Jess Williams is one of the main creatives that inspire me in my own practice. She creates digital design for websites and apps but I am more intrigued by her pattern and packaging design since it is something that I have always been interested in Birchbox because of the concept of the monthly box but also the different packaging design every month. In first year, I created my self branding where I was inspired by the Birchbox design and the concept.
After some research, I had found Jess Williams as the main point of contact for Birchbox as she was easy to find online. I had thought that Birchbox UK and US worked together to create similar designs however, found that they have different monthly themes. I had emailed Birchbox UK as I thought it would make more sense since I order from the UK version. However, I couldn't find any details of the Creative Director and when I asked Birchbox to pass on my details, the creative team didn't reply.
During this, I also emailed Jess Williams thinking it was a long shot since she lives in New York and would be too busy to find time for me. Much to my surprise and excitement, she contacted me back and said she love to chat. I never would've thought Jess would reply, and if she would, she would prefer the interview questions in an email but instead she agreed to Skype and allowed me to record our voices during the interview. I felt relieved and happy that she took the time to read my email and so kindly reply to me and allow me to speak to her about her design career. When we agreed a time and date of the Skype call, I felt ecstatic that she would speak to me but also slightly nervous since she I was conscious of the questions to ask her and also how much time she had since she is a founder of her own studio, Communal Creative.
When it came to the interview, I was nervous and I told her in the beginning of the Skype video call but she was kind and told me not to be and it made me feel a little at ease but still nervous. Even though it was an interview, I wanted it to be more relaxed and casual rather than a formal discussion. On her part, it felt more casual but I think my nerves were too much and I made it sound more serious than I meant it to be but she was sweet all thought the discussion. I tried to add questions on top of what she was saying to make it sound more like a discussion but I felt that my mind had a lot going on from the nerves, I was conscious about her time and I was thinking what to ask next. Towards the end of the interview, I felt more relaxed because she was smiling and laughing throughout the interview which made me feel less anxious and because I asked her more random, playful questions such as what her favourite mini succulent was and the breed of her dog.
After the interview had finished, I felt relieved and happy with the outcome of the interview since she gave me a lot of information to work with and also because she was such a nice person to speak to, she even asked me some questions back. A few hours after the interview, I sent her an email, thanking her for allowing me to speak with her and that I would email her the final outcome of the Creative Report when I had finished it. Jess replied to me to saying that if I needed to ask her other questions or needed to repeat anything, she would be happy to email back.
It felt slightly surreal to be speaking to Jess because I would consider her as a successful designer since she's gone from being Creative Director at Thrillist and Birchbox to the founder of Communal Creative. The overall experience very positive and inspiring since she is a vibrant person. At the end of it, I also felt less worried and stressed since I had found someone to interview for my Creative Report and even better that she answered every question in depth.
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