A Day in the Life - Nicola Rowlands

Last Tuesday I introduced a new idea for this blog so that you have the chance to share a day in your life and for us all to learn a little more about the creative lives of other artists, designers and makers. I have had a great response and have some fantastic posts coming up over the next few weeks.

The first person to respond was artist and designer Nicola Rowlands.  Here are her answers to my questions-

When does your creative day begin?

Although I try my very best to seperate my work from my real life (ie I switch my computer off when my boyfriend gets back from work) I am nonstop looking at signs/the colours on the seat of the bus/peoples moustaches/writing down song lyrics on my hand/creating pdfs whilst sleeping...so in my mind, there is no beginning or end but in reality I get up around 6:30, shower, put my makeup on and that’s when my day starts.

Where do you create?

I sit at my desk to gather all of the research for a project, I sit on the bus to think a project through, the logistics of print/the reality of a project is discussed over a chicken shashlik at the Gurkha Grill with my longtime suffering other half, drawing is done in my living room accompanied by TV and tea and the finished product is usually picked up from a printers somewhere!

What do you create?

 Illustrations, greeting cards, designs for fabric, wedding invites, prints, stickers, mirrors, tea towels,  t shirts, logos...


Do you design/make/create full time, part time or as a hobby?

I’m self-employed...so it’s full time...and I mean full time!

If Full time, do you structure your day to include design time, making, admin and promotion or is it dependable on work load/orders?

I live by the power of The List. If the list says ‘think of 5 ideas for so and so brief,’ I get the bus to town and listen to my music and go through the project in my head.... and usually get to cross off ‘Post orders to so and so’ and ‘deposit cheque at bank’ off the list while I’m at it. So yes, I make sure that every aspect of a project is written on the list so that I can make time for each part and also get the deliciously satisfying enjoyment of crossing things off the list when they’re done.


If Part Time, is this an addition to another part time job or even a full time job?

I also run workshops at the BBC and freelance as a project manager at a web design studio... I love the variety but there is always a voice in the back of my head saying ‘you should get a real job...’

Where do you find inspiration for new ideas/designs?

It’s usually my constant desire to be better that inspires me to create new things... When I finish one project I’ve usually figured something new out or created a certain aesthetic that gives me an idea for my next project...if that makes sense?


Thanks Nicola. I am sure many of us can relate to working 'full' time when we're self empoyed!

Nicola Rowlands

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Please email me if you would like to share a day in your creative life.

buttonsandbows130{at}btinternet{dot}.com