Meet Manon Prost, Shillington Graduate and Freelance Designer

Before Shillington, London graduate Manon Prost was working as a project manager in a design studio. But, as more and more projects came across her desk, she wanted to get on the creative side of things. In comes Shillington. Manon took our part-time Sunday course and, nine months later, found herself very much on the creative side of things. An internship later, she started freelancing full-time—and continues to two years later.

We caught up with Manon to chat about her time at Shillington, transitioning from project management to design and freelancing. Happy reading!

What have you been up to since graduation? You are now freelance, can you tell us about that?

Before the course I was a project manager in a design studio. I’ve always wanted to be a graphic designer but I thought it was too late, I didn’t want to go back to college for 3 years. So when I heard about Shillington, it was a revelation.

I graduated in 2020, which was the worst time to find any work. But, luckily, I started to do some freelance gigs here and there and then I found a design internship at Hedoine, a fashion brand based in London. After the internship, I went freelance ‘full time’ and worked on a lot of cool branding projects.

Can you tell us about a recent professional project? What’s been the project that’s got you the most excited so far?

Recently I designed digital stamps/stickers for Death to Stock—which is a visual content platform that provides the freshest authentic stock photos and videos.

My favourite project so far has been the whole brand identity of CORE—a Physiotherapy, pilates and wellness and wellness studio in South London.

What’s your day-to-day like as a freelancer?

I wake up between 7 and 8, walk my dog June, drink my 1st cup of coffee and go to work (which means, walking from the kitchen to the living room where my office is). Not one day is the same—I always work on different projects each day to keep my creativity running.

I like to keep my morning call-free since I feel like I’m more productive in the morning. Afternoon is usually for client calls, training and content creation. I try to be active on Instagram since this is where 80% of my clients have found me.

What piece of advice would you give to someone who is about to graduate/start the course?

For someone that is about to graduate: I’ve got 2:

1. Keep on learning, be curious of the new trends/techniques/softwares.

The design industry is constantly moving so as a designer, you have to keep your skills and ideas sharp.

2. Get involved in a design community. There are a lot of digital and IRL communities that are great to connect with other designers. You can also find a mentor that will help you grow.

For someone that is about to start the course: Be curious and keep your eyes open.

Design is everywhere around, try to analyse what you see to develop your own design critic.

Anything else you would like to add? Tell us something surprising!

I resigned from my former full time job the day I graduated from Shillington. Now, I don’t recommend it, It was a really risky move because I didn’t have any plan B.

I just couldn’t bear spending one more day doing anything else than design, now that I was a designer. But I’ve been very lucky because it’s worked out well so far.

Big thanks to Manon for sharing her story with us! Make sure to follow her on Instagram and check out her website for her latest work updates.

Feeling inspired by Manon’s design journey? Read all about Shillington’s innovative graphic design course and become a graphic designer in just three months full-time or nine months part-time.