How I Do It: Graphic designer Hen Pritchard-Barrett on finding her “productivity rhythm”

“Research and being engaged with the subject matter are everything. And then it’s about working out how tools can bring that to life.”

Spotlighting local, creative talent has long been a focus at Fashion Journal. From designers to photographers and beyond, we’re always curious what happens behind the scenes. In collaboration with Adobe, our new series, How I Do It, asks creatives across disciplines how they bring their ideas to life, from concept to final form.

It’s funny to think Hen Pritchard-Barrett chose to be a graphic designer on a whim. With a professional life spanning three cities (London, Amsterdam and now Melbourne), and a laundry list of high-profile clients (Meta, Greenpeace, Havaianas, to name a few), her successful career is the product of one particularly fateful university open day. 

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“I didn’t really know what graphic design was when I was 18,” Hen explains to me over the phone, dialling in from her Melbourne home office. “I watched a talk about graphic design and thought, ‘That looks cool and creative and dynamic,’ so I chose it without really knowing what it was. Luckily it paid off, and I ended up loving the design world,” she continues.

After graduating, Hen cut her teeth at world-class design studios in Europe like Mother Design and Forty Eight Point One. Then in 2024, she relocated to Melbourne, where, after working at A Friend of Mine, she decided to take the leap into full-time freelance work.

“Within each city, I had really different experiences in different environments and I think that medley, along with the people who guided me, is what really shaped my practice,” she explains.

“I worked within teams where we were designing big brand systems for huge global companies… and I also worked with start-ups in Amsterdam who were fresh and getting ready to launch. All of these experiences allowed me to adapt and flex between the big and the small, the corporate and the boutique.”

Her practice, although fluid, contains a distinctive red (green, blue and pink) thread – a masterful use of colour. “I always try to put the client’s brief above my personal style but there probably is an overarching style to my work… It’s usually quite colourful, which is funny because I was told I was bad at colour as a student. Now I love throwing interesting colour combos together.”

Adapting to freelance life

Over the last year, Hen’s learnt that being your own boss comes with its challenges – particularly when you have ADHD. “What I love about freelancing is that it never follows a typical structure,” she says. 

“Lists can scare my ADHD brain sometimes, so before I start my day, I have to establish the three most important things I need to do, then create a ‘brain dump’ list that has everything else for the week.” As a multidisciplinary designer, she relies heavily on Adobe Creative Suite to bring her work to life – and importantly, to help streamline her workflow.

Hen uses a range of products to carry her through the different stages in the design process. “The Adobe Creative Suite has really been there for me since the beginning,” she says. “I do a lot of crafting in Illustrator of custom logotypes, custom fonts, illustration and graphics. I’ll realise those raw assets in Photoshop mock-ups, and then create the final artwork using InDesign. Finally, I’ll use After Effects to add motion graphics.”

Speaking about specific creative features, Hen uses Photoshop’s Noise and Gaussian Blur tools to add tactility and texture. “I also love the Radial Repeat tool in Illustrator for creating icons, logos or constructing letterforms. Often, I’ll start sketching using pencil and paper (old school!) and then digitise those drawings or hand-drawn fonts in Illustrator, using the Live Trace tool. After that, I’ll edit and refine using the Pen tool and use the Smooth tool to tidy up anchor points.”

Being self-employed, Hen’s had to find her own “productivity rhythm” – a balance of rest, deep research and bursts of hyper-focused work. “I often find I work best in sprints, which means thinking and doodling on ideas at a slower pace, then absorbing myself in the concept and crafting phase of a project at pace,” she tells me. 

“Some mornings I’ll be up and super productive, then have a lull over the afternoon and then get back to it in the evening. Some days I’ll have a more normal nine-to-five schedule.”

“Research is everything”

The ever-changing nature of Hen’s work means she’s always learning, and forever deep-diving into the intricate facets of different industries. “Going down complete rabbit holes is what keeps things exciting for me. After that, it’s about getting all the research, references and thoughts spread out across artboards in Illustrator. And then it’s time to start exploring and sketching designs,” she says.

“I think there’s so much visual overload out there; things that have more style than substance. At times, that fits the purpose, but when I think about work that I love the most, it’s always been led with such thought and consideration. 

“Someone (sorry, I don’t know who) once said, ‘A well-researched project designs itself’, and I really think that nails it. Research and being engaged with the subject matter are everything. And then working out how tools can bring that to life.”

With a well-established lineup of tools at her disposal, Hen’s been able to focus on the wider goal of her design work: creating an impact. One career pinch-me moment came during her agency days in the UK, where she collaborated with Greenpeace on a campaign for Glastonbury. 

“We were putting together a climate change message to spread at the festival using the late Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac’s lyrics: ‘Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.’ It was just amazing to see that message and my hand-drawn letterforms across the festival.”

Distributed to over 250,000 people, Hen still spots the tote bags out in the wild, even in Australia – a reminder of the enduring, global impact thoughtful design can have. 

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