Fie Clarke founded her own one-woman independent type studio Bonez Designz during the first year of a degree in Visual Communications at Birmingham City University. Currently working as an in-house designer for Mapei, Fie spends most of her spare time developing new typefaces, immersed in OpenType features and glyphs.
The ethos behind the name ‘Bonez Designz’ is an interesting one. “The client’s idea is seen as the bare bones, like a skeleton to build on”, Fie tells us. “The design work is the flesh for this skeleton and the end result is something that stands on its own two feet and looks beautiful at the same time. You can have the prettiest design in the world but if it has no structure it will fall.” Her typefaces include an impressive range of display fonts, with styles inspired by classic Didone through to Gothic and handwritten. These are available for purchase through her website and My Fonts. She also creates custom licence agreements for commercial clients and her typefaces have been used in a range of design applications including packaging logos, exhibition displays, magazines and film.
Fie enjoys her current role and feels that while being an in-house designer is sometimes seen as inferior to creatives working in design studios and marketing agencies this is a misrepresentation of the role and the benefits that come with working in-house. The salary structure and career progression are usually more open in the job application process and although in-house positions usually involve working for one brand or company there can be great variety within this. Often deputising for the senior designer in her absence, Fie has learnt a range of additional marketing skills that have stood her in good stead for setting up and running her own businesses.
Alongside her full-time in-house role and running her type studio, Fie has also recently set up branding and design agency Cat & Bone. As one of the business founders Fie is Creative Director while Ash Lyons is her partner and Managing Director. They specialise in branding, packaging and print and between them have worked with a range of clients including 20th Century Fox, Garnier and Vice.
We chatted with Fie to find out more about her fascination with typeface design, working as an in-house designer and advice for women considering a career in design.
How did you first become interested in working as a designer?
From a young age I enjoyed art and design and technology; they were definitely my favourite subjects at school. I enjoyed the freedom of a creative subject where there isn’t a right or wrong answer like in maths. I remember deciding I wanted to be a fashion designer, but I wasn’t a big fan of sewing so my next idea was to train as an architect, which lasted far longer. However, I chose graphics as one of my GCSE options and once I got into it found I enjoyed it so much more. I loved it and realised I wanted to make leaflets and album covers all day!
Describe your career path of how you got to where you are now.
At college I studied for a BTEC in Graphics and mastered the basics of the Adobe Creative Suite. I discovered my love for type and started learning how to use FontLab Studio. For my degree I studied Visual Communications at Birmingham City University. Fonts featured in as many of my projects as possible, and I built up my knowledge throughout the course. I set up my type foundry, Bonez Designz during my first year.
After graduating I got a job as an in-house designer at Mapei. I started as a junior designer and now I cover for the senior in her absence. My type foundry is a well-loved side hustle which the whole department I work in knows about. Some of the staff in the company and even one of the directors have known me for a while. They all support me! Being part of a marketing department means that I have picked up other skills, tips and tricks that are beneficial for a graphic designer.
All my spare time is spent working on the type foundry, either creating fonts and promo items or promoting on social media. At the end of 2019 a friend and I decided to set up a design agency called Cat & Bone, which means I now split my time between the two side hustles.
How have you grown and developed over your career?
I have found that just because you leave education doesn’t mean you stop learning. There’s a lot that uni doesn’t teach you. I had to figure out book-keeping and the admin side of setting up a business and working for myself. I’ve learnt about licensing my work and how important licence agreements are and also how to copyright and protect my work and what to do if it’s used without permission.
My type design knowledge and skills are predominantly self-taught. I learnt a lot by trial and error, watching online tutorials and going to design talks, conferences and workshops. I went from not knowing what kerning was to designing, mastering and programming opentype features. Next, I’m learning python and variable fonts!
What do you enjoy most about being a designer?
The variety! I don’t think many industries have that. I love that in a single day I could work on a packaging project, a leaflet, a glossy brochure and point of sale. I can then go home to the side hustles and work on a font or logo. Its’ brilliant and I never get bored. Every day is different and I have a variety of creative projects to work on.
How has being a woman impacted your career?
I don’t think it’s had too much of an effect on me personally. My in-house role is in a building products company, but our department is mainly women including the senior designer and my manager. I have been fortunate that the other managers and directors have judged my work on its own merit. They also never sugar coat it if they don’t like it because I’m a girl and might get upset; I get treated the same as everyone else. We also have to do product training where some courses are hands on and I’ll be on the course learning with those in the trade. I’m expected to get involved just the same, the only special treatment being a very flattering hazmat suit.
With Bonez Designz I was faceless and practically nameless for a number of years, because I didn’t want anyone to have preconceptions about who runs the foundry. In the last year I have been more open about being a one-woman type foundry and I haven’t seen any difference. With Cat & Bone design we have been very open. Ash is the Managing Director and I’m the Creative Director and we have photos on the website. So far no one has specifically wanted to deal with either of us because of gender.
Recently, there has been lots of discussion in the design industry around the gender pay gap and how few women progress into senior positions. Have you experienced this yourself and do you have any thoughts on how we can counteract this imbalance?
For an in-house designer the structure is different to that in a design or marketing agency; it’s only if someone leaves or gets promoted that a new position becomes available. There’s a set salary for junior/mid/senior designers regardless of gender and this is usually known in the application process. I always deputise for our senior designer in her absence. She’s trained me on the extra admin and having been there so long I know the brand inside out. Within the team we have a mid and a senior designer and after that it’s marketing manager which is a very different role. I know that other in-house structures have more progression opportunities, but it varies from company to company.
In-house roles often don’t have the same glamorous appeal as agency work because design isn’t the primary focus and “bread and butter” of the business. I have also noticed over my design career that agency designers don’t have the same level of respect for in-house designers as they do for their fellows, regardless of gender or position. I don’t know the proportion of female designers that are in-house vs agency but there is the potential for that to be a contributory factor to the imbalance.
On the flip side I’m a company director for Cat & Bone and listed as the creative director because I registered and own part of the business and have legal responsibilities. My role as a creative director of my own venture is very different to if I had been promoted to that role in a design agency.
If you could go back to the beginning and start your career again what would tell your younger self?
Go to events, learn to code, email designers and ask if they know a good resource or if they’ll give constructive feedback on a project. People are a lot friendlier and more willing to share knowledge than you’d think. Learn as much as you can and make friends with those in the industry including print houses. Also find out what a good D&AD entry looks like, entering awards can be good for your career, but often you don’t look at the actual submissions behind the pencil.
It’s not always going to be easy and it will be really tough at times but you’re a tough cookie. Always fight your corner, and just because you’re the little guy it doesn’t mean you won’t win.
A lot of people in the creative industries struggle with imposter syndrome and self-doubt. Have you experienced this and how do you deal with it?
All the time! Yet all these amazing companies found me and licence my fonts for some really cool things. I spent years using “we” because heaven forbid, they found out it’s just me emailing from my bedroom (aka the studio). I was terrified clients would change their mind or would try to get away with saying they’d pay me by giving exposure to my work. I spent a lot of time reminding myself that if my work wasn’t good they would have picked a different design, so I must be half decent.
Where do you get your inspiration from and how do you approach a new project?
I’m always looking… packaging in the supermarket, swing tags on clothes, greetings cards, beer mats, shop signs and people’s handwriting. I also look in design books and social media. When I start a new project, I have usually seen something I like or a particular style that keeps popping up. I’ll start doodling a few letters until I have the base of the style I’m trying to achieve and something to refer back to. Then I move into illustrator, set up my guides for my heights and draw out my letters. For some letters I might draw one version and for others I might draw 5 or 6 before deciding which option works best.
Do you have any words of advice for women considering a career in the design industry today?
If it’s your passion then do it! You need to be prepared for working on the day-to-day tasks of amendments and small jobs along with the big projects that allow you to experiment and go wild. Every job has good and bad days and there will be parts of the job that you won’t enjoy. It took me a year out of uni to get a full-time design role and getting a foot in the door isn’t always easy. If you have some extra time find something else you can learn, something that will add to your portfolio. It doesn’t have to be a ‘live’ project brief you can make one up. Don’t give up, there’s no other career like it!