Monday 18 January 2016

Hello, it's me again

Hello blog, my old friend! Since my move to London at the beginning of January the internet on a laptop hasn't really existed for me, hence a lot of Instagram activity but very little activity anywhere else, such as my Twitter, Tumblr or this blog. I've only been here a little over two weeks now but it feels like I've lived in London for a lifetime, so I thought I'd pop by and just share a little update on my experience so far.

I suppose it makes sense to start with my new living arrangements. I'm living in a small area of SW London just outside of Putney, and while there's not very much here, it's very well connected to lots of other areas and it's an easy 45 minute commute to work every day. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, one of my main concerns about my move was whether or not I'd get along with my new flatmates, and I'm so relieved that I've moved into a house full of girls who I really get on with. From my first night in the flat I felt welcomed and comfortable, and I don't feel like I've had to do any 'settling in' of sorts – I just felt at home right away.


The next biggest thing about my move was of course starting a new job. If you didn't know, I'm working with Caterpillar Books as their junior designer and so far I'm really enjoying myself. It's been really satisfying and a nice change to be working with other people's illustrations rather than creating and working with my own, and it's definitely been interesting to learn about the publishing process, from conception to design or from production to marketing, and in particular learning about how novelty books are created as it's something I'd never experimented with throughout university. So far I've only had a couple of very small projects of my own, but it's been a nice introductory couple of weeks to the company, the titles it publishes, and how the publication process works in general. Things are a little quiet at the moment but Bologna is just around the corner – am I completely mad to be looking forward to the last minute madness of preparing for a book fair?!


As much as I'm enjoying being designer over illustrator, of course I've had to take some time to do my own doodles where I can fit them in. I have an hour lunch break every day at work so I generally take 30 minutes to eat and 30 minutes to doodle, but because 30 minutes isn't much time I've adopted the simple task of a pencil sketched animal alphabet. I'm extremely happy with an A5 sketchbook and a mechanical pencil, so I've been enjoying the little bit of sketchbook time that my lunch break allows me to have at work. When I've not been busy on a weekend day I've done a couple of little illustration projects for myself and for others; the lemurs at the top being a personal piece, and I've also completed a couple of handmade birthday cards that I've now sent off to their recipients. 

As I've only had a couple of weekends to myself in London so far I haven't done all that much in terms of exploring the city beyond the areas around where I live, but I thought it was worth talking a little about my living and working experiences so far because altogether I've had a really positive start to life in London, which honestly has shocked me a little. I was extremely worried about feelings of homesickness, loneliness or dissatisfaction with the life that I'd aimed for for the last 6 months creeping up on me, but so far so good. I may be speaking a little prematurely of course because 2 weeks isn't long at all, but I can only hope that things continue as they've begun. If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that I can't wait for light evenings, warm days and more chances to explore the city after work throughout the week instead of just on weekends.

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad you're settling in well. I loved reading this post as I want to move to London myself so it's nice to hear an honest view from someone who has done it! Hopefully everything continues to remain positive for you :-)

    Emily - www.positivelystupendous.co.uk

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    1. Thanks Emily! I'm glad you enjoyed the read :) X

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