30 Years of Shillington: Jack Trotman.

This year marks 30 incredible years of Shillington! To celebrate three decades of design education, creativity, and community, we’re shining a spotlight on the people who’ve made it all possible. Our team, students, and graduates around the world.

Through our 30 Years of Shillington interview series, we’ll be diving into the stories, memories and moments that have shaped our journey from the studios to the careers and creative adventures that followed.

Meet the educators who inspire the next generation of designers, the students currently learning the craft, and the graduates who’ve gone on to make their mark on the creative industry. Together, they tell the story of what makes Shillington truly special. A community built on passion, design, and endless possibility.

30 years on, we’re just getting started. Hear from Shillington's co-Managing Director Jack Trotman.

Hey Jack. A lot has changed since you started at Shillington. But what brought you to Shillington, and what’s kept you here?

I worked as a designer for nearly a decade and along the way I realised how much I enjoyed helping people through complex situations, whether that was a client who needed guidance or someone in the studio who was stuck on a project. I’ve always felt useful when I can be a sounding board for others.

I also come from a family of teachers - even my wife is a teacher! My mum, dad, grandparents, uncles and aunties are all teachers, so there’s definitely something in my blood that draws me to it. That’s a big part of why I’m still here.

At its heart, what keeps me at Shillington is helping people unlock something in themselves. So many of us were told as kids not to be artists or designers, that creativity wasn’t a real path and we should do something more sensible. I think that’s completely wrong. Shillington stands as the antidote to that kind of thinking. We believe anyone can share their perspective, bring ideas to life visually, solve problems and even drive businesses through design. Designers are powerful and they shouldn’t be overlooked.

On a personal level, I learn so much from our students and colleagues every day. It’s an inspiring environment full of creative energy. Culturally it’s just a great place to be.

How has Shillington changed or evolved since you joined?

When I joined, it was right at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. That meant a huge shift from teaching in physical classrooms to teaching online. It was hard work, but in a way it also felt quite natural. Designers already collaborate across time zones and work digitally day to day, so it wasn’t completely new territory. The real challenge was bringing the same in-person connection and energy we had in the classroom into an online space, and I think we’ve done that really well.

Our courses evolve all the time, whether that’s the graphic design course or the motion course. We never stand still. We’re not just trying to create the next generation of designers, we want to nurture independent thinkers who can challenge the industry, change perceptions and build careers we can’t even imagine yet. The designer of five or ten years’ time won’t look like the designer of today, so we want to prepare students for that future by helping them be adaptable, resilient and open to new ideas and smarter ways of working.

At its core, our reason for being hasn’t changed. What has changed is how and where we deliver it. And as a result, we’re reaching more people now than ever before.

What’s one memory from your time here that still makes you smile?

There are so many moments that make me smile. Seeing graduates land jobs they once only dreamed of, watching friendships form that turn into lifelong connections, or hearing about people who met on the course and went on to start businesses together, attend each other’s weddings or even become godparents. That kind of thing always makes me happy.

But the memory that really makes me smile is from the first class I ever taught. I took it so seriously and felt so responsible, not just for their education but for their enjoyment of it too. I was teaching with Johnny at the time, and we decided to stay up ridiculously late one night making a silly video. It was full of clips of us and our co-teachers, Rich and Emma, congratulating the students in the most over-the-top ways. We played it to them halfway through the course as a bit of a pep talk, and it still makes me laugh thinking about it.

It reminds me how teachers here always go above and beyond what they need to do. We care so much about students feeling supported and understood that we often do things that are probably a massive waste of time but also totally worth it. I don’t know if that video still exists, but if anyone has it, I’d love to see it again. I think we even recreated a few memes in it.

What do you love most about teaching design?

It’s that moment when you’re discussing a project with a student, giving feedback and really understanding the idea they’re trying to express. My favourite thing about teaching design is seeing all the amazing ideas people come up with and helping them unearth the thing that makes their idea click for someone else.

As a teacher, you’re helping people get what’s in their head out onto paper and into the world. That’s what I love most about it.

How have you seen design education change over the years?

To be honest, it’s a bit sad because in many places not much has changed. There are still schools charging huge amounts of money but not actually preparing students for the world of work. They focus on keeping people in that student bubble rather than teaching them how to thrive as designers. It might be fun spending a whole year on a single brief, and I know that because I did it at university, but when I graduated it took me about five years of working from the bottom up before I felt remotely confident.

That said, a lot of the old gatekeeping has been knocked down. There are so many free resources now, with people sharing their knowledge through YouTube, social media and online tutorials. Design has become much more accessible, and that’s a really positive change. It helps people realise that design is within their reach, that it’s something they can actually do.

For us at Shillington, that accessibility is a gift. It means we can encourage people to explore, to try things out, make posters for friends, follow tutorials, experiment and build their confidence. Then when they’re ready to take it seriously and bring it all together, we can help them make that leap into becoming confident, capable designers who are ready to work.

I suppose I’ve turned this into a bit of a sales pitch, but I can’t help it. It’s something I really believe in.

What’s one piece of advice you find yourself giving to every student?

I think everyone at Shillington would probably say the same thing. It’s a phrase we use so often that it almost feels like we invented it, even though it’s a bit cheesy. But the one big piece of advice is this: trust the process.

If you have a process, you have a way of working through something. It’s not linear, it’s cyclical. It’s not rigid or fixed, it’s flexible.

What does 30 years of Shillington mean to you personally?

Personally, I see it as this ever-evolving, expanding community, and 30 years of community is something to be proud of. I’d love to speak to people who studied all those years ago. I’m sure many are nearly retired now, but it would be incredible to hear how their lives changed after making that bold decision to study design.

What’s something unique about the Shillington experience that hasn’t changed, and shouldn’t?

The thing that feels most unique about Shillington is that from day one you have to share your work. It’s not optional. Everyone does the project, submits their work and sees everyone else’s.

That might sound simple, but it’s powerful. It breaks down the awkwardness and fear around sharing, especially when your work is still unfinished or you’re still learning. We all get better when we share. It’s how we learn from each other, see new perspectives and receive feedback that helps us move forward.

That’s something that will never change at Shillington. We’ll always have those moments where your work is shared, celebrated and developed together.

How do you think design education will evolve over the next 30 years?

I think the biggest change is that it will be more accessible. It already is in so many ways, but I think it will become even more so. I think it’ll also be more modular, less about where you studied or what degree you’ve got and more about what you can do, what you’ve made and how you think. There’s a lot of good change happening already with people not relying on traditional systems to validate their creative ability. But what I hope for in the next 30 years is that design education still keeps that human connection. I think what makes it really special and what allows people to be open creatively is when they feel understood, when they feel seen, when they feel supported. If we can hold on to that and let technology take care of the rest, I think we’ll be in a good place.

If you could describe Shillington in one word, what would it be and why?

Would it be cheating if I just said Shillington? It sounds ridiculous, but if you’ve studied here, that one word says a lot. It represents a unique place and a community that people genuinely miss being part of. Graduates often say, “I wish I was still there,” which says everything really.

But if I had to choose another word, I’d probably say engagement. Good things don’t happen in isolation. For design to be successful and for people to grow, it’s about discussion, debate and engaging with ideas. So yes, maybe engagement is my single word.

Thirty years on, Shillington’s mission remains the same: to empower people everywhere to unlock their creativity and build a career they love. Our course was created in 1996, and from our first studio in 1997 to a global network of designers today, we’ve seen thousands of students transform their lives through design.

Whether it’s through our Graphic Design Course or Motion Design Course, Shillington continues to provide a hands-on, industry-focused education that helps students turn creative potential into professional success.

As we celebrate three decades of design, we’re more inspired than ever by the passion, imagination, and ambition of our community. Here’s to 30 years of creativity and to shaping the next generation of designers around the world.