- SCHOOL LEAVERS
HOME GROWN
HEROESKIRK ARNOLD
Creative Director at
Sourcefour Ltd
BA (Hons) Design Home Grown Heroes
Kirk Arnold
Creative Director at Sourcefour Ltd
BA (Hons) Design When Kirk realised his chosen career path was not what he really wanted to do, he changed direction with the help of the University Centre Grimsby and achieved success at a graphic design and branding agency.
Kirk explained, “As a kid, I was raised in a creative household and always loved art and design, but I never actually studied it at school. After getting my first PC at age 14 I thought I wanted to go into IT, so I took ICT at GCSE and A Level. But after finishing my A Levels I quickly realised I didn’t want to do this for the rest of my career.”
After leaving college, Kirk worked in retail for the next 4 years. Still, his passion was graphic design, and he kept this passion alive by designing gig posters for friends, customising alternative clothing and learning Photoshop.
One of these friends suggested that he could do this as a career and perhaps should go back to college to study a creative course. Kirk enrolled at the Grimsby Institute for the National Diploma in Art and Design at age 19. During these two years, encouraged by his tutor, Kirk started to believe that he could have a future in graphic design. Following his successful Diploma, Kirk enrolled at the University Centre Grimsby on their BA (Hons) degree course in Design.
“I really enjoyed my time at UCG and was lucky that as part of my degree, I got to work on some live briefs for local creative events, including developing the branding for a local yearly art and new media festival. This gave me my first taste of working as a graphic designer, and I was hooked.”Kirk’s hard work was rewarded when he gained a First Class Honours degree, and after graduating, he spent time building his portfolio to find work, ideally in a creative agency.
“It was tough to find work locally, but I persevered. I spend time building my portfolio, so when I heard of an opportunity within a local design and branding agency, Sourcefour, to cover their designer on maternity leave, I was ready to grab the opportunity. I put all my energy into going for the job, and it paid off when I was successful!”
Kirk thrived in this creative environment, working with a team of designers, photographers and web developers, and his talent became apparent right from the start.
Rob Pritchard, Sourcefour’s Managing Director, stated, “It was obvious that Kirk had not only talent but also a great work ethic. He was such an asset to the team that we kept him on as a Junior Designer, even after our designer returned from maternity leave.”
Kirk has been with Sourcefour for 12 years, rising through the ranks from a Junior Designer to Senior Designer and is now Creative Director, leading the creative team in delivering branding, graphic design and web design work to some top-name local and national brands.
“I love being part of the team and facing different creative challenges every day. No two days are the same, and although it can be high-pressure at times, I wouldn’t have it any other way.I’ve been fortunate to work on some inspiring creative briefs, such as developing the brand for a new payroll provider, Ascend Payroll, a creative identity for the new Kasbah Film Quarter with ABP Humber and hand-illustrating the range of craft beer cans for local brewery Docks Beers.”
