My journey to Spark: Kitty Hopking
This month we’re shining a light on Kitty, our fabulous Digital Designer…
Tell us a bit about who you are and what you do at Spark?
Hey! I’m Kitty, the digital designer at Spark. Essentially, my role is everything web. I first have to understand who a website is for and what its core function is, and I then create sitemaps and wireframes to work out the practical details. After that, it’s the fun bit – designing the site with interactive animations to bring it to life. I love web design because it combines creativity with logic – ultimatel,y a website has to work, but it’s about finding the space within that to create those moments of joy.
What’s the best thing about working in the agency/creative industry space?
Genuinely enjoying the work I do – when you’re on a project you really connect with, it’s a buzz! I think when you’re a creative person, you feel like something’s missing if you’re not using it – and the variety in what you do on a day-to-day basis in an agency really hits that spot. Skills-wise wise too, you just learn so much from the people around you – they have such a massive part in shaping who you are as a designer. We’re really lucky here at Spark to have such a passionate team who have such a diverse skillset – I feel we all have our own thing – and that’s really inspiring to be around.
Tell us a bit about your journey before Spark
Growing up, I was always creative – usually in the form of a slightly obsessive hobby. My mum was a creative person, and although she never really got the opportunity to explore that career-wise, she definitely passed it on to me and my brothers. Career-wise, it’s been a bit of a winding road to get here – I worked in community arts and Special Educational Needs schools up until the pandemic, when I started designing the odd artwork for friends’ music releases. I really connected with it and knew it was something I wanted to do professionally. I took the plunge and completed a graphic design bootcamp at Shillington, which is 100% the best decision I ever made. I genuinely thought it was too late to change careers, which is completely ridiculous as I was only 28, but I think it’s really easy to internalise that.
What was the biggest thing you learned from it?
Working in different community settings and SEN has taught so much, it’s actually quite difficult to summarise – it’s genuinely shaped who I am and my outlook in life. In terms of what I do now, I think having personal experience of how people communicate and process information in different ways is invaluable when working as a web designer.
Tell us an unpopular opinion
Oasis is painfully average.
Do you have a party trick/fun fact about yourself?
As a kid, I had a giant Tupperware filled with “pet” house spiders…
