Yoana – better known as Yo around the studio – has been making things since she could crawl, painting and drawing constantly from as early as she could wield a brush or crayon. The trend continued when she entered education, but as for everything else at school? Well…
“I sucked at every other subject!”
She’s laughing as she says this. It clearly didn’t hold her back. She went to Oxford Brookes for her foundation year, enjoying the consequence-free sandbox to experiment with every artform imaginable. (“Best year of my life!”)
In fact, Yo enjoyed the distinctly tactile practices like textile art, sculpture and painting so much that Graphic Design didn’t exactly appeal.
“I just always wanted to do stuff with my hands. That’s what I enjoyed at the time – computers bored me.”
Luckily for us, that changed.
From paintbrush to pixels
She moved to London to study illustration at Westminster City University, and spent her final year doing something wonderfully serendipitous.
“I befriended the graphic design lecturer during my final year, and I actually ended up doing an entire module one-on-one with him. It really opened my eyes to the importance of layout, typography and colour, resulting in a real 360 moment before beginning my final major project.”
The more personalised learning pace meant Yo felt able to explore elements of graphic design she hadn’t considered before.
Her final project was an album cover; a full visual identity for a dubstep record which she exhibited at D&AD New Blood. A music studio based around the corner from the exhibition spotted her work and hired her on the spot to be their newest graphic designer.
Not bad as far as first ‘proper jobs’ go. She learned fast, built a lot, really honed her craft. Then Covid arrived and she decamped to Bristol, drawn by friends, community, and the creative energy of the city.
After moving to Bristol, she co-founded the South West Art Collective – a gathering of creatives determined to keep making and showing work in spite of everything happening during the pandemic. The group put on exhibitions and art markets at local institutions like Kit Forum, Bristol Cider Box and Jamaica Street Studios.
It’s efforts like this one that reveal an entrepreneurial streak. Even during her university years, Yo was making ceramics to sell alongside her studies, all thrown using free studio facilities. In one instance, she sold over 300 pieces in a single weekend at The London Illustration Fair.
But it’s not all about the money.
“I find analogue practice refreshing. Anything tactile where things feel a bit more easily experimental – it’s so freeing.”
Play and make and repeat
After three years at the music studio, and a stint at branding agency Orca, Yo joined Mr B & Friends. It was the contrast between the diversity of her work and her clean, yet consistently playful aesthetic that made her portfolio stand out.
And since joining us, that’s remained evident. Her brilliant ideas and exceptional craft for clients like Civo, Vertical Aerospace, and Persimmon have been no small part of our recent award-winning work.
Civo rebrand by Mr B & Friends
Vertical Aerospace event branding by Mr B & Friends
Even when you’re someone known for exceptional taste, there’s still room for mess and experimentation.
Yo is someone who finds genuine pleasure in these more rough-and-ready, process-driven corners of design. Recently, she worked on a campaign for TikTok, where AI tools needed to be baked into the creative process from the outset – all while maintaining a consistent visual world.
Where next?
Yo gives a lot, but she doesn’t ask for much.
Her near-term goals are straightforward: learn as much as she can from the people around her, get even better at her craft.
Longer-term, who knows?
“I’d love to work on branding and campaigns around women’s health. Use my skills in areas that have been historically underrepresented or undervalued. It’s something I really care about.”
For now, though, we’re lucky to have her in our midst. Making things and breaking things, thinking carefully and pushing back when it matters. Holding the team to a higher standard.
The Transform judges recognised all of this, even if Yo herself may modestly argue they’ve overstated the case. They haven’t.
