Hi Carly, how are you?
Hello stranger! I’m great, thanks. Where would you like to start?
Shall we start with an introduction? Let’s dig into your background and explore your career to date.
Sure. My name is Carly Gilchrist, and I’m Head of Brand Marketing for our Local Communities at DC Thomson. I’m responsible for overseeing all the brands that fall within our local communities, which include news brands such as The Press & Journal and The Courier, radio brands like Original 106, Wave 102, and Kingdom FM, as well as magazines like ScotsMag, the world’s oldest magazine.
I began my career as a designer 25 years ago in Australia, where I was born and raised. I always wanted to be a print designer and an editorial designer, so, interestingly, I’ve ended up in publishing all these years later. I always loved flicking through magazines and other printed formats — I grew up reading The Face, i-D, Ray Gun and Wallpaper Magazine. This was very much in the era of Neville Brody and David Carson — experimental typography was front and centre of popular culture, and I wanted to be a part of that. I developed a love for typography and layout design, which drove me to art school and led me to explore it as a career opportunity.
What was your design education like?
The incredible thing about my Graphic Design degree at Swinburne University was that I had the opportunity to engage in industry-based learning. That essentially means that part of my degree involved physically working in a design practice, learning on the job, rather than in a classroom setting. I was desperate to work and earn my own money, so this was a no-brainer.
The college itself had a rich history — it was a purpose-built design building from the 1960s, and it had all the things you’d expect at a good art college, such as printmaking and life drawing, and all that sort of thing. I loved my time there. I walked out on my final day of college with an honest degree, a year’s worth of industry experience, and a job lined up at publishers. I’m not sure why more art colleges don’t follow that model.
What was your first job like?
My first job out of University was working for a magazine called Design Graphics Magazine in Melbourne. I worked there for a year before coming to the UK, which had always been my ultimate goal. I always aspired to end up in London working in the design industry. After I moved to the UK, I took a job at a small agency in Edinburgh before moving on to work for the City of Edinburgh Council. We worked on various cultural projects, including exhibitions for the City Arts Centre featuring many prestigious photographers and artists. I worked as a designer for about 10 years, and I think I reached a point where I wasn’t progressing at the pace I wanted. I believe there are two types of designers. There are the super creative and conceptual designers, then there are the practical, information-based practitioners. I was more of the latter, and I felt there were limits to where I could go.
I would take huge joy if someone gave me a 72-page annual report to typeset, with all the tables and detailed information. Let’s go! I love that sort of design — building the system and getting it to all click into place. It brings me lots of joy.
I’d be dying inside if you asked me to design a logo — that’s just not who I am. So, I believe I reached my limit as a designer. From there, I began helping with project planning, writing messaging, and developing concepts.
My next step was to join the Red Cross in Melbourne, where I initially worked in their creative team before transitioning into a design management role. This was the role where I was able to spread my wings and explore what it meant to run the studio. My training as a designer helped me to understand how things worked on the ground, so I was able to work with creatives to get the most out of them, as I’d been in their shoes myself.
We all know the Red Cross from an external perspective — what was their brand like from the inside?
Working for an organisation like the Red Cross was brilliant. They’re one of the most recognisable brands on the planet — it doesn’t matter where you go, their brand is well policed and consistently applied. I believe they’re the second most recognisable symbol on earth. You know what they stand for and what they’re trying to communicate. Those learnings have followed me throughout my career. I learned a great deal about applying a brand, and I had great people around me.
We also had a team of lawyers behind us, so if anybody misused the cross, there were people there to take that really, really seriously. I recall a chemist at an international airport who once put a red cross in their window instead of the standard green cross. Fast forward a few hours, and refugees were sitting outside the chemist’s, confused, wondering why the Red Cross had started selling toothpaste.
So you’ve been back and forth between the UK and Australia. What made you choose to settle in Scotland?
I was with the Red Cross for just under seven years, and then came back to Scotland to be closer to my partner’s family. We also wanted our kids to grow up here — Dundee is a great place to live, and it’s a fantastic part of the world for young families to grow up and explore. There’s a good balance between nature and city life, and everything you need is within easy reach. Melbourne had grown rapidly during my time there; I believe it had grown from 5.5 million to 6 million, and I spent most of my time commuting to work in the car. It wasn’t the life we wanted.
After moving back, I worked for The Rep theatre for a while before an opportunity came up at DC Thomson, and the rest is history, so to speak! I honestly felt like my stars had aligned. I’ve been at DC Thomson for six years now, and I still think about the opportunities this city has given me since I arrived. The people I work with are all so passionate. I thrive on that energy and genuinely enjoy being around my colleagues. It’s a great place to work.
Have you ever had a mentor?
I don’t think I’ve ever had an official mentor, but there have been people throughout my career who have helped me get to my current position.
The pivotal moment for me was that jump between being a designer and wanting to do something else, but not understanding what that was. My boss at the Red Cross, who is now a really great friend, was instrumental in helping me take that next step. She was a brand manager at the Red Cross, and she showed me how to take that step up to studio manager and lead on brand partnerships.
How did you find the transition from designer to brand manager?
I was terrified of that transition, to be honest. I worried about losing my creative outlet, but actually, I’ve not felt that loss at all. In many ways, I feel like I have gained more creative input into a project, as I can help other creatives do what they do best. I get to join up all the dots and get involved in every area now, instead of playing a smaller part of the puzzle.
My mission now is to collaborate with the best creatives I can find to communicate my ideas effectively. I think one of the things I bring to the table is that I’m not just a marketer, nor am I just a designer. I can bridge the gap between marketing storytelling, brand identity, or whatever you want to convey in that creative output. I understand what it entails on both sides. I think that’s a bit like you — you know both sides of the coin, and you can see how a project comes together creatively and operationally.
One of the things I really enjoy about working in a team is being able to achieve more than working on my own. It’s got this exponential power. It sounds cliche, but I always say that design is a team sport — it’s not an individual pursuit. You rely on other people to make your work strong. Take, for example, our recent project for The Courier. It was very much a collaboration between our team and yours, and I think you can tell.
Absolutely. That’s a great way of describing it, and there’s a big jump from University, where you’re expected to do everything yourself. In industry, things get so much better and so much more exciting when you’ve got people around you.
One of the things I feel I’m good at is crafting my creative briefs in a considered manner. It goes back to my earlier point about wanting to understand why we’re doing something — getting to the root of the problem. Instead of starting with the end deliverable, I like to begin with the problem so that the creatives at the other side of the table can understand what we’re aiming for.
What principles underpin your process?
I like to bring things back to basics. I go straight to the top of what I’m asked to achieve, eliminating any assumptions or guesswork.
At the start of my career, I jumped straight into solutions without fully appreciating the strategy or thinking that had come before it. I often see that in designers. I’ve had to train myself to work through my research processes and complete the research phase to ensure I’m getting a creative result I can rely on. I vividly remember my lecturers at art college telling me they didn’t think I would succeed in the industry because I rushed through to the end result. That was a wake-up call for me to trust the process and not cut corners. As a creative, you want to create something beautiful and use your intuition, but it must be rooted in insight; otherwise, what’s the point?
We’re fortunate at DC Thomson to have an insights department. We can validate our work and test it against live audiences accurately. That helps us avoid assumptions and fine-tune our work. To get started on anything, I need to have a clear understanding of what we’re trying to achieve and how it affects not just the marketing of this product, but also how it affects the rest of the business and our other teams. Collaboration across the organisation is crucial so that you bring the whole company on a journey.
What brings you joy?
I love her campaign go-live moment. They are always stressful, but when you hit ‘go’ and see it come to life on TV or radio, and then gauge people’s reactions to your work, that’s when it becomes truly rewarding. Good, bad, or ugly, I like the energy that moment creates — it makes all the hard work up until that point worthwhile. When delivering a campaign, it can be incredibly stressful, and you’re always thinking about each deliverable and how it fits with the rest of the work. There’s so much stuff going on around you — so much noise — that it’s easy to be consumed by it. But I’ve learned to stay objective and remember that go-live moment where it all comes together.
You also have to have a thick skin to work in this industry. You need to own the ups and downs. It’s all part of the process of creating something meaningful. It’s not all going to be good, but hearing a positive reaction or learning from a negative one, that all comes with the territory. But thankfully, we get it right most of the time!
Yeah, you’re exercising your creative judgment in those moments, aren’t you? If you know in your heart of hearts that you’ve done what you feel is right, I’m a firm believer that 9 times out of 10, you’ll hit the mark. If you’re unsure about something, that’s when problems start creeping in. You need to stand behind your ideas if you believe in them. How do you stay inspired?
I love watching others succeed. It’s as simple as that.
What advice would you give to somebody interested in a creative career?
I would tell them to broaden their horizons. If you love graphic design, by all means, dig into it, but don’t go down one rabbit hole too quickly. The industry is incredibly diverse, with various paths that may not be immediately apparent. Take a step back from time to time and ask yourself if you really want to go down a particular road. What other routes are available?
When I started my career, I was obsessed with graphic design. That’s all I wanted to do. I never appreciated that project management, new business, art direction, and other skills were all options available to me that would allow me to still work in graphic design while utilising the other skills I had.
I’d also suggest getting off your computer as often as possible. Your Mac is a tool — it’s not your whole life. If your entire design process revolves around a computer, you’ll quickly run out of ideas and energy. It’s amazing how quickly ideas can come to you if you’re out in nature or surrounded by people without your inbox pinging every 10 minutes.
I completely agree with that. The industry encompasses a diverse range of creative agencies, each with its own distinct setup. Within each of those, they will have their own team make-up with different disciplines. There are so many different career paths you can pursue. Following the pandemic, the agency environment has undergone huge changes. You learn from the people you’re sitting next to or are on your team. I think it’s really important for young creatives to get into a working agency to experience it firsthand. To pick up on the cues. Learn how people present their work, how they answer the phone, and how they talk to their juniors. It’s all important.
Spot on. When I was at the Red Cross, I purposely sat next to our copywriter for a year so I could learn as much as I could through osmosis. All of my basics have improved, including grammar, vocabulary, writing for marketing, and writing for business. I now absolutely love writing, and I feel a lot of that came from the confidence she gave me.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
The best advice I’ve been given is, ‘If you don’t know it, Google it.’
I recall having a truly honest conversation with my boss at the Red Cross. I asked her if there was ever a point where she felt out of her depth. She was a great communicator and could manage people and projects flawlessly. She replied that she often didn’t know the answers, but it’s easy to find out. You are responsible for your own learning, and if you’ve an inquisitive nature, you should push yourself to find out why things are the way they are.
What advice would you give to a young Carly?
Don’t be scared of things you don’t know. Be nice to people.
There was a serious lightbulb moment for me. I observed how my boss at the Red Cross interacted with our colleagues and what she was able to achieve simply by being nice. People went the extra mile for her because they respected her. They liked her because they treated people fairly, not because she was trying to be their friend.
I’d also say, take risks if you’re able to — but make sure you deliver on your promises.
Thanks for that, Carly. I really enjoyed it.
No problem at all. Absolutely — I’ve loved it. What a great way to start the day. Speak to you soon.
