - and I yearn to transfer them to real clothes. We rarely sell to interiors.

I also travel to trade shows in Paris and New York to sell designs directly to the clients.

What do you do in an average day?

There is a high output with the target during busy times of ten+ prints a day. So a normal day involves finding an idea and colours to work on and churning out the prints on the computer! I normally spend some time looking round the shops to look for new print ideas and inspiration.

I often have to liaise with the digital printers, (who print out my designs onto fabric), other designers in the studio and the sales team to keep up to date with what's going on. Clients also require artwork when they buy a design so a portion of my day is spent sending artwork online via a file transfer website.

I work from home on my laptop - I am freelance now since having a baby (although I so wish I had done this earlier as freelance life gives you such freedom). Once you've gained enough experience from working in-house with a studio, you feel confident in picking out trends and ideas yourself. The freelance way of life involves working from home with weekly/bi-weekly visits to the studio to drop off work and catch up with what's going on in the studio. Being freelance and working on a laptop means you can work anywhere - cafe, park etc - and you can live anywhere you like as you can always Fedex your work into the studio - so there's absolute freedom.

What are the essential qualities needed for what you do?

You need a real sense for trends and what looks 'new' as a lot of the job is coming up with something fresh to excite the clients. It can't be totally wacky and off the mark so you need to be able absorb everything around you and respond to that. There are a lot of late nights and early mornings so you need to have dedication and self motivation.

A good sense of colour is essential, drawing and painting skills, an appreciation of fashion and a love for print and embroidery.

How creative is your role?

It's completely creative. A lot of studios prescribe projects to their designers but at Westcott there is a lot of free reign and inspiration all around you.

Who do you work with?

As a freelancer I mainly work on my own - with the occasional input from my boss, Peter, or the occasional casual catch up chat with the studio girls.

I also work with the sales team - they are the guys that travel the world and sell our work. I deal with them on a daily basis and get feedback from clients via them or they request me for artwork, repeats etc.

Clients that I've sold work to include: Urban Outfitters, Michael Kors, Gap, Calvin Klein, Boden, Monsoon, Primark, Etro

What is the most rewarding thing about what you do?

When you go on a sales trip you see how the clients agonize over their buying choices - they choose very carefully. When you sell a something it's such a buzz as you've designed something that someone thinks will be a success for their company, so that's a great endorsement.

And the most challenging?

When you don't sell anything, everything feels bleak. And it's quite competitive re sales so it's hard not to get swept up in that. Although that is also good as it fires you up to try harder.

As a freelancer you only get paid if you make a sale, but you get paid roughly £100 - £200 a design depending where it sells. Usually the studio will take 40% of a sale and the freelancer gets 60%, with the best price for newest work. Older work gets sent to Japan and LA to be sold via agents, so the sale price is then cut three ways rather than two. Some of my colleagues are selling 50+ designs a month so it can be very lucrative if you sell well. However if you don't sell, you make nothing so it is risky - but that makes it more thrilling!

Freelancers have to pay to have their own work printed digitally onto fabric so it's quite an investment. I recently had a £1000 print bill so you have to sell five designs to make that back - it's quite a gamble. Normally I spend about £400 a month on prints but it's all tax deductible.

What did you take from your degree?

Artistic passion, intrigue for the process of designing and a desire to have the careers of my tutors! All the tutors are highly inspirational in their devotion to their particular discipline. And artiness - the creativity of Falmouth is a great thing. A lot of people come from a fashion based background and having an arty background gives you a real edge. This type of creativity seems to be highly regarded in the textile industry.

Did you do a placement?

Yes, with Karen Nicol (embroidery designer), Baxter-Fawcett (textile design studio) and Brewster (textile design studio).

What's the best piece of advice you've been given?

Never give up. Someone told me that I was a rough diamond that needed polishing up - so I was determined to get polished after that!

What advice would you give to current students?

Do placements. You will learn so much from placements and you will meet great, inspirational people. I was amazed by the talented and inspiring people I met on mine and so just absorb everything that they are doing. You will also see how much can be achieved in one day (when I was at college it was hard to complete ten samples a term). You will learn loads of speedy tricks and new ways of working that are invaluable and make you realize what is possible with your time. And never give up. So many people do but if you keep trying, and improving, someone will give you a chance.