Design@Work - Niki Pennington

Account Director Niki Pennington talks about climbing the ladder in Marketing & Communications.

Great designers leave the country every year to do their OE, broaden their experience, develop their careers and get a taste of the international scene. Some also come back! Each issue we’ll be featuring “friends of Portfolio” in the industry and talking about where they started, their experiences, challenges faced working aboard and where they are now.

Talented, tenacious and taking on the world! Since graphic designer, Niki Pennington, left New Zealand in 1996 at the age of 24, her career has sky rocketed and she is now days away from the end of four years spent building her career in London.

Despite an all-but-dead job market, she has been lured to New York by an outstanding offer to work for Arnell Group (with a mix of glamour and edge, they are the company responsible for the DKNY brand). Those that know her well have only one thing to say - if anyone deserves the break, Niki does. She has, indisputably, put in the groundwork. “I have always wanted to prove that I can do it on my own,” she says, “I have struggled, but I have come out the other side, and looking back, I am proud of what I’ve achieved.” Certainly it is her iron will that won her this prized job. Niki is a self-confessed perfectionist. While this has been critical to her success, it doesn’t lend itself to an easy ride. When inspirational impetus is required, Niki reassures herself that even the world’s most revered designers have struggled at times. “I use this as a reminder that you can always get through,” she says, “and I am now at the point in my career where I am confident that regardless of how challenging things can sometimes seem, I know, through past experience, that I can do it”.

After completing her Diploma in Visual Communication Design at the Wellington Polytechnic School of Design in 1993, Niki worked for over two years as a designer for Ocean Design Group Limited. Due to the quality of her work here, she was selected as a finalist in the 1996 New Zealand Young Designer of the Year Awards. She then left New Zealand to complete her advanced studies in graphic design at Allgemeine Gewerbescule, in Basle, Switzerland, where she specialised in Typography, studying under Wolfgang Weingart. Niki was one of four New Zealanders to ever be accepted into the international renowned postgraduate program offered by the school.

Niki finished her studies in Basle in 1998, and arrived in London with big expectations. “I had the Kiwi attitude; I thought anything was possible”. Then, reality reared. Companies weren’t responding and money was short, and drastic times require drastic measures – or, in this instance, a drastic job. “Nonetheless, I started work motivated. I was hungry to apply what I had learnt in Basle. But in the end I couldn’t respect the work or the people I was working for. I wanted to quit every day and, for the first time in my life, I questioned my decision to be a designer.” So Niki returned to New Zealand for a four-month freelancing stint at DNA. Back on home ground, she rediscovered her passion.

She didn’t rely on passion alone. Niki applied herself to learning how to best sell herself and finding out which of the leading design firms she wanted to target. Her labours paid off. Niki began working at one of London’s most prominent design firms, Williams and Phoa.

In hindsight, the position was good experience; at the time, it felt like “slave labour”. She found herself working 12-hour days for a pittance. “The creative industries in the UK are unbelievably poorly paid. I guess it’s because there is so much prestige attached to the industry, so people are willing to work for less.” The lack of financial reward also filters out the semi-committed, so “you are surrounded by people whose life is design – they eat, sleep and breathe it”.

The “ladish” culture often encountered in the industry is yet another challenge. “As a female in the industry, you have to have balls. You have to be confident. You’ve got to be able to give back exactly what you get, else you’ll never get anywhere”.

After nine months working full time, Niki decided to go freelancing. She wanted to get a feel for the market before committing to taking another full-time position. But when her experience and her bank balance started booming, she decided to remain self-employed. Her decision has paid off. Her growth curve has been steep and her resume now includes some of the biggest names in UK design, such as The Partners, PSD:Fitch, Lambie-Nairn, and Tatham Pearce.

Niki recalls some of the big names in the industry she has met during this period of her career. “Alan Fletcher, one of the founders of Pentagram, for instance, who put himself out to offer me advice and introduce me to people in the industry. I also met David Stuart, one of the founders of The Partners, who gave me a signed copy of their book, ‘A smile in the Mind’, telling me I should feature in the next edition. I used to be scared of working for large firms, but because of the calibre of people and the resources on offer you can learn so much more. It’s also been a buzz working on the big global brands that you see all around you, names like Granada, WH Smith and O2.”

After NY Niki has set herself a mission. She wants to set up her own company in New Zealand - and she’s thinking global. “The American design industry is different to the European one,” she explains, “so if I am going to be working for a global market I need US experience. I had always wanted to work in San Francisco, but the New York offer fell into place and it felt right.”

She has set a one-year minimum on her time in New York. But her mind is open. “I don’t envisage New York will be forever,” she says, “rather, a stop off en-route home. But I guess we’ll see when we get there”.