Brighton Journal caught up with the lovely Erin for this week’s feature of Humans of Brighton, an undergraduate art student who had popped down to Brighton for the weekend.
We talked all about her favourite features of the city, including what inspired her to start graphic design.
Lovely to meet you Erin, could you tell us a little about what brings you to Brighton?
I live in a small village along the coast, I’m actually home for the weekend from uni! I came in to Brighton to do some shopping and meet with some of my friends from home.
What are studying at uni and where are you based?
I have just started at Winchester School of Art and I’m studying Graphic Arts, but I think I’m going to go down the pathway of graphic design in the next two years.
Tell us about your art – where do you take your inspiration from?
I really love architecture, I focus a lot on modern architecture in particular and I think I fell in love with it after going to New York last October. I also take a lot of my inspiration from print work from what I see in the Brighton Lanes – I went to college in Sussex and did a lot of work with screen printing that was based on what I saw!
How interesting – what is your favourite thing about the Lanes that influenced your work?
It’s so colourful. I love how bright and bold all the shops are! This might be an unpopular opinion but I also really love the brightness of a lot of the graffiti here – I’d often just come into Brighton and take as many photographs as I could of architecture, colour and people.
Do you have any plans to come back to Brighton after you’ve graduated?
I’m not really sure, but I’ve always wanted to live in Brighton so I think after graduation it might be the perfect opportunity. There’s so many independent businesses and artists that I can see thriving in this city and I think it would be such a good place to start up a creative business… I actually have my own graphic design Instagram if you wanted to check it out which can update you on what I’m currently working on! It’s @erinrruby.
It’s really great to hear from someone so passionate about creative arts! One final question – is there anything you don’t like about Brighton?
I really dislike the amount of homelessness, it’s the worst city I’ve ever been to. I really upsets me, I wish there was something more that could be done to support them!
