If We Want A Fairer Creative Industry We Need To Redesign The Doorway

Creative Boom: Insight Creative Industry If we want a fairer creative industry, we need to redesign the doorway Lola Delafuente, junior creative at 20(SOMETHING), reflects on the jump from university to studio life, and why fixing the gap between education and industry matters more than glossy International Women's Day panels. Written By: Guest Author 4 March 2026 If you'd asked me in my final year at university how ready I was for the creative industry, I'd have said: completely. With my first-class degree and finessed portfolio, I felt bulletproof. There is a kind of shock that hits when you land your first job, though.

It isn't that you're untalented – just that the game is different. You're no longer designing for grades; you're building things that have to survive in the wild, which is thrilling and mildly humbling in equal measure. Now, I'm somewhere in between wide-eyed student and fully formed creative oracle, still learning how to hold my own in a room and figuring out when to fight for the line and when to let it go. The gap people talk about after graduation is actually a huge opportunity for growth as you rewire from 'student creative' to 'working creative'.

The reality gap University teaches you how to make beautiful things, and work teaches you why they exist in the first place. At uni, the brief is a playground, because you're designing for an audience that wants to see your thinking, references, and craft. In the real world, you're designing for a business with targets, shareholders and CMOs. The difference between these two scenarios lies in context. A polished deck proves you can curate, but commercial thinking proves you understand consequences.

In other words, you can have the slickest portfolio in the room, but if you can't explain how your idea builds brand awareness, shifts perception or survives procurement, it's just vibes. We're trained to obsess over kerning and case studies. We're not always trained to ask, "Will this actually work in the world?" I remember my first real client presentation (that I'd rehearsed intensely) – then the questions came. Not "Tell me more about your inspiration," but "Why this route?" "What problem does it solve?" "Is this right for us?" That was the moment I realised presenting is all about thinking on your feet.

If you don't believe in your work, how can you expect anyone else – especially a client – to believe in it too? The first piece of unfiltered feedback will sting, but it will ultimately sharpen your creative instincts. Remembering that feedback isn't there to protect your ego is a must. It's there to make the work stronger, so the worst thing you can do is treat your ideas like they're fragile. Share them early and let people poke holes.

That's how something moves from "good" to "how did you think of that?" At uni, you don't see these internal debates, rewrites, and strategy pivots, or the fact that sometimes the bravest move is to strip an idea back and not dress it up. None of that makes it into a glossy portfolio spread. The honest bit: pay, pressure and belonging There are costs we don't always talk about, like the return train tickets into the city for interviews and the coffees you say yes to because you should. Before you've even secured a role, you've already invested money just trying to get in the room.

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The article addresses a significant issue in the creative industry that affects brand strategy by advocating for equitable access to opportunities, making it highly relevant and impactful, though the concept of redesigning pathways is not entirely new.