Danny graduated in 2008, and did Illustration for two years before swapping in the last year, after being encouraged by a friend. After leaving Kingston, he moved home and he and 5 other Kingston alumni formed Treat Studios as a means of keeping in touch, but more importantly for Danny made him move back to London. The collective was based on friendship and of course a certain degree of standard. It took time to work out how to work together, but after being paid well for a more dull commission, they have since done work that was more free. Their most popular works have been for E4, for their Slackers Club adverts, and for Skins. They worked more like an animation studio, but the work ethic wasn't quite collaborative; often the more popular styles from individuals would be the selling point of Treat, and so soon personalities could get drowned out by others. Much like Margaux, charity work was much more challenging and interesting, and they found that within a collective that they could make a piece very quickly and efficiently together as a group. Individuals began having bigger projects and started to shrink. After a trip to Berlin with Etsy, the group withered, and many members moved away. Soon after, Treat almost folded and Danny almost gave up. But he and another member Alex re-collaborated now are starting up their own animation studio. Now they are working more into motion graphics and special effects.
I was particularly keen to hear from Maggie. We had wanted to speak to her from last year when we went to speak to Joely from Zombie Collective, and we really admired all of the members. From seeing what Maggie does within illustration, I was really looking forward to knowing how she got there. Maggie graduated in 2010. The girls set up Zombie to encourage all of them to work, as they had all moved home after graduating. Between the 5 of them, they have a really diverse range of skills, which helps with the array of things they can do. They are most well known for their workshops and events, among them being a show 'Fathoms Deep' and the Hayward Gallery, and workshops at Tate and the V&A, 'You have to work on blending your work together'. She sees that being in a collective makes you a much more diverse creative person, defining you as a person beyond your work is very important. She currently is a freelance illustrator, but most of her time is working as an art director at OKIDO magazine. When she left home, she took two internships, one at Random House and the other at OKIDO, which was still very small at the time. OKIDO now is in the process of becoming a children's TV series. She feels that her freelance work has been more informed by doing work with both OKIDO and Zombie. The collective has been a supportive platform for her and all the other members, and is perhaps a different way of working than other collectives.
Again, it was great to hear from two people about struggle. More and more people are coming in being reassuringly 'real' in that they just come across as someone who I could have graduated with. I'm glad that these people are so relatable, it feels much more like I have a shot!
