Meet Stephanie Bruce, an Independent Designer and Webflow Developer based in London, UK. She has been designing for over 2 years, previously working in Finance.
She loves editorial layouts, photography and visually creative web designs. She works closely with agencies and clients worldwide.
In this spotlight, Stephanie shares a selection of her favorite projects — a window into her creative process, inspirations, and evolution as a designer.
Featured work
Valentine
This is my latest project where I did the art direction, photography direction, web design and development for Freewrite Valentine. The main purpose of the website is to promote their latest Freewrite Valentine, playing tribute to the original Olivetti Valentine typewriter.
I used retro ads and posters as the main inspiration for the web design and photography direction. We decided to go with a bold red colour throughout the website to emphasise the retro red vibes. I had a two weeks deadline to design and build, as well as photography direction.
MOD Agency Collab
A web design project I did at MOD agency, with creative director Matt Jumper. My role was to design the website and create data visuals. It was my first time designing data visuals and I was pretty happy with how fun they turned out. Huge thanks to Mod agency for bringing me along for this project.
SP28K
SP28K was an exploration website I did on the Flow Party On Demand course. For this design I decided to explore brutalist design with a touch of editorial layout. This project challenged me to go for a bold approach using expressive typography and high-contrast fonts. Photoshoot of the speaker was done in Spline.
Concepts and explorations
Outside of client work, I love spending time creating my own concepts and web design explorations. By creating concept work, I learnt how much I love editorial, photography based websites and how I hope to attract similar work in the near future.
Especially being a relatively new designer, these concepts have helped me get noticed on social media and led to many opportunities.
Brief biography and career highlights
I switched careers from Finance to Design over two years ago. I wanted to find a job that I loved, and once I discovered the world of Digital Design, I became pretty obsessed. I feel like I found my calling.
When I worked in Finance, I spent a lot of my spare time immersed in the creative world. I would go to exhibitions, galleries, theatre plays, etc. I also studied Photography, which helped me develop an eye for detail and composition. I feel that the combination of my exposure to the arts and my photography skills has played a big role in developing a strong visual eye for design.
Since changing careers, I’ve had some amazing opportunities to work with leading designers and agencies — from a six-month internship with Fons Mans to collaborations with designers like Dann Petty and Benten Woodring.
I’ve been freelancing since the beginning of my design career and am very grateful that my work and network have led to multiple collaborations with international clients and agencies.
Inspiration
I find that most of my inspiration comes from looking at design outside of web design. I often look at magazine layouts, prints/posters, and branding assets. Exploring these areas challenges me to create things you don’t typically see on websites.
I also draw a lot of inspiration from visiting art galleries and exhibitions around London, as well as from films and video games like Firewatch and Before Your Eyes.
Future Goals
Currently, I’m focused on working with agencies, as I enjoy collaborating and learning as much as possible from them.
In the near future, I’d love to work with lifestyle and e-commerce clients, and maybe team up with someone to create a purposely small, boutique agency.
Message to Readers
Put in the time to practice design, and get comfortable with sharing your work online and networking — it can lead to so many opportunities and collaborations.
I’d also say it’s totally fine to explore different skills at the beginning, but I recommend committing to mastering one or two that truly excite you. Stay open to learning and keep pushing yourself to improve, no matter how many years of experience you have.
Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or Instagram — whether you have a project in mind or just want to grab a coffee, in person or online!