Starting her career as an intern at Thinking Room, Ira Carella has now been an Art Director at the Indonesia-based agency for over three years. Ira joined the studio fresh out of a Master’s course in Design from Bandung Institute of Technology; she has progressed quickly and currently heads up their Bandung office.
Initially drawn to illustration over branding, Ira has – alongside the team at Thinking Room – developed a strategic approach to research and ideation that has become her favourite part of the creative process. In the beginning, she found the role of Art Director challenging and felt overwhelmed directing her colleagues. But now, with three years’ experience behind her, she finds developing her team the most rewarding and enjoyable aspect of the job. As she tells DbyW: “My team all have different personalities and ways of producing creative work, so I explored different approaches to assist them most effectively. I learned that I had to quickly switch my focus between different projects and people.”
Having recently become a new mum she’s facing one of the biggest challenges of her career so far – how to juggle the demands of nursing a baby with an exacting job role. There is no easy answer, but determined to continue in the career she loves, Ira has developed new strategies to manage her time and believes less procrastination has allowed her to adapt to her current situation.
We talked with Ira to learn more about her career journey so far, adapting to her current role as Art Director, and her thoughts on the most important qualities for a creative lead role.
Where did it all begin? What were your first steps into the design industry?
I think it all started in my early years when I didn’t really know what design or graphic design was. Since elementary school, I’ve loved reading magazines — I remember I made my own mini magazine in 3rd or 4th grade. It was pocket-sized, around 8-12 pages of drawings and typography in colourful markers. At that time, I was enrolled in a children’s art course which I continued all through elementary school and returned to for a short time during my high school. My teacher introduced me to Bandung Institute of Technology, the art and design school where I ended up. At first, I thought about being an artist, but then I learned about graphic design and fell in love with the field. My younger self just thought about how much fun it would be, playing around with type, illustrations, and materials all day!
“At first, I thought about being an artist, but then I learned about graphic design and fell in love with the field. My younger self just thought about how much fun it would be, playing around with type, illustrations, and materials all day!”
How did you progress to your current role as Art Director at Thinking Room?
I joined the company in June 2014 as an intern. At that time, Thinking Room’s projects were still dominated by self-experimental and Food & Beverage branding projects. As a graphic design student, I was fascinated by the typographic approach in their projects. I greatly enjoyed my 3-month internship. I think the most exciting part was Thinking Room’s typography curriculum. It’s a set of typography exercises, designed for interns to develop skills in typography and layout.
After completing the internship, I went back to school to finish my undergraduate course followed by a 2-year postgraduate programme. In June 2017, I re-joined Thinking Room as a Graphic Designer. I was promoted to Senior Designer a year later, and then Art Director the year after that. I almost resigned in 2020 because I had to move back to my hometown, Bandung, to get married. But then our creative director, Eric, offered me the opportunity to work from Bandung and open an office there if things turned out well.
Little did we know that Covid-19 would hit and working from anywhere would become the norm. And here we are, two years on; our Bandung team has grown to seven, and we now have our own studio! I’ve grown as a designer alongside the company, and it’s really exciting to imagine where we’ll be in years to come.
Have there been any key pivotal moments in your career that have helped you progress to where you are now?
At first branding was one of my least favourite aspects of being a graphic designer. I started my design journey as a little girl who loved to draw, so illustration was my first enthusiasm. Even when I joined Thinking Room as a graphic designer back in 2017, I was still unsure about my ability to take on branding projects and found them the least exciting part of the job.
It wasn’t until I worked on Balloon and Whisk, my first project at Thinking Room , that I learned to see a brand as a soul, with its own story and personality, and began to enjoy the process. Along with my co-workers, I tried to structure our approach to design, and our group sessions resulted in a branding curriculum that is now commonly used at Thinking Room. Starting my career with a master’s degree but little experience made me nervous at first. I wasn’t sure whether my educational background would benefit my career. However, working on branding projects in this way made me realise that the most useful thing was the framework for creative thinking that had been ingrained in us.
I learned about finding a balance between conceptual-thinking and practicality. Since then, I’ve loved doing research and ideating concepts for brands, in addition to the crafting of design outcomes.
“It wasn’t until I worked on Balloon and Whisk, my first project at Thinking Room , that I learned to see a brand as a soul, with its own story and personality, and began to enjoy the process.”
What does your current workday look like?
Since getting back from maternity leave eleven months ago, my workday is a constant juggle between motherhood and designer-hood. I’m breastfeeding my 1-year-old son, so he’s with me all the time. We’re now working from office two times a week, but still I always bring my baby to the office, along with a sitter. This is interesting because he gets along really well with the team. These aunties and uncles are his first best friends 😀 but the routines are more or less the same. I usually start my day around 6-7am and always have some quality time with my little family at the breakfast table before work. My baby takes his breakfast, naps, and lunch at the office. I’m very grateful with the inclusivity and the support that my company has given me.
During the official office hours (9am-6pm), I usually have 2-3 breaks for lunch and nursing sessions. After my son goes to bed around 9pm, I continue working until midnight. I call this hour my happy hour, where I can work peacefully and review my tasks for the next day. But of course, there are days when I just feel extremely tired and go straight to bed at 10pm.
Are there any barriers or challenges that you have faced during your career and, if so, how have you overcome them?
I think the most challenging phase of my career so far is right now. To be honest I’m struggling to have a balanced life. Living with a baby is unpredictable, so if you also have a demanding job your days are always hectic and full of pressure. I think the most challenging part is not time management, but focus and energy management. With current technologies, it’s possible for me to work and take care of my baby at the same time, but it’s hard to push my brain to solve every design ‘puzzle’ I face and be present to assist my team in every project every day. I learned (and am still learning) how to work more effectively and avoid procrastination.
I think the only thing keeping me going is how much I love being a designer and connecting with people. I’ve realised that I’ll always need to adapt the way I work because life is continually evolving. With my new role as a mum I face the biggest challenge so far. But by the time I get used to this new routine, it’s possible that another challenge will come along. I think the best thing you can do to survive is to adapt, if the love for what you do is still alive.
“I think the most challenging phase of my career so far is right now… Living with a baby is unpredictable, so if you also have a demanding job your days are always hectic and full of pressure. I think the most challenging part is not time management, but focus and energy.”
Can you talk us through the process of a branding project you’ve recently worked on at Thinking Room?
Most of my recent branding projects are either still on-going or finished, and not yet published. So, I’ll share one interesting project that we did a little while ago. Lima-Lima was a rebranding project for a food court in Jakarta, Indonesia. The overall process was quite tough because we had difficulties in choosing the right design direction. The project brief was to define an identity for a food court that sells local street stall cuisine in a clean, neat and homogeneous space. We have a common term for local street stalls in Indonesia, which is ‘pedagang kaki lima’ (translates as: five-foot-vendor). Many food court names in Jakarta revolve around common food-related words like, ‘food’, ‘eat’, ‘delicacy’, or ‘kitchen’, but we came up with the name ‘Lima-Lima’. The client fell in love with the name from the very first presentation, but then we got trapped in exploring ideas that revolved only around street elements, like road textures, food cart shapes, cooking utensils, and even cats, that are commonly found in every street stall in Indonesia.
We ended up being stuck on bland design solutions. We forgot that the challenge was to evoke the rich flavours and textures of local street stall cuisine, so we scrapped everything besides the name and the logo. We looked back at the local street vendors and tried to identify things that enhance the experience of eating in this way. We found things like numbered animal graphics, numbered signages and colourful melamine tableware. We did a contemporary twist on these iconic vernaculars, resulting in a brand identity that evokes the rich flavours and textures of street cuisine in a clean and neat setting.
What do you enjoy most about being an Art Director and what do you find most challenging?
Initially, when I started it three years ago, I didn’t enjoy my new role as an Art Director. I was so used to working independently as a designer and was overwhelmed when directing my colleagues. They have different personalities and ways of producing creative work, so I explored different approaches to assist them effectively. I learned that I had to switch my focus quickly between different projects and people.
The thing I find most challenging – managing a team – is now also the most enjoyable part of my job. I like being involved in every team discussion and being surprised by the wow factor that often comes up during our group sessions. Part of my role is also to encourage my team members to develop within the company and I find it rewarding to help people grow along with us.
“The thing I find most challenging – managing a team – is now also the most enjoyable part of my job. I like being involved in every team discussion and being surprised by the wow factor that often comes up during our group sessions.”
What do you think are the most important qualities for being successful in a creative lead role?
Being persevering, empathetic, and consistent. I used to think that being successful in a creative lead role meant doing a big, impactful project that people remember you by. However, I’ve realised that the challenge is not about accomplishing the dream project, but how to stay relevant in the industry, and how the work we create can impact others. I think design is a very human thing; it grows with so many in the environment that can change really fast and that may make us feel uncomfortable. It’s important to be open-minded and see things from many perspectives.
I’ve learned from my Creative Director, Eric, that being a lead role in design is not just a label. We need to learn to put our egos aside and have a collaborative mindset to stay in the business. It sounds simple but it’s not as easy as it sounds. On the other hand, it’s also very important to stay consistent to what we believe and persevere despite challenges. In my opinion, having a job as a creative lead role requires you to be ‘young’ and ‘mature’ at the same time.
“I used to think that being successful in a creative lead role meant doing a big, impactful project that people remember you by. However, I’ve realised that the challenge is not about accomplishing the dream project, but how to stay relevant in the industry, and how the work we create can impact others.”
Do you have any advice for women and gender diverse creatives looking to move up to a senior role in design?
I would say to embrace your own personal approach. I try to have the mindset that moving up in my career is not about being the best in the design industry, it’s more about leaving a mark with my own ‘colour’ in this colourful world.
The other thing would be to keep that ‘love’ that got us here in the first place. I feel that along with my career journey, my life journey also continues, which is totally different from when I started a few years back. There are a lot of things in life that become obstacles in our careers, so we need to keep remembering why we love doing what we’re doing. For me, regardless of the demands of my current situation, I still feel that drawing, painting, and designing are the things that makes me happy.
“I would say to embrace your own personal approach. I try to have the mindset that moving up in my career is not about being the best in the design industry, it’s more about leaving a mark with my own ‘colour’ in this colourful world.”