Fare thee well, Stu
After nearly four years of working with my FortyTwo Studio friends in various guises, I’m moving on to a new adventure. My experience has been both engaging and gratifying — a sentiment I’d like to share through a brief reflection of my time.
It was my colleagues who gave me my first foot up in the creative industry. They offered a chance to prove myself with work experience, which later evolved into part-time work and a full-time placement. What I’m most grateful for has been the selfless support and flexibility they’ve demonstrated — working around sporadic university lectures can be a complete pain.
One of the cool things about my experience has been the exposure to the world of design. Everyone at FortyTwo are total design geeks; you’ll usually catch someone smelling fresh print or gawking at some lovely new book. Mark once made us sit a typeface test. A TEST! Their admiration of good design has been infectious, however, and I can now tell my counters from my bowls.
I’ll be leaving behind a really great team. Mark, the MD, has a brilliant drive and appreciation for his staff and clients. Sam’s the most switched-on, chilled-out creative you’ll meet and his graduate protege Jill already demonstrates mature design skills. Ryan’s got a great eye for the details and isn’t afraid to ask difficult questions. Billy’s a ‘gid’ developer (the greatest compliment possible from a Scotsman) and Gina has managed to keep the trickiest of projects ticking over smoothly.
In parallel to my work I’ve been studying BSc Computer Science at Robert Gordon University. This summer marks my graduation and one other life milestone — becoming engaged. Me and my new fiancée are moving to Wellington, New Zealand to satisfy our appetite to explore. And we can’t wait!
Everyone at FortyTwo is rad. Whether you’re looking for their brand expertise, a job or just a chat, you should drop by and say hey.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
— Stuart