Hear straight from our graduates.
Take in as much inspiration—from the web to art shows, films, music, culture, travel and personal experiences.
Visual Designer, Ableton
Ariana Villegas
Ariana Villegas studied at Shillington New York
Prior to working as a designer, you worked in fashion sales. Tell us about your path to what you’re doing now.
My background was in a completely different field. I was working in wholesale sales for fashion brands creating business reports and working with vendors and buyers from the largest department stores in the US (Saks, Bergdorf Goodman and such) for 5 years. I decided to leave that career path because I’ve loved design all my life and wanted to pursue this true passion. I took a huge risk and left that comfortable path to go through this intensive graphic design program. Less than 2 months after that program, I got a job with a tech start-up as a designer both for product & branding which was surreal. I also received recognitions from GDUSA and AGDA for graphic design during that timeline. It was unbelievable how my life completely changed in less than 6 months all thanks to Shillington!
What advice can you offer to someone who wants to transition careers?
Go for it! I know it can be scary and unnerving to risk it all, especially if all you’ve known your whole life is this current career that you have. It took me years before I acknowledged that I wanted to do design and mustered up the courage to actually do something about it. My advice is if you’re constantly thinking about transitioning to this creative career and if you absolutely love design, just go for it! Prepare for the months to come, budget and all. Make a plan. Do everything you can to make it happen. If this is really what you want to do and you’re willing to work hard for it, I think it will work out. I never looked back.
Did you have any previous design experience? How did the course build your skillset?
My degree was in Business Management. After that, I did a quick fashion design summer program at Parsons when I first moved to New York but it wasn’t really that related to what I learned for graphic design. I do a lot of photography as a hobby which I think is the thing prior to Shillington that I recognize as a previous “design” experience. There are some things in photography like composition that are related to graphic design. The course built on this skillset further by training my eye to recognize good composition and good design.
What made you choose the full-time vs the part-time course?
I did the full-time course because I wanted the full immersion with the program and the teachers. I wanted to get that similar grind when you’re actually working as a designer with an agency or in-house and that was how the full-time program kind of went. It was super fast-paced and an intense daily practice which I thought were perfect training for the real world. I also knew that this is what I wanted so I just went for it all the way.
What was your biggest challenge during the course?
Portfolio week was my biggest challenge during the course. It was the most exciting and the hardest part of the course. I learned so much about myself during portfolio week. I was surprised that I could function with 3-4 hours of sleep for 3 weeks.
Visit Ariana’s website and read her full interview on the blog.
Take in as much inspiration—from the web to art shows, films, music, culture, travel and personal experiences.
Visual Designer, Ableton
Ariana Villegas
Ariana Villegas studied at Shillington New York
Prior to working as a designer, you worked in fashion sales. Tell us about your path to what you’re doing now.
My background was in a completely different field. I was working in wholesale sales for fashion brands creating business reports and working with vendors and buyers from the largest department stores in the US (Saks, Bergdorf Goodman and such) for 5 years. I decided to leave that career path because I’ve loved design all my life and wanted to pursue this true passion. I took a huge risk and left that comfortable path to go through this intensive graphic design program. Less than 2 months after that program, I got a job with a tech start-up as a designer both for product & branding which was surreal. I also received recognitions from GDUSA and AGDA for graphic design during that timeline. It was unbelievable how my life completely changed in less than 6 months all thanks to Shillington!
What advice can you offer to someone who wants to transition careers?
Go for it! I know it can be scary and unnerving to risk it all, especially if all you’ve known your whole life is this current career that you have. It took me years before I acknowledged that I wanted to do design and mustered up the courage to actually do something about it. My advice is if you’re constantly thinking about transitioning to this creative career and if you absolutely love design, just go for it! Prepare for the months to come, budget and all. Make a plan. Do everything you can to make it happen. If this is really what you want to do and you’re willing to work hard for it, I think it will work out. I never looked back.
Did you have any previous design experience? How did the course build your skillset?
My degree was in Business Management. After that, I did a quick fashion design summer program at Parsons when I first moved to New York but it wasn’t really that related to what I learned for graphic design. I do a lot of photography as a hobby which I think is the thing prior to Shillington that I recognize as a previous “design” experience. There are some things in photography like composition that are related to graphic design. The course built on this skillset further by training my eye to recognize good composition and good design.
What made you choose the full-time vs the part-time course?
I did the full-time course because I wanted the full immersion with the program and the teachers. I wanted to get that similar grind when you’re actually working as a designer with an agency or in-house and that was how the full-time program kind of went. It was super fast-paced and an intense daily practice which I thought were perfect training for the real world. I also knew that this is what I wanted so I just went for it all the way.
What was your biggest challenge during the course?
Portfolio week was my biggest challenge during the course. It was the most exciting and the hardest part of the course. I learned so much about myself during portfolio week. I was surprised that I could function with 3-4 hours of sleep for 3 weeks.
Visit Ariana’s website and read her full interview on the blog.
Becky Dore
Designer, OnThree
Ana Perez
Founder of Anecdota Studio
Shireen Roy
Freelance Multidisciplinary Designer
Daniele Regan
Founder of Danibydsgn
Jeremy Somers
Founder and Creative Director, We Are Handsome
Darsh Seneviratne
Designer, Canva
Ximena Jimenez
Graphic Designer, The Multicultural Centre for Women's Health
Karina Aslikyan
Freelance Graphic Designer for Music
Ayesha Mansour
Freelance Designer, Aah Yes Studio
Georgia Latham
Designer & Strategist, Imagist
Mary Lin
Freelance Graphic Designer
Sophie Bo Schmidt
Freelance UX, Visual & Web Designer
Ben Thaler
Senior Brand Designer, Common
Liam Speranza
Art Director, THE CHARLES
Natalie Taylor
Designer, Mobkoi
Oyinkan Karunwi
Founder & Brand Strategist, Aseda Design Agency
Elizabeth Diffey
Freelance Graphic Designer, Kate McLeod
Rory Knibbs
Designer, The Midnight Club
Stephanie Halovanic
Writer, Pinterest
Eman Abdallah
Graphic & Experience Designer, KAIRO
Mark Osmond
Lead Designer, Whalar
Araki Koman
Freelance Illustrator and Designer
Veronica Humphris
Digital Designer, Mapway
Benjamin Ngooi
Visual Designer, Great Wrap
Khadijah Adbul Nabi
Creative Director & Brand Strategist, Ya Khadijah
Ella Donald & Charlotte Carnegie Brown
Co-Founders, Duzi Studio
Jamie Krups
Design & Communications Manager, BALNCE
Megan Dweck
Senior Design Lead, McKinsey & Company
Miwako Bishop
Regional Creative Director, The Great Room
Eleanor Robertson
Middleweight Designer, Here Design
Kylie Meller
Founder, duosista Web and Graphic Design
Babeth Olde Hanter
Desiger, Doop
Ashley Ronning
Illustrator and Founder, Helio Press
Anara Davletaliyeva
Product Designer, PLAYGROUND XYZ
Amy Sheehan
Design Director, Dotdash
Alexis Waller
Creative Director, For The People
Arnold Omanyo
Freelance Digital Designer
Kelly Hansen
Content Manager, Outreach
Stephen Grace
Senior Designer, Christopher Doyle & Co.
Bea Sambalido
Co-Founder & Creative Director, Renegade Folk
Peta Harris
Graphic Designer, Macquarie University
Pete Conforto
Senior Designer, Canva
Rachel Lee
Freelance Graphic Designer
Olivier Adam
Freelance Graphic Designer
Meg Walker
Freelance Digital Designer
Ina Estrada
Founder & Creative Director, Par Vous Designs