A week in the life of: an e17 graphic designer

Angela Lyons (credit: @ayodeji_alaka)

I'm Angela, a graphic designer in Walthamstow and the owner of Lyons Creative, a business I set up a decade ago after I left full-time employment.
My week begins on Sunday evening when I check my emails and plan the week ahead. On weekdays, I generally wake up at 6 am when it’s still quiet, which means I can check my overnight mail. Shortly after that, the routine with my children kicks in. Both are at secondary school and I make sure they get up, ready and out.
Once they are on their way, I will exercise - sometimes for an hour or, if I’m busy that day, just for a quick 30 minutes. I either go to the gym, swim, run or cycle, anything to clear my mind. I try to do this at least four times a week because I can really feel it if I don’t but I do sometimes struggle to fit it in!
I’m usually at my desk from around 9am. I have regular clients throughout the year and client work is scheduled in the diary, which means no day is the same. On any one day, I could be designing magazines, creating a new brand or working with a marketing department, the list goes on. I work with most industries from start-ups to corporates.
I mainly work from home but I’m trying to branch out for a change of scenery and in order to meet new people. Now that things are opening back up again, there’s been far more industry events and, in the last few months, I’ve attended The Marketing Meet-up, Black Business Week and the International Magazine Centre’s away day.
Lunch, when it happens, is around 1pm but that actually often involves working at my desk – not great.
Last year was one of my best years in business because my dream project, Freelancer Magazine, was launched. My friend Sophie Cross had the idea and asked me to design it for her, which meant I got to create a whole new brand from start to finish. The fifth issue has just come out and the magazine does what it says on the tin: it’s for freelancers in all walks of life, whether that’s accountants, doulas, copywriters or drag artists. If you are a freelancer, you are in it.
I try to switch off at around 6.30pm to have time with my husband and children. As a business owner working from home, it’s too easy to go over hours or work on the weekend and I really try not to but sometimes… Really it’s a sign of how much I love art and design and I feel blessed to have made a living from my passion.
See more of Angela’s work here. If you would like to be featured in a future column, contact [email protected]
​