“York, known for its historical charm, is also a city that embraces creativity and innovation. The graphic design industry here is bustling, with a wide range of talented professionals, agencies, and freelance designers who contribute to the city's creative fabric. Whether you are new to the industry or an established professional, York offers an environment that fosters creativity and encourages the exchange of ideas.

The city is home to several design agencies, both big and small, which offer a range of services to clients. These agencies provide a fantastic platform for new designers to gain valuable experience and work on exciting projects.

Graphic design in general is an ever-evolving industry, most prominently shifting from print to digital, which has had an impact on many things, such as the working relationships between the paper mills, printers and the designers. Additionally, this has opened up doors for new roles such as marketing and social media, which can often cross over with design.

Growing alongside agencies are a vast number of talented freelance designers in York. These individuals work independently, using their creativity to serve clients in a flexible and personalised manner. York  Creatives gives freelancers a social outlet and opportunity to meet others.

York Creatives hosts and supports events happening in and around the city, that may interest and benefit creatives, including Graphic Designers. It is important that these events continue to take place in what is now a predominantly digital age of virtual events. Although, these events are great and hold many benefits, there is much to be said about physical, in person events. It is especially important for those who freelance and spend a large portion of their time working alone, attending these events can help you to break a creative block, find inspiration and advice.

York is also a UNESCO creative city, which is a network of cities across the world, aiming to ‘promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development’. The designation helps the city to work towards developing the creative and cultural industry, including festivals and showcases, a Media Arts Centre, an annual awards ceremony for creatives, research, ideas and network exchanges and support artist residencies with network partners.

In addition, York holds a very rich history of traditional print and typography, which has been brought back to life through the Thin Ice Press / Streetlife York, which is run by the University of York. This is a fabulous resource and museum of the history of type in York, specifically the Wood type produced by DeLittle and earlier printing which took place on York’s frozen River Ouse in 1739 by Thomas Gent.

Although York is a very historic city, it is important to recognise the evolution and development of the creative industry here, and what there is to offer. The community of creatives is vast and there is always something going on, York Creatives helps to share and support those opportunities.”