Meet Korie Cull, Director and Head of Design at Creative Marketing Agency, Affari Media. From Graphic Designer to Head of Design, and nearing his six year anniversary. Get to know Korie on a personal level and learn all things food, work and travel!
How did you find your way to Affari?
So, a little background, back in 2007 I began studying Interactive Media and Japanese Language at NCN City Adams in Nottingham, I had three amazing tutors who were super passionate characters, Rudy Butler, Blue Johnston and my wonderful Japanese Tutor, Fumiko Beeson.
Two years later, I found myself studying Concept Design at Staffordshire University. In my last year of University, I did what every wannabe-designer does, which creates a clothing line, “fake it till you make it right?!” Turns out, it was actually pretty successful; in a year I had my clothes in two stores locally and a custom e-commerce store shipping all over the world. This allowed me the freedom to develop my skills and focus on getting a job that I really wanted.
In October 2012 after three years of study, I got the opportunity to join a start-up company Affari Magazine; A Magazine for Women in Business, owned by Craig Brothers and Ben Hankin.
I had never solely studied traditional Graphic Design so layout, typography, branding and working in advertising was all new to me. So, after I got my interview date, I tirelessly studied Adobe InDesign and crawled through Google and YouTube tutorials to create and understand what Graphic Design entailed! I believe I was the third person they interviewed, but after I was accepted for a week trial, I seemed to fit the bill and the rest is history!
What are the three best things about you?
1 . Brutal honesty has always prevailed in the design and business world, so that’s something I live by. I believe nobody can truely improve if you just agree with everything. Question everything!
2 . I will always help someone who is willing and dedicated to helping themselves. Quitters never win!
3. I quite like my fiery temper, I think it’s good to have a burning passion, especially in the design industry. You never know when that fire will extinguish so express yourself.
What’s one of your best experiences?
I believe that would be leaving one of the worlds biggest clubs in Japan ‘ageHa’ and walking directly into a sushi restaurant at 3:30 am… that was a really surreal experience.
What other interests do you have other than Affari?
Apple; Although, I do have some strong design opinions about the Magic Mouse. I’m one hundred per cent passionate about Apple, so much so that I’ve been known to take the day off for Keynotes!
Realism; From a young age I’ve always been in awe of CGI. So I’m continuously striving in the 3D world to create truly realistic CG renders!
Travelling; Long-haul flights too distant lands. I feel like everyone says travelling but I genuinely do enjoy it. I plan to travel to Japan atleast once a year.
Food; I travel to eat and I eat to travel, BBQ A5 Wagyu Beef especially!
What’s your favourite quote and why?
I tend to listen to Alan Watts, a British philosopher from time to time, who has some incredible quotes that bring me back down to earth or catapult me into space. It’s always hit and miss with quotes, as soon as I hear a new one that resonates or inspires me, I jump ship!
What’s #1 on your bucket list?
Well, number one on my bucket list was to travel to Japan and that was ticked off the list in 2017! Since around the age of 8, Japan has always been a place that I’ve had an incredible connection with. I fell in love with a movie called Castle in the Sky (Laputa)by Studio Ghibli, which catapulted me into a whole new culture, along with a game, Final Fantasy 7by Square Soft, that really opened my eyes to the creative minds that dwelled in Japan. All these things combined is something that had always stuck with me and eventually shaped who I am and what I do today. Hopefully, Affari grows big enough that we can open an office in Tokyo so I can live there permanently!
If you had to eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Easy, a sushi bento box; sashimi, salmon, tuna and avocado maki rolls. Healthy!
What’s some fun fact about yourself, that not a lot of people know?
I can speak conversational/survival Japanese thanks to my teacher Famiko. I used to do gymnastics at a competitive level; I participated in two international competitions and I’m a brown belt in Judo!
What’s your perfect Sunday?
Waking up midday and just linger around in the bed for a couple of hours watching Netflix with a cup of tea. Then with considerable effort, I manoeuvre myself to the living room to watch some more Netflix but on a bigger screen and consume food just to tide me over until dinnertime… It really is like watching a sloth in the wild. I think you can tell by now I love Netflix but in order for a Sunday to be perfect, you have to have a good roast. The ideal Sunday roast to me is mass amounts of mash potato and honey glazed gammon, all the vegetables piled up and topped off with gallons of gravy!
