Clay Allison

Managing Director

Clay, hailing from Leicester in the English midlands, started his journey in Graphic Design at Leeds Metropolitan. Over a decade since, he's left his mark in galleries and more predominately—Creative Education. Joining Shillington nine years ago as a Studio Assistant, Clay's ascent culminated in his current role as Managing Director and is incredibly inspired to drive Shillington's mission along with his dedicated team on a daily basis. He is passionate about changing the current climate of design education and ensuring anybody can be a designer or creative regardless of qualification or background.

Recommends

I’m a huge fan of food & drink, and as odd as it sounds—one thing I would recommend is the star function on Google Maps. Every time you visit a pub, bar, restaurant, cafe etc—just add it as a star. How many times have you been somewhere, and then totally forgot where it was and forever long for it? It also means people come to you for recommendations and you can pretend (or not) to be in the know.

Yardsale Pizza! Other than being the best pizza in London (or the world)—it’s aesthetic is on par with most design studios. They churn out amazing merch, and always have great people collaborating with them. Long live Yardsale.

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Far Out Magazine. The self proclaimed ‘Independent voices of culture’. I happen to be great friends with this lot, and the passion they exude for putting Independent music & film on the map is inspiring. The music industry itself could take a leaf out of their book.

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"I am immensely proud of Shillington’s mission. I’ve seen over 500+ students graduate Shillington, and to this day—the pride I feel when I see their names out in the industry or when they land a job hasn’t changed one bit."