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Built for Industry: Chloe Berry
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In this instalment of Built for Industry, we caught up with Chloe Berry, a student who demonstrated an appetite for excellence and outstanding creative instincts during a residency with Uncommon Creative Studios.
Having been tasked with breathing new life into a forgotten, yet vital, aspect of British cultural and visual identity, Chloe’s team tackled sexualisation of girls in the British schooling system.
With the hugely successful residency under her belt, Chloe reflects on her educational and creative journey, as well as how she hopes to use the unique industry learnings she garnered going forward.
Tell us a bit about your life and educational history before university, including what made you think Ravensbourne was the right place for you?
I have always been creative; attracted to the therapeutic process of making, I need to use my emotions to fuel creative ideas as a form of escapism. I had un-diagnosed ADHD till I was around 17 which explained the constant techno rave in my brain, filled with concepts and inspiration. Literally every school report card called me a ‘daydreamer’ and a ‘chatterbox’. I would say school failed me. I was strongly against A-levels, instead, taking my creativity and hunger for knowledge to Harlow College to study Journalism and Creative Writing. I experimented a lot with scriptwriting and poetry at this time, and realised my true passion was storytelling, no matter the format. This carved the path to Ravensbourne to study Advertising and Brand Design.
How did you get involved in the Uncommon residency and what are some of your reflections from the selection process?
As part of my Work Based Learning module, I needed to complete a compulsory, accredited four-week work placement and when I saw Uncommon was an option, I lost my mind. I had loved Uncommon’s work since seeing their JD “Bag for Life” campaign. I do struggle with the occasional spot of self-doubt, probably due to how dumb school made me feel, so when my portfolio was chosen for a selection day, I got literal whiplash. The selection day was like a fever dream.
Chloe quote
We were assigned a live brief to work on where I threw caution to the wind and decided that now wasn’t the time to water myself down. I went for it. Creating a punk, women’s, self-defence, streetwear brand. The main motif? Massive pink leather spikes that would take over London in spaces women may feel unsafe as a symbol of rebellion. It was voted Uncommon’s favourite, which was a massive honour and proof I should always trust my gut. It meant I was chosen for the residency.”
What was the inspiration behind your group’s Uncommon residency project?
For mine and my partner’s answer to the brief, I tried to keep the selection day energy throughout. Our final idea was born as a kind of conjoined twin of both mine and my partner’s initial starting points presented on day one. I am a proud member of the working class, so I centred around that, and my partner is interested in punk, sexuality, and kink. We jumped many hurdles to get to our outcome, using Netflix’s Adolescence as inspiration. We wanted to be outrageous while drawing attention to the absurdity of the language used in British state schools surrounding the abhorrent sexualisation of young girls. No thirteen-year-old girl should be called a ‘sket’ in the playground. We created a modified school-uniform, ideally in collaboration with Katerina Kamprani, that shows the physicality of internal hurt. We created The Sket Skirt, The Tart Tie and The Frigid Bitch Blazer, all either way too heavy, way too long, spiky, boiling hot, or lined with sandpaper. Our copy line to tie it all together: ‘The Weight Of The Word Is To Wear It’.
What were some of the key insights from Uncommon staff and/or your instructors at Ravensbourne which helped you along the way?
The treasure trove of knowledge I received from this experience weighs a ton and is now locked away in my brain forever. Some key golden nuggets are: to use your own experiences in your work; somethings are just innate, don’t make anything that will be fleeting; embed your work into the culture; make things that don’t look like advertising; if you know the wackiest idea is the best, don’t be afraid to push for it; you will have to push clients to be brave; and, although it’s scary, if there’s nothing like your work out there, one day you’ll have copycats. I was also endlessly inspired by Stephen Lacey’s talk on cultural trends and current affairs as timing is everything for your work to get people talking.
How important do you think industry collaborations like this are for students aspiring to enter the creative, tech and business sectors?
The incubator at Uncommon was a definite crash-course, some days entirely blew my mind.
Chloe quote
Ravensbourne is far from traditional and so is Uncommon. The collaboration was a match made in heaven for a range of reasons and the experience just felt right. I would say this experience re-wired my creative brain. Now when I create, I create with the confidence that the world needs my work.”
This is the confidence that early contact with the industry gives you. I also no longer think of my work as hypothetical. I see every project as an audition for my place in the industry which has given me a stronger vigour than I had before. These opportunities are mindset switchers, and exposers of dreams. It allows students to get to the core of what they really want from their future, what parts of the industry are made for them and what they most care about. This clarity is vital and so is the wisdom from creatives ahead of you. They’re not gods, they’re you in a few years.
How do you hope to apply your learnings from the residency throughout the remainder of your studies and when you enter the world of work?
I have had a distinct style bubbling under my creative skin which the Uncommon residency has helped to bring to the surface. I will take the conviction of knowing myself creatively into my future for sure. I have been corporatising my work and watering down my ideas but Uncommon has taught me that my fully rich wackiness is needed and there is nothing wrong with creating the work you wish already existed. I learnt that advertising is at a near-apocalypse and the industry is at a point metamorphosis where it can become something new. People are starting to hate its traditional format, paying to not see it. The rise of AI is also something we can re-frame to be exciting. Now is the time to show people what advertising can be and what real people can make when they aren’t held back. I will be using all I have learnt to run into this battlefield, guns blazing, and contribute alternative work with purpose. Thank you to Uncommon for all you have taught me.
