A day in the life of an agency designer at Digital 22

Meet Bilal. 

Bilal is a Designer here at Digital 22. 

I’ve been tasked with writing this blog about what Bilal gets up to during a typical day at work. I’ve already got a good idea but it’s worth hearing from the main man himself. He’s sat a few desks away from me at the moment, so I’m going to go and grab some insight. Wish me luck. 

Being a designer at an inbound marketing agency

Take one

Hold on a second, he’s chatting to Abdul and Sam. Abdul is the Design and Development Manager and Sam’s an Inbound Strategist. They’re collaborating on a web project for one of Sam’s clients.

Bilal works to ensure that the websites we create are absolutely incredible, both in terms of aesthetics but also as part of the wider Growth-Driven Design (GDD) process. 

In a nutshell, the GDD methodology is about continually improving a website based on decisions supported by measurable data. To learn about GDD in a much larger shell (one of those massive snails I guess), head to our pillar page. It’s a bit of a monster, so grab a brew, but it’s bursting with all of the key information you’ll need. 

Bilal working closely with Abdul and Sam is no great surprise. Collaboration is a key part of his role and you’ll regularly see him moving around the office to speak to Strategists, Content Marketers and Developers to make sure design projects are on track. 

Take two

I can see Abdul and Sam are back at their desks so I’m going for a second attempt to speak to Bilal. 

He’s not there. 

Faizal, a Project Coordinator, tells me he’s stepped into a quick meeting with another of our Strategists to discuss an eBook that needs designing for a client. eBooks are Bilal’s speciality. He lives and breathes eBooks. What does he have for breakfast? eBooks. 

He takes my written copy and transforms it into visual masterpieces. Whatever the topic, Bilal finds a way to design engaging and eye-catching content pieces that get results. They’re loved by our clients and most importantly, their customers too. 

In the meeting, he’ll be discussing possible formats for a content piece and the intended aim so he can make sure the design reflects that. 

Take three

His desk is still vacant. I can see he’s now working with Aleks, Digital 22’s Video Marketer. The two work together quite a lot on animations, video storyboards and other really clever bits and pieces. 

It’s no real secret that video is crucial to any marketing campaign at the moment. Our clients need a range of videos that they can use on social media, their websites and in other marketing materials because that’s what today’s consumers best engage with. 

The two of them share ideas and inspiration, ensuring both videos and design work are as ridiculously good as possible. 

Take four

He’s playing pool in the breakout area. 

Take five

He’s a busy man but I’ve grabbed a few quick moments with Bilal. I wanted to know the sorts of tools he uses to create his fantastic designs, where he finds his inspiration and the trends he’s most interested in. 

Bilal uses Adobe Creative Suite for all things vector, editing and for layouts in particular. Resource websites, like Unsplash and Flaticon, are filled with great stuff he can use when working. Tools like these can speed up his process and ensure he turns around creative projects quickly without compromising quality. 

He also mentions HubSpot (going to get big brownie points for mentioning that) and how he dedicates time to understanding the creative side of the platform. That way, he can ensure he tailors websites in such a way that they’ll be a success. 

It’s a bit of a cliche but Bilal really does find inspiration everywhere. There are some sites he mentioned, like Designspiration, Behance and Dribbble. But anything creative can be the spark of inspiration he needs to take an amazing design route that no one else had previously thought of. It's no secret that he loves a Pinterest board. 

It’s easy to see that Bilal is passionate about design, especially when we talk about what the role of a designer might look like in five years or so. By keeping his finger on the pulse, he can make sure that Digital 22 is utilising cutting-edge tech and processes so that our designs are the very best. 

He talks about where design is heading and what it’s becoming - animations, interactive experiences and UX UI are all growing in importance.

I don’t fully understand everything he’s saying and that’s kind of the point. He’s our resident design expert and with his guidance, Digital 22 can provide clients with design work that showcases exactly why we’re the UK’s number one HubSpot agency. 

Bilal’s a very busy guy and after a quick chat, I leave him to it. Since I’ve been writing this, he’s already sent over some of the links he was talking about and offered any more support if I need it.

This is why he’s such a good fit at Digital 22. We’re all pulling in the same direction and collaborating to deliver outstanding results. Not just that though, this commitment to one another ensures Digital 22 is a truly unique place to work. 

Fancy working alongside Bilal?

If you’re interested in a role at an inbound marketing agency check out our current opportunities by clicking below.