Taaryn Brench is a Leeds based independent designer, working across design, illustration, and motion. After initially working in digital marketing, she fell into design ‘by accident’ after being drawn to work being created by her designer friends. She eventually decided to pursue her interest as a career, taking on a graphic design apprenticeship and teaching herself design skills in her spare time. Taaryn always knew she wanted to work for herself and quickly realised that agency life wasn’t for her. She successfully built-up freelance clients alongside a position at a full-service agency before going for it on her own.
Her work is now characterised by expert use of bright colour, playfulness, pattern, and bold geometric shapes. Experimentation, incorporating more handmade elements, and learning new skills have helped her to develop personality and playfulness in her craft. A standout project for Taaryn is a poster she created for Sadler’s Yard market in Manchester, which is the first project where she felt her ‘creative voice’ and confidence really came through. Previous clients also include Penguin Books, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Big Issue.
Taaryn’s time is currently split between balancing commercial clients with her own retail brand of products, including prints and greetings cards. She finds creating products for her shop in quieter work periods a great way to refresh her creative process and take back creative control. For the future, she’d love to be able to devote some of her time to teaching design, helping prepare students for the ‘real world’. She believes effective education on what different creative careers can look like, utilising her own experience and privilege to encourage others, can bring greater diversity across the creative industries.
We chatted with Taaryn to find out more about how’s she’s developed her visual style, where she finds inspiration and encouraging greater diversity in design.
How did you first become interested in working as an illustrator and designer?
I was in my mid 20s and working in marketing and account handling jobs, which I’d fell into by accident. I had a couple of friends who were designers and it always seemed a lot more interesting than what I was doing. It had never really occurred to me that a creative career could be a possibility, so I started to explore this more.
Why did you decide to become an independent designer after working in agencies?
I decided to retrain by doing a Graphic Design Apprenticeship in my mid 20s. It seemed to be the only way for me to retrain because I couldn’t afford to go back to university and my job at the time wasn’t flexible enough to fit round a college course.
As part of the apprenticeship, I worked as a Junior Designer for an educational publisher. It wasn’t a particularly creative job, so I spent a lot of time after work teaching myself new skills and working on my portfolio. After my apprenticeship, I left to work at a marketing and design agency which really accelerated my learning. However, I knew straight away that agency life wasn’t really for me, I was very aware of the fact that I didn’t fit in. I had always wanted to work for myself though and knew this job was just a steppingstone while I built up my freelance business on the side.
How have you developed your visual style throughout your career and have there been any pivotal moments?
I did a bit of work and research to identify what kind of things I liked and how I wanted my illustrations to make me feel. From there it was a gradual process of experimenting and trying new things. A pivotal moment was taking a Skill Share class by Tom Froese about how to add inky marks and textures into vector work. I realised my work was missing personality and playfulness, having handmade elements really levelled up my visual style.
Where do you get your inspiration from and how do analogue processes inform your approach to new client projects?
My inspiration comes from nature and gardening, books, films and fashion. Most of my work starts with mark making using gouache, crayons, ink and paint, it helps me to loosen up a bit and those marks will usually get scanned in and used in some way in the final work.
Tell us about a favourite project that you’ve worked on and why it’s important to you.
My favourite project of all time has to be the poster design I created for Sadler’s Yard market, which was commissioned by Standard Practice. It was the first project where I felt like my style and voice really came through and it gave me confidence to make a career at combining graphic design and illustration.
How do you manage balancing your time between commercial clients and your own retail brand?
Oh gosh it’s a tough one! Commercial work always has to be the priority because I have to pay the bills. Whenever I have quiet periods, that’s when I’m able to work on new products for my shop. It’s quite refreshing, it feels like I’m able to take back creative control of my work!
How do you think we can encourage greater diversity and inclusion across the creative industries?
By educating at school on what different creative careers can look like and by recognising our own privileges and using that to lift up others.
Have you experienced imposter syndrome and self-doubt and how do you deal with it?
Oh yes, all the time! I have to remind myself it’s totally normal and everyone gets it from time to time. I like to look back through my work and remind myself of what I’ve achieved, and the nice things clients have said in the past. I also started tracking my moods alongside my periods, I found two to three days before I was due, that’s when feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness were the worst. Now that I know this, it’s a bit easier for me to brush off. I was aware of PMS of course but I just had no idea how much of an effect it was having on my value as a creative.
If you could go back to the beginning and start your career again what would tell your younger self?
Don’t give up! You are determined and resourceful, you’ll get to where you need to be so don’t worry!
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
I’d like to teach part time in some capacity, at somewhere like Shillington or as a guest lecturer. I’d like to be involved in modules and workshops that prepare students for the real world and freelancing.
Which women designer has most inspired you?
Swiss graphic designer, Lora Lamm. I particularly love her Milan work where she combines playful and fun illustrations with graphic design for the likes of La Rinascente and Pirelli. There’s something so effortless and charming about it.
Your top 3 female creatives inspo picks!
- Han Valentine – @hanvalentine_
- Lucia Vinti – @lucia.vinti
- Marie Ines Gul – @mariainesgul