Q&A With Chloe Allum
I live in the South East which is perfect for the London commute - when that was still a thing! Growing up I tried every crafting venture going. Jewellery, knitting, photography, card making.. You name it, my parents have got a wardrobe full of it. Luckily one of those ventures paid off and I now get to design cards as a job! I’ve just bought a project house which is taking up all my spare time and I can’t wait to get stuck into picking paint colours once all the renovations are done!
I studied Graphic Design at University and was convinced that I would go into Branding. However a couple of more illustrative projects gave me the freedom that I loved. It was this varied portfolio that meant I got to go to ‘New Designers’ Graduate show in London where I was contacted by Moonpig for a placement.
I think it’s always a challenge to design for the same seasonal events but continue to stay innovative. I do a lot of work with trends which I find really inspiring and always helps to spark off ideas!
That would have to be working with the Samaritans to create a range of cards for Mental Health awareness week. This coincided with implementing an empathy range at Moonpig. It’s a subject matter I feel really passionate about and I was proud of the outcome!
I would say I realised this whilst working my Placement at Moonpig! I still had such a varied portfolio but trying out the job really made me realise that designing and illustrating cards was what I wanted to be doing!
I often like to think, would I send this to my friends or family. This helps me think about tone of voice and what I’m illustrating. However this doesn’t always apply - especially with some of the ruder humour!
Earlier in the year we worked on a collaborative range with KFC. When my Birthday came around I got sent one of the cards I designed (A face in the hole Photo Upload of the KFC Colonel) with my face pasted in. This had been round the whole office and I looked ridiculous but had to laugh!
Probably the first range that I designed for Moonpig back in 2016 which was a Unicorn range. This filled a gap at a time that the trend was exploding across the industry. I remember being so excited to see my whole range go live as it was such a novelty and really felt like I’d settled into my new role.
From a career perspective I love to hear and see stories of small businesses and illustrators that have gone it alone and are thriving! I aspire to be able to work for myself one day and really push the boundaries of what I design.
I love sending and receiving cards and therefore I love knowing that I am a part of that process. Hopefully what I design will help someone out or help to make their big day special.
As mentioned before I was contacted by Moonpig and offered a placement after a Graduate show in London. One placement led to another and eventually a full time position which I was delighted about! It was the dream first job and I’ve loved the variety of design that I get to work on. Card Design is the day job but I’ve worked on Flower packaging, Gift design, UI illustration and much more!
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Card Designer