In Creative Conversation with Ana Grigorovici
‘In Creative Conversation’ is a thought leadership interview series, focusing on spotlighting the journey founders and creatives have had in starting their own creative agencies/production companies or creative journeys.
Romanian born, London based Ana Grigorovici is an ambitious graphic designer who works hard and dreams big. After freelancing and working as an in-house designer for almost a decade she founded her own graphic design studio, Uncommon Goods, with friends Callum and Joana just before the pandemic in January 2020. The creative trio is currently involved in a community-building project, designing the identity for the Southwark South Design District as part of the London Design Festival. The district is the latest addition to the well-known design festival in London, aiming to showcase amazing talent within Peckham, Old Kent Road and Camberwell and aims to attract and inspire the next generation of creatives that may go on to change the face of the industry. The trio is also passionate about bringing design to the public sector to make the most of causes that truly benefit society.
In her interview with Wishu, Ana tells us about how design is crucial to the fabrics of society (no pun intended) while enlightening us about the importance of shared values, creative relationships and taking big jumps before you’re ready.
Wishu: Was there a particular age or moment where you realised that you truly are a creative?
Ana: Yes, definitely. Growing up in Romania, I was also encouraged by my parents and the school to continue creative extracurricular activities. From the age of 4 or 5 I was the kid making the posters for school fairs or creating the Christmas window displays. I was an academic child and there definitely was difficulty balancing the two especially later into my teenage years but when my family moved to the UK when I was 17 I found myself able to hone in more into creativity. I decided to study a BA Hons degree in Graphic Design at Kingston which led me to working as an inhouse designer and artist’s assistant.
Wishu: You’ve recently taken the jump from freelancing to founding a studio, Uncommon Goods, with two collaborators. How important are relationships in a collective and would you say that you share the same background, values and experience?
Ana: Within our collective trio our backgrounds are similar and dissimilar at the same time, I would say. Joana and Calum are also designers, but our backgrounds are diverse. Joana is originally from Portugal and Calum is from Scotland. We all finished creative degrees but had different experiences in the industry. Joana followed her BA with an MA in Publishing Design and Calum worked in music previously. He is now lead designer for the Design Council. We all have retained some of the work and relationships we established previously as freelancers and full time designers.
Continue reading the interview on Wishu
Companies
Wishu Media
- Publishing