Are Two Minds Better Than One?- Four of our favourite Creative Duos spill the beans…
People often want to know what it’s like working in a duo. It can sometimes seem too good to be true, ‘a best friend and a business partner, how do you make that work?’. We have given an insight on how WE make it work here, but we wanted to get the opinions of some other duos, whom we love and admire, so we can get a few more ideas on how to find (and keep) a work buddy for life.
Dan and Luke- Birmingham Design Festival (Design)
Possibly the providers of the warmest welcome to a city we have ever experienced, you are in good hands if you’re working with Dan and Luke. You can see the genuine passion for what they do in all they create and they’re just all round lovely humans and hard workers.
How did you form as a duo?
L: We'd been orbiting each other for a number of years attending the same events – and sharing friends – and it eventually became clear we had a complimentary skill mix and a shared passion for community building, plus a healthy mutual respect. After attending each others events and really getting the measure of each other, we decided to pool our resources in 2017 and make BDF happen.
D: I'd been thinking about the potential for a Birmingham based design festival for a few years and in 2017 it finally got to the point where I was confident enough that it would be successful. At that point I got in touch with Luke, who felt an obvious choice as a business partner given his connections in the industry, passion for the design community and complimentary skillset to my own.
What's the best part about being in a duo?
D: The complimentary skillset I mentioned earlier is vital to how we operate. We're quite lucky as designers in that a lot of skills required to market a business successfully are part of our day to day and between us we cover a broad range of those skills. It's great from an expertise point of view, but also a workload one as well. Luke tends to focus on the brand and print output and I focus on the digital stuff.
L: Events organising is a relatively high stress and often frustrating occupation and can lead to you feeling lonely at times. Having a team makes much possible (and enjoyable) – but having a partner who truly understands the weight responsibility is a very reassuring thing. Sharing the load, both physically and emotionally, has helped us go further than ever would've been possible individually. Being willing to share that 'top spot' also helps keep us both humble – it's always a 'we' not a 'me'.
“Being willing to share that ‘top spot’ also helps keep us both humble – it’s always a ‘we’ not a ‘me’. ”
What are the struggles?
L: More of a niggle than a struggle, but given how much time we both pour into BD / BDF it can be a bit frustrating when only one of us gets credit for our shared efforts, not that either of us are glory hunters – we just feel guilty. I think Dan probably sometimes struggles with my luddite ways (lol) given his technological proficiency, but he's mercifully patient with me. Happy to say the benefits massively outweigh the struggles.
D: It's usually me who suffers with being ignored but I'm fine with that :D. I didn't get into this for fame or fortunate and Luke's network of connections is one of the reasons we got together in the first place. The only struggles for me are holding down a full time job, with a large family and doing this on the side. It's a juxtaposition with Luke being freelance and his time being a bit more flexible, so it's a constant battle my end to keep my work/life/BDF balance in check and not upset any of those parties and make sure I'm pulling my weight with BDF.
What are your tips for anyone wanting to form a duo?
L: Oooh toughie – I'd say it depends very much on the purpose of the collaboration. If its a creative partnership you'll work in day in, day out, then personal chemistry is really important – plus creative compatibility. If it's more of a partnership for a specific thing like an event or project, then having complimentary skills might be more important. I'd recommend collaborating on various things before committing to anything official, and don't worry if you're not 'best friends' – focus on how you'll benefit each other working together.
D: I'm not sure I could have gone into a partnership with any of my long-term, close friends in the way Luke and I have done. It's allowed us to develop a relationship built around BDF that extends into our personal lives which has felt like more of a natural progression for me, free of historical baggage. There's lots of other reasons why our partnership works but that feels like one of them.
Knowing each others strengths and weaknesses is important. That helps with workload and making sure the right person is doing the right task (I tend to steer clear of social media as I'm useless at it). This it helps to remove ego and admit you're not as good at something as someone else, even if you're not bad at it yourself.
Steff and Jack - Kino Bino (Animation)
Talented animators and genuinely good eggs, we first met Steff at a Creative Coffee event in Leicester, she kindly showed us her studio and gave us some guidance at the very start of our Pickle Journey! We have been following all they do ever since and had the pleasure to work with them on a Baby Center video seen below.
How did you form as a duo?
We met whilst working together as digital artists back in 2010. Over the years one thing led to another (we’re a couple) and by 2014 Steff had gone freelance and moved to Leicester. We were regularly working together on various projects, from animation to large scale street art work, and Steff was building up her freelance business with the aim to allow Jack to join her full time. This finally happened in 2018 when they officially created Kino Bino.
What's the best part about being in a duo?
Always having someone to bounce ideas off and critique your work. As we're so comfortable together we're not afraid to tell each other what we really think.
What are the struggles?
Living and working together 24/7 can often cause our work/home boundaries get blurred which can lead to overwork.
What are your tips for anyone wanting to form a duo?
Find someone who you can be yourself with and who has the same values and passion as you. It's great if you both have slightly different skills sets that compliment each other, for example Steff loves to spend time understanding a brief and working on the initial designs, whereas Jack enjoys refining designs and polishing animations, so we’re always pushing each other to make the best product at each stage of the process.
Fran and Jo- A Dozen Eggs (Branding)
Olivia first met Fran and Jo as Foundation tutors at Loughborough University and then again in our final year on the Graphics course. They were always big inspirations to us throughout University and we were constantly penned as the next ‘Fran and Jo’. We followed in their footsteps when joining the University Studio programme and continue to love all they create through A Dozen Eggs.
How did you form as a duo?
It’s a bit creepy how overlapped our lives have been, but we actually went to the same college (although didn’t know each other) and then became friends on art foundation, following each other to University - same course, same halls! It felt like a natural fit to work together on our degree, especially within the third year when the projects are a lot more flexible. Our skill sets fit well together, I get more excited about the strategy, and Jo makes things look incredible! So, despite neither of us ever thinking we would start a business, we definitely wanted to continue working with each other.
What's the best part about being in a duo?
Being able to spend loads of time with your best friend, and having someone there who ‘gets it’. You are able to share the ups and downs with someone. Celebrating the first time you reach minimum wage, getting excited about fancy meetings in London, hiring your first employee, growing out of office spaces and seeing your work all over the country are wonderful things to be able to share.
“Celebrating the first time you reach minimum wage, getting excited about fancy meetings in London, hiring your first employee, growing out of office spaces and seeing your work all over the country are wonderful things to be able to share.”
What are the struggles?
The struggles for us were when we had to shift how we worked together, due to circumstance. When you can no longer both go to meetings, as there aren’t enough hours in the day. When the hour long phone calls have to get shorter and you don’t spend as much time together. But, there have always been workarounds - more spa days and trips out to stately homes make up for the reduction in daily phone calls!!
What are your tips for anyone wanting to form a duo?
Choose your partner well. I respect Jo so much, and I know she respects me too. We think very highly of each other! It feels like a privilege to be able to work together. I think if you really like each other at the start of the partnership, you are halfway there!
Complete honesty. We tell each other everything, when something has slipped off our plate (and it’s now embarrassingly late). When we know we are putting a job off, and can’t work out why. Jo and I have always been painfully honest with each other, and I think it's stood us in good stead.
Yara + Davina (Public Art)
Yara + Davina make social practice artwork, creating ambitious public artworks that respond to site, context and audience. Based between the UK and the US, they’ve created artworks for multiple world leading art venues and public organisations such as Tate Modern and Tate Britain, Venice Biennale, BAM (New York), and Somerset House.
How did you form as a duo?
We met in 2005, the year we both graduated from art school. Yara was at Slade and Davina Goldsmiths. A friendship blossomed out of a mutual respect and admiration for each other's practice. We developed a deep relationship based on our shared passion for social practice art, that was accessible, playful and engaging. Over the years we started to support each other more, both in life and our art practice. We saw each other as critical friends. We occasionally collaborated, and always found it fun working together, sharing ideas and the workload. When we became mothers in 2011 we both struggled to continue our full time art practice and be present mothers. We didn’t want to give up either, so we decided to try and job-share as a way to continue having a full time presence, and also be present as parents. It was not just about problem solving, but about both sharing a vision about the role and function of art in society. Our shared ideals about making work deeply rooted in meaning making, with the public and for them, and sharing a similar visual language meant it made sense.
What's the best part about being in a duo?
We share the workload, the stress, the joy and the ideas. Having someone to bounce ideas back and forth with creates a more critical engagement, and it’s fun. We challenge each other, unpicking every idea, and see our differences as our biggest strength in our collaborative practice. It allows us to work together to create a well rounded approach to making Social Practice art. We also live in different time zones, Yara in California and Davina in London. Working across time zones means we both can work over the course of a 18 working hour day, taking different meetings depending on our differing schedules. We make sure that every working day we have set hours that we are both working together online, which is vital.
What are the struggles?
There are benefits of working in different time zones and also struggles! Working in the same country has its benefits!
What are your tips for anyone wanting to form a duo?
We have found strength in working together. We can be bolder, more ambitious, share our networks, work in partnership, and take more risks. When you're working as a duo you have to put your ego aside, and think of a collective approach. It is not one of our ideas, but both of ours. We have learnt to trust one another, be critical with each other to further our thinking and how to feel comfortable being vulnerable with each other. Through working together we have learnt to be better listeners, and how to unpack ideas quicker and better. We are still learning how to value our time better, which is our ongoing battle.
Earlier this month YARA + DAVINA were lollipop ladies, starting their tour of Liberty Lollipop's: SLOW DOWN; at Liberty Festival in Halton, inviting people to slow down, stop and reflect on some of the most current issues of our times. In 2022 they will again be stopping pedestrians in Corby and Leicester, as Liberty Festival tours. September also marks the launch of their new long term commission from the Museum of the Home, London called 'What's Your Cup Of Tea?'. In October you can come and get a balloon version of your pet at YARA + DAVINA'S Pet Balloon Service at the Royal Docks Festival on 16th, 23rd and 30th October. Kick Off; a project with the National Trust on the theme of women's football and craft will be re-starting this autumn after a break due to covid and their large-scale public installation Arrivals + Departures will start to tour again in early 2022. Follow them at @yaraanddavina and visit www.yaraanddavina.com to see more of their recent work.