A day in the life of Dan Walsh, Creative Director
I've been the Creative Director at Enovate for just over three years and as much as each day is very different from the last, in this post I'll try and describe a "typical" working day as best I can.
My day always starts with coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Once the required quantity of caffeine is on-board I can turn my attention to the serious business of work.
My first task is always addressing my inbox so I go through my new messages responding, forwarding, archiving or creating tasks and assigning to myself or colleagues in an attempt to reach that illusive inbox zero.
Once my email has been tackled I can start to see the shape of my day and organise tasks by priority. Usually once I’ve done this it’s about time for our daily stand-up where we all briefly discuss what we were doing the day before and what we’ll be doing today - a useful 15 minutes that keeps us up-to-speed with everyone’s progress.
As Creative Director my main role is developing artwork and overseeing its delivery to clients so in a typical day I’ll be working on web design or iteration of existing designs for new projects. This is where I work closely with our front-end developers, Jamie and Josh, to get their input. Working in tandem with the front-end guys is really important to me, it allows them to be a part of the creative process and provide invaluable feedback that helps me design something that’ll be successful in both form and function.
Web design is my main responsibility but beyond that there are many other creative tasks that fall to me so in any given day you might also find me working on print design - flyers, adverts, brochures, leaflets and brand guides - and graphic design - logos and branding. I’m also a keen photographer and occasionally venture out of the office to work on-site with a client photographing their products or services for use within a project.
Beyond my creative responsibilities I’m also involved in project and account management - overseeing projects from start to finish and being the point of contact for clients wishing to discuss their project. I also take part in business development so I attend client meetings at our offices or visit clients at their premises to discuss prospective projects with the aim of winning new business for the company. I’m also involved in writing project documentation from proposals and statements of work to service level agreements and specifications.
What I love most about my job is the variety and the people I deal with. We have a fantastic range of clients who are genuinely good people and a pleasure to work with and it’s incredibly satisfying being able to take their ideas, translate them into a creative solution, see them released into the world and be successful. Being able to do that for a variety of businesses with different audiences and design requirements is the cherry on the cake because it means no two projects are the same and to a creative person like me that’s vital.
