How They Did It: Alistair Hall
Alistair Hall giving a talk at Immersion, the careers course at Central Saint Martins
Tell us your elevator pitch:
We Made This is a London based graphic design studio specialising in delicious print work.
Did you have any business knowledge prior to setting up your company?
I had worked as a production assistant for a commercial production company (the Paul Weiland Film Company) making TV commercials for a couple of years before starting my degree at St Martins, which helped teach me how to multi-task. After my degree I worked at CDT for a year and a half, where I learnt a huge amount about the process of working with clients, budgeting, pitching, presenting and so on, as well as about pure design. Then I got a place on NESTA’s Creative Pioneer Programme, (a sort of precursor of the Immersion programme) where we were taught a lot about the nuts and bolts of running a business. I run We Made This on my own, and share a studio with two other design companies, David Pearson Design and Fitzroy & Finn.
When you were growing up what did you want to be and what happened which made you become what you are now?
I’m not sure I ever wanted to be anything particular. Actually, scratch that, I wanted to be a film director. That’s why I started working in commercials, but after a while I realised it wasn’t for me. While I was looking at jobs in that industry, I read a book called something like Diaires of Film-makers – it was a Faber & Faber book which detailed the daily lives of a variety of folk working in the film industry. One of the diaries was from a film producer, and she talked about going to meet the guys who were making the poster for her film. I knew instantly that I didn’t want to make films, but to make posters instead.
What do you wish you had been told in University about the real world?
Nothing. College is a good time to dream. Though it might have been useful to know how long it takes to pay off a student loan. But heck, even if I had known, I’m not sure I would have done anything differently.
Have there been any big mistakes/failures which have lead to success?
NESTA were offering business funding to some of the folk on the course, and I didn’t succeed in getting that funding. I think if I had got it, my journey might have been quite different. Whether that would have been a better or worse sort of different… tricky to know. I’m happy where I am though.
What can you only learn on the job?
You learn a huge amount once you start work, and you keep learning. Don’t expect to be perfect when you start. But be honest about the fact that you’re not perfect.
How important do you think having an online presence is and how signficant a role does your blog play in marketing your service?
I find it difficult to quantify it to be honest. Obviously having work online is really important – people rely on being able to see your stuff immediately. Jobs are just starting to come in on the back of the blog, which is great. I’m in the middle of building a new site – once that’s up, I’ll have a bit of a marketing push.
You’ve had interns at We Made This, what do you look for when choosing potential students/ graduates to join your team?
Brilliant work and a general air of loveliness.
