Change Your View | Blog Entry 10

Blog - Career Options Series

Alison Garnett is a creative director, account manager, illustrator, information architect, good cop bad cop, Jill of all trades, juggler extraordinaire of family work life, and co-founded Toronto based creative studio Field Trip & Co. about a year ago. Before venturing out on her own Alison worked at numerous agencies and was tired of the politics working at a big organization.

Field Trip & Co.’s motto:

Field Trip & Co. follows a more authentic approach to design (in my opinion) because they like to actually go out and build experiences to inspire and drive their design. Field Trip & Co. is a very small Toronto studio that aspires to tell a story through their projects, to tell a narrative and produce work that they are proud of. When Alison said that we rely too much on sitting behind a computer, I thought that was so true. This thinking stems from her experience as a fine artist. You got to work with your hands, observe, learn, go out, feel and touch. Be curious and don’t rely on Pinterest as a source of inspiration.

The following is a simplified version of Alison’s current career journey:

Along the way, she’s met and collaborated with so many people, some people who she points out as key players in shaping her career. She believes every person you meet will play a part in your career, and somehow everything comes full circle. I think it’s okay to not know where we are headed in life, but it’s important to be driven by something. Start somewhere, you don’t know what opportunities might come your way. Alison hasn’t always worked solely in design. One of her employers asked her to pitch to clients, which she didn’t like but apparently was very persuasive. Alison spoke briefly about her projects at Sapient, her volunteer work for RGD (for which she now holds a seat at the Board of Directors). She’s gained so many skills over time and continues to seek knowledge. In this ever changing and evolving industry, you have to keep up with the current tools being produced.

Field Trip & Co. provides Alison the space that she’s always wanted. She collaborates with clients she loves, works in a neighbourhood she loves and finally feels that she’s mastered the work life balance (which is amazing).

Alison left us with 10 things:

What I took from this was that, work hard, be a good person, be polite, be humble, take initiative and always keep learning. Never settle.

A lovely quote by James Joyce:

“In the particular lies the universal”

Thank you Alison for coming in to talk to us about your journey!