Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Honest Designer Diaries
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome to The Honest Designer Diaries | EP 001 | 14 Jun 2026 | 00:03:35 | |
Episode 1: Why I’m Starting The Honest Designer Diaries The Honest Designer Diaries is a podcast about what it’s actually like to build a life and career as a designer, beyond the nice work we share online. Hosted by Juls, a brand designer and design educator from Glasgow with over 30 years in the industry, each episode is a real chat with designers about the situations, decisions and wobbles that shape a creative career. We’ll talk about going freelance before you feel ready, dealing with quiet spells in business, moving from in-house work into running your own creative business, working with brands like Canva and Adobe, handling tricky clients, confidence, comparison and all the bits designers usually talk about in DMs, over tea, or after a glass of wine. It’s honest, useful and reassuring, for designers at every stage who are still figuring it out as they go.
Got a topic you’d love me to chat about? Send me a message on Instagram, I’d genuinely love to hear what you’d like covered in future episodes. | |||
| Canva vs Adobe our honest experience as creators with Darren Meredith | EP 004 | 01 Jul 2026 | 00:45:45 | |
I’m chatting with my lovely pal Darren Meredith about something we’ve both been asked about quite a lot, our experience working with Canva and Adobe as creators. And just to say this right at the start, this isn’t a “which design tool is better” episode. This is much more about what it’s actually like behind the scenes when you create content, build an audience, get invited into brand programmes, and then start realising that the shiny outside of a brand partnership doesn’t always tell you what it’s going to feel like once you’re in it. We talk about what it was like being Canva Experts, why parts of that experience became frustrating, and how things changed when Adobe reached out to us. We get into unpaid creator work, brand expectations, embargoes, contracts, exclusivity clauses, audience trust, and the uncomfortable moment when you realise a brand might be getting a lot of value from you, but you’re not necessarily getting the same value back. Chapters 00:00 Intro and how Darren and I met through Canva Find Darren Website: http://bettercontentcreators.com Find me Instagram: instagram.com/thehonestdesignerdiaries If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe, like the video, leave a comment, or share it with another designer or creator who needs to hear this one. It really does help more people find the podcast, and it means I can keep having these honest conversations with brilliant creatives. And if you’ve had your own weird, brilliant, disappointing or eye-opening experience with a brand partnership, I would genuinely love to hear about it. | |||
| The Friday freelance experiment with Teresa Ferreira | EP 003 | 24 Jun 2026 | 00:43:19 | |
In this episode of The Honest Designer Diaries, I’m chatting with Teresa Ferreira, founder of Ferrrgood Studio, about leaving her role as Head of Design at the Financial Times and building something of her own. Teresa had what many designers would probably see as the big, impressive, “you’ve made it” kind of job. But after seven years at the FT, and a pandemic-induced bit of rethinking, she started to realise she was craving more creative fulfilment. So she condensed her full-time role into four days and used her Fridays to test freelance life. Eight months later, burnout hit, and the Friday freelance experiment became the start of a much bigger exit plan. If you’ve ever sat in a role that looks brilliant from the outside but doesn’t feel right anymore, this one might hit a wee nerve. Juls x Chapters00:58 Meet Teresa Ferreira 02:34 Leaving corporate design 07:50 Needing more creative fulfilment 08:32 Freelancing on Fridays 10:00 PowerPoint trauma and being asked to “pretty things up” 21:20 Burnout and knowing something had to change 27:09 Showing up online and getting visible 30:09 Bad clients and confidence knocks 31:18 Deciding to leave 35:30 Imposter syndrome 39:50 Why creative community matters 41:25 Where to find Teresa Find Teresa online: Connect with me on Instagram | TikTok | LinkedIn | YouTube | Substack I’d love to hear what you think of this episode. If you’ve listened and any part of Rachel’s story resonated with you, send me a message on Instagram at @designerinyourpocket_juls or @thehonestdesignerdiaries. I really hope you enjoy the chat. And because The Honest Designer Diaries is still a brand new podcast, it would really help if you could follow, subscribe or leave a 5* rating and review wherever you’re listening. If you’re watching on YouTube, liking the video and leaving a comment helps more designers find these conversations too. And if you know another designer, creative pal, student, graduate or freelancer who might enjoy this chat, please send it their way. The Creative RoomI have a private community called The Creative Room, where creatives can chat about the real day-to-day stuff that comes with working in the industry or running your own creative business. | |||
| Going freelance before you feel ready with Rachel Cartledge | EP 002 | 24 Jun 2026 | 00:30:39 | |
In this episode of The Honest Designer Diaries, I’m chatting to Rachel Cartlidge, a freelance graphic designer and illustrator based in Edinburgh. Rachel left university thinking she had her next step sorted. She had a junior designer role lined up, had signed for a flat, and was away travelling before she was due to start. Then, two weeks before her start date, the role fell through. So we chat about what happened when she came home and had to start figuring things out quickly. Rachel talks about reaching out to agencies, studios, small businesses and creative directors, trying to find freelance work while still applying for junior roles, and slowly building confidence as she went. This is such a good chat for new designers, recent graduates, freelancers, design students, and anyone trying to work out where they fit in the design industry, especially when the route they thought they were meant to follow doesn’t quite go to plan. Chapters: 00:00 Welcome to The Honest Designer Diaries Find Rachel online: Instagram: @rachcartdesign Connect with me on Instagram | TikTok | LinkedIn | YouTube | Substack I’d love to hear what you think of this episode. If you’ve listened and any part of Rachel’s story resonated with you, send me a message on Instagram at @designerinyourpocket_juls or @thehonestdesignerdiaries. I really hope you enjoy the chat. And because The Honest Designer Diaries is still a brand new podcast, it would really help if you could follow, subscribe or leave a 5* rating and review wherever you’re listening. If you’re watching on YouTube, liking the video and leaving a comment helps more designers find these conversations too. And if you know another designer, creative pal, student, graduate or freelancer who might enjoy this chat, please send it their way. | |||
| Bad clients and blurry boundaries with Bhavini Lakhani | EP005 | 08 Jul 2026 | 00:57:53 | |
I’m chatting with graphic designer Bhavini Lakhani about the client red flags we really should trust sooner, especially when we’re freelancing and trying to keep everyone happy. We talk about what happens when a project starts feeling off before it has even properly begun, from scope changes and last-minute timelines to contracts that are definitely not the NDA they were meant to be. Bhavini shares a story about walking away from a chunky project after a few too many warning signs, and we get into why saying no can feel weirdly terrifying, even when your gut has already packed a bag and left the building. We also chat about the freelance design situations so many of us recognise, like clients wanting instant access, projects that creep beyond the original agreement, being asked to work at ridiculous times, mates rates becoming a problem, and the guilt that kicks in when you try to hold a boundary. Guest Bhavini Lakhani is a freelance graphic designer and the founder of B81 Designs. She works on brand identity and marketing collateral for mid-sized businesses, and has been freelancing for almost 15 years. Find Bhavini here: Connect with me on I’d love to hear what you think of this episode. If you’ve listened and any part of Bhavini’s story resonated with you. The Creative Room is my private community for designers and creatives who want somewhere to ask the awkward questions, get support with tricky client situations and talk about the real side of running a creative business. Join The Creative Room here: designerinyourpocket.co/thecreativeroom | |||