Makers At Heart | Creative Intern Arabella Andrewartha on why different walks of life make for the best collaborations

We are Makers At Heart. We create the extraordinary.

As the creative engine room of the world’s biggest brands we are driven by one purpose: to solve our client’s toughest briefs beautifully. Our Makers believe in the power of cooperation and partnership to deliver ambitious ideas to that break new ground and deliver awe-inspiring creative work.

Everything we do as a team makes great ideas come to life. We are thinkers, designers, artists, directors, producers, developers, colourists, coders, technicians, editors, animators, writers, doers and makers.

In our Makers At Heart series, we introduce the people behind the projects to hear more about their inspirations, motivations and creative insights. We spoke to Creative Intern Arabella Andrewartha about…

What are you most looking forward to about your placement at The Mill? 

I’m excited to get stuck in and contribute my ideas on an array of different projects. I genuinely believe different walks of life make for the perfect collaboration and I’d like to think that’s what I can bring to a team. I know for a fact some brands I am instantly drawn to straight away, purely from my likes and interests but I’m excited to work on projects that are worlds apart from my reality too, one that’s really inspired me is Nike’s ‘Awake The Phantom’.

All in all, I’m just excited to be a sponge and learn. Every day I am eager to learn, whether that be in a job or not. The fact that some people finish school and never learn again is a scary concept to me.

What would you say are the most important challenges facing the creative industry going forward?

Personally, I see a lot of inspiration and not much representation. As a queer woman of colour growing up on the tenth floor of a council estate, I have seen first-hand my life become an aesthetic and mood board filler. The idea of high fashion houses producing tracksuits and trainers and having hip hop stars walk their runways is a weird thing to see for me. It’s something I both embrace and challenge. 

Like I previously said, different walks of life make for the best collaborations. Ask yourself, all your friends with great music taste don’t just listen to one genre of music, am I right? This is the same way East London became a hub of creativity, through the different emergences of immigrants over the years, from Jewish communities, Caribbean to Bangladeshi and Eastern European. The term melting pot is one to be excited about when it comes to creativity. Moroccan architecture is another prime example of this.

You’ve previously worked with brands such as Arsenal and Lazy Oaf– how will this experience benefit you in your new role?

Being in both the Arsenal ‘Third Kit Launch’ and the National Lottery TV advert made me realise just how much goes into an advert and everyone’s role on set. It also helped me distinguish what is shot in live time and what is CGI. On the National Lottery advert me and my team played a whole day’s worth of football donning different colour kits for a shot. I thought this is a little silly because we are clearly still the same people, but I saw the end result on TV and could piece together the ins and outs. But I love being on set, it makes me feel alive. 

Working with smaller brands like Lazy Oaf is exciting because they definitely allow for more freedom when it comes to direction. Being involved in projects like these has instilled the importance of having an eye for detail.

You recently worked on a campaign with The Face surrounding Marcus Rashford’s free-school meals bid, how important is it to integrate social awareness into your creative work?

One of the reasons I first got into advertising was because I saw it as psychological art. Something pretty that also makes you think and act. I started playing with Photoshop during lockdown to keep me busy. It’s something I had wanted to do for a while. With no briefs to be set, I would just play about and see where it got me. 

I didn’t set out to create what I did but I guess it just so happened to be what was on my mind at the time. It gave me the confidence to publish my work and in return help make a change. Moving forward I already have plans for another project that raises social awareness. I just think if you can, why would you not?

That’s a bit of me thing to do, jack of all trades and master of none. I’m currently working on a radio show. I think I just like to be kept busy and stimulated.

What are your biggest creative inspirations?

My first insight into studying something creative was Photography at A-Level. I fell in love with street photography, typography and pop art. I think I just liked simple yet bold imagery. Nowadays I take inspiration from so many different things. From friends to experiences to fashion and culture. I just think if your eyes are wide open enough you can see inspiration anywhere.

Check out more Makers At Heart features here and get in touch regarding any upcoming projects via our contact page. You can also follow Arabella on Instagram @tacobella.