First published August 13, 2021
Over 10 years into her career, Founding Member, Ayesha, retrained in Graphic Design and started down a new creative path. Discover how she built her multi-practise business AAH YES STUDIO, what she’s working on right now, and her dream projects. Spoiler alert, food is a recurring theme! Read on…
Ayesha, what’s your creative occupation?
Artist & Designer
Where have you been?
My background is in branding. I spent over 10 years working with playful, childlike companies, bringing their brands to life through marketing, brand strategy and advertising. As I progressed along my journey as a marketer, my job became more strategic and I moved further and further away from the creative side of things. I was feeling pretty unfulfilled by what I was doing day to day and so I decided to switch gears.
I spent a year retraining as a Graphic Designer at Shillington, and in 2018 I bit the bullet and opened AAH YES STUDIO — my own design business, a place where I could be the one to create these wonderful worlds, rather than just play in them.
I’ve been told that the worlds of fine art and graphic design don’t always play that well together, so I’m making it my mission to bridge that gap. AYESHA ON HER PAINTING STYLE
Where are you now?
The first couple of years running the studio has been such a whirlwind. I’ve had the pleasure of working with so many wonderful people across all kinds of projects: branding, packaging, billboards, shop windows, product launches, and creating a print collection.
After craving some creative time away from my screen I started oil painting and caught the bug.
I now run AAH YES as a multi-practise business, working on both art and design projects with businesses and individuals.
I also have a coaching company with my partner Sam (he’s a business coach). Together, we run a group coaching programme called Live Fearlessly which helps people take action and find confidence in their life. It’s incredibly rewarding.
Where are you going?
My big focus right now is painting. I’ve been told that the worlds of fine art and graphic design don’t always play that well together, so I’m making it my mission to bridge that gap and create gorgeous art that is influenced by graphic design but created using fine art techniques!
I’m currently working on a series of food-inspired paintings. They start life as paper cutouts which get scanned in and artworked on screen before being drawn up onto canvas and painted in bold, bright, juicy colours. At each stage, moving the piece between digital and analog spaces allows new, wonderful intricacies to be created. Subtle marks and obscurities that would otherwise not exist – it’s a really rewarding process.
On the design side of things, I’d love to work on projects in some new industries. Publishing is high on my list; designing a cookbook would be awesome. The music industry is also a really rich area for design that I’d like to explore a bit more.
Finally, what’s occupying your thoughts today?
Coffee and pizza. It’s nearly always coffee and pizza…