Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.
This week’s question:
I’m a recent graduate trained in graphic design, but my practice spans across disciplines. During school, I received multiple major design awards, held exhibitions and gained some press coverage. Despite this early recognition, I often see peers my age collaborating with global brands like Apple, Nike and Gucci. I admire those opportunities deeply, but without industry connections, approaching such companies feels like searching in the dark. My work is strong, but breaking into that level of visibility feels almost unreachable. I’m wondering whether it truly requires starting from smaller companies step by step, or if there are more strategic ways to get noticed by major brands.
How can an emerging multidisciplinary designer like me build a realistic pathway to collaborate with major brands such as Apple, Nike or Gucci, when I don’t come from a family with industry connections?