Ruby PH

In this discussion, Ruby shares how her creative practice has evolved, how she’s learned to find the joy in all design projects, via process, her experience working in shared studio spaces, the criticality of culture, and the positive impact it’s had on her mental health and on solidifying her passion for a career in design.

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Ethan Scotney

I’d like to hear maybe a little bit about, perhaps, you, and about how you got started, and then maybe a little bit more about your practice currently?

Ruby PH

Well, I have always been in some way creative and interested in design and graphic design in particular. I found very early on, that design alone isn’t actually that sustainable so I’ve had to find ways to expand my practice and expand my skills and what I have to offer. My career’s been quite interesting to date, because I am by and large a commercial designer who’s sort of operating at a senior design director at this stage. I’ve done my own work, but I’ve also worked for agencies, social enterprises and disability organisations, and I’ve done major, major event work. I’ve had quite a varied commercial career. But it’s not really what I post online, it’s not really what… sort of, the average person who follows me, knows about my career and my work. 

Because, I guess, for me, anyway, commercial design work isn’t that glossy, and unless you’re running an agency yourself, it’s really hard to build up a commercial portfolio for yourself that’s sexy and glossy to post online all the time. Additionally, the work’s so volatile, sometimes you could be working on a project for 9 months, and then sometimes there’s 9 months where there’s no work. So it’s really hard to make a public profile as a freelancer. 

But yeah, I’ve been working independently since 2017, so that’s across various freelance projects, short-term contracts, and my own, personal client projects that have come through the door, depending on what stage of life and what part of the year I’m in.
Then, more personally, I have been very slowly developing a little online store, which I’m the owner and creative director for, that’s primarily focused on print and publishing, because that’s kind of my main personal passion. And then also, product design and making fun little design objects. 

I do a lot of things to expand my capabilities and my offering, so I also do brand strategy and business strategy for some people because I often find design and strategy go hand in hand and what I find a lot of the time is, you know, a new client will be “oh, we want to do a website”, or “we want to do a new brand”, or “we want to develop this new product”, but they haven’t done any of the actual strategy behind that design thinking. A lot of the time, the actual business needs to solidify foundations and develop new design systems to allow that design to thrive. So, I have found a nice little niche in my commercial work that allows me to help people build operational systems and design, use design frameworks and design thinking to run their businesses better, and then also do the design work on top of that. So, I have a really, yeah, a really interesting little career.

Ethan

Wow, I’m amazed by the linking of business strategy and design. Such a deep and different creative practice.

Ruby

Yeah. But, in terms of, what’s working and what’s not.

I think I made the right decision years ago to, diversify my income as much as possible, and I made a commitment a few years ago to take on a little bit more quote in quote “boring work” and shifting my perspective between wanting to find that sort of glossy, sexy design work that I was talking about earlier, versus doing design work that needs to be done, and shifting my mindset into the concept that, it doesn’t matter what the content or design output is, what matters as a designer is the design thinking and the process. Making that the part that you enjoy, rather than only seeking out projects that you aesthetically align with, makes the work better, and it also makes the work more enjoyable to do. So, I’m quite happy to work on something that, I guess, like, maybe a lot of other designers would just pass up on, because it’s not pretty and sexy, and it’s not something they would want to post online. But I enjoy the process of doing that design as much as I would enjoy the process of doing something that’s more of a desirable consumer aesthetic.

But I would also say it’s just really expensive to be alive, and having a studio is really expensive, and everything costs money!

Ethan Scotney

You have your own studio space, yes? Yes. 

Ruby

Yep.

Ethan Scotney

Nice. Is that where it is? 

Ruby PH

I’m based in Mothership, in Marrickville. I was previously in the Jordan Avenue Creative Centre, which, unfortunately, they kicked everyone out and started a new program, so that was a really hard and stressful sort of year-long process of slowly getting kicked out of a building that I was paying rent. But I have a really lovely space now, which I share with two other designers. You have probably met Ella from Saints Press and Izzy from Goodnight Press. So we’re always at zine fairs together. 

We have a really lovely culture of sharing and a really open space and that’s been really life-changing for me, being by myself in a private space before, and I thought that that’s what I needed but as it turns out, having other freelancers and people around you throughout your work day is actually really important, especially in a creative sense. Having people to talk to and being able to show your work to a fellow designer and get instant feedback, chat through problems and work things out together is really rewarding

Ethan Scotney
Curious to know how this room is laid out, are you in a corner each or along a long desk?

Ruby
They’re not equally sized quadrants, they’re kind of oddly shaped, but, I have got the biggest chunk, which I, in turn, pay the most for, and then Izzy sort of got the next biggest one, Ella’s got the next biggest one, and then we have, like, a tiny little, like, hot desk space that we’re looking for, like, a fourth person. 

We’re also not all in at the same time, all the time, so there’s usually only one day a week where everyone’s in there, which is quite fun. 

But we do also have, a sort of middle shared zone, where we have shared equipment and stuff like that. We have a big guillotine that we co-invested in, and we’ve got printers that we co-invested in, so that we can all use the same machinery without all having to own the same thing four times over. Which has been really great. But yeah, we’re just sort of a lockable sort of large room that’s split into four.

Ethan

From what you’re saying, it sounds like it has everything that everyone else has been saying, “I wish I had the ability to share resources”, and it’s really right too. Just being able to flip your screen to a friend and get feedback or talk.

Ruby

I feel very, very lucky to have the space that I do and be in a position to afford it. But part of that has come from being able to accept that part of that has come from my work that’s not necessarily glossy and sexy. I could be a little bit misguided on this, but I feel there’s a lot of designers out there who are very much “oh, I only want to take on this sort of type of client”, and they’re very picky about it, and “I only want to have stuff that I want to put on my portfolio.” you live in a capitalist society, and you are offering a product/service, and if you’re trying to make a living as an independent designer you have to take on work that’s boring, because that’s what pays for the studio, and that’s what pays for the Adobe subscription. You’ve got to find a balance between the stuff that you’re passionate about and really enjoy working on and the stuff that’s going to feed you every week.

Even a few years ago when I was a little more picky, and I was a bit more “oh, I don’t necessarily want to take that one on because the budget’s too low or whatever”, I didn’t have a studio space, and I couldn’t afford it because I was more picky about the work I was doing.

I had a space when I left school, so, 10 years ago. For some reason, I managed to find a space the minute I left school that I could afford, and it was right above the Old American Apparel on Oxford Street. It was in a shared little zone, and I loved it. I think having a space when I left school really helped me solidify the idea that I wanted an independent career in design. To have something that was my own little studio. But later we were kicked out by City of Sydney because they wanted to redevelop the building and so for nine years I didn’t have a space again. Now I finally have one, it’s taken nine years to get to a point where I’m financially stable again, because back in that period of time I was still living at home and I had just left school and it was only $100 a week to rent the space, and I was working in a little bar, and so I didn’t have any major financial responsibilities. I didn’t have a car, and the economy was different. 

Ethan

Definitely different. 

Ruby

So, my cost of living was way lower, and then as soon as I lost that space, I couldn’t afford one for nearly a decade, so it ebbs and flows. I do definitely think that having access to my space also directly correlates to my success. It’s kind of this chicken-and-egg thing, where you have a space that’s inspiring and motivating, and it creates this nice feedback loop where you go, and you do good work, and people see it, and they hire you, and you can afford the space, so you go there and do good work. It’s really hard to start that cycle because you need the space to start it.

Ethan

I’m curious, and I have a feeling you might have touched on it a bit before in passing, but would you say that on an emotional level, you feel your mental health has improved by being in such a space? I ask this because when I was speaking with Angélique just last week, most artists, like yourself in those earlier days, are working multiple different kinds of jobs to their own creative practice and feel overwhelmed. 

Ruby

I mean, I can confidently say that all of my studio mates and I have rocked up to the studio, in tears about something, and having people who are just there, who understand what you’re going through, and understand your work, and life who are just friends of yours, where you can just go get a little coffee and a treat. Those sorts of little communities are so critical and it’s really funny, because I don’t think they’re the same as an office. Having this creative found family that you are very intentional about and emotionally connected to, rather than just being an employee in a workplace. It’s a very different feeling. I’m lucky the position i’m in with my studio is that we were able to choose eachother, and the last space in our room is empty at the moment because our studio owners are not forcing us to rent it out until they find someone that fits with us. They’re just copping the cost because they understand how critical it is to have a person that has shared values. They don’t want to disrupt the energy by just plonking someone in who you won’t get along with. They know how important it is to have a community that’s very well connected and stable, that shares values. It’s, I think it’s done wonders for, like, my general mental health, my well-being, and I also just think, when you work for yourself and, when you’re self-employed, and you’re trying to, make it in the big, wide world, I think it’s really easy to forget how critical it is to have people. Because you’re like, oh, I can do it myself, and I’m fine, you get a bit of lone wolf syndrome, where you convince yourself that you’re fine by yourself. You probably are, but then you get in a community and you realise how much you’ve been missing out on, the generosity, understanding, acceptance and belonging you miss out on by excluding yourself because you convince yourself that you’re fine on your own. So even if I found myself in a position where I could afford another private space, I might not choose that anymore. I might still choose to have a shared space for a long time in the future, because I think it’s way better than being alone.

Ethan

Definitely and that’s what I’ve heard a lot from other artists. Matteo, runs the Peach Black Gallery and he’s got a few artist spaces there too. When I asked him what some of the things people ask when looking for a space? He said most of the time, they just ask who else is there. 

Ruby

Yeah, it’s such a big part of studio culture.

Ethan
Very true, I just noticed we’ve been going maybe half an hour now, and I don’t want to hold you up, but perhaps to finish off this little chat, is there anything else you’d like to add or any thoughts that have come up during this conversation?

Ruby

I mean, I’m also a big architecture nut and have a great passion for creative spaces and public spaces being a part of community and a sense of place and belonging and things like that. Especially just after getting back from Canberra. I was able to interact with a lot of co-designed, multi-use spaces, and just being in Canberra and seeing, the scale that they give to the arts and the physical amount of land that is dedicated to the arts and dedicated to, public access is so cool. 

Then seeing more things like Dairy Road which is a kind of public and commercial mixed-use complex that have these massive warehouses that have little micro-spaces that have been segmented inside. Some of them are restaurants, some of them are breweries and yoga studios. There are also these lovely gardens and playgrounds for children, and there’s a big, brutalist sculpture in the middle of it that you can go and interact with, and it’s fully accessible, there are accessible toilets everywhere, it’s all flat. Really, really disability-friendly, multi-access friendly. It’s got lovely branding, it’s very welcoming, it’s, like, easy to get to, and I’m like, God, I wish there was more stuff like that in Sydney!. I just feel like I want the environment to reflect the people that are on it, and I also want the environment to want people there. And I feel like the Sydney environment is more, ” go away, we don’t want you here”! 

So my vision for Sydney would be to be more geographically inviting and have spaces that interact with community and landscape in an active way.

Ethan

Beautiful!
This has been amazing and super insightful to hear about your practice, your experience working in creative studio environments and how it’s developed over your career.
Thank you so much for talking.

Ruby

Thanks for having me Ethan, thanks for reaching out.