#211 Connie Hunter-Jamison: StudioStereo

Best Of Belfast: Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast

Connie Hunter-Jamison is a partner at StudioStereo, a multi-disciplinary design firm based in East Belfast which she co-founded with her late husband Craig in 2008.

Some of her clients include:

• Madlug
• Van Morrision
• Belfast Whiskey Club
• And many, many more…

From hot chocolate start-ups to multi-million-pound tech companies, Connie’s day-to-day is spent helping people communicate more effectively what it is they do well.

Her approach to branding is informed by her background as a photographer but draws equally on her broad artistic palate and principled approach to visual communication.

In today’s conversation we chat about:

• Starting a business during the 2008 recession
• Dealing with grief and loss at such a young age
• The importance of moving forward (rather than moving on)
• And the greatest successes she’s experienced along the way

Check it out.

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Webpage for this episode: https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/connie-hunter-jamison-studio-stereo

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What's One Thing Most People Don't Know About You?

I once got into a load of trouble in school for selling my free school dinner tickets.

What's Your Favourite Book?

Ok this is not a very satisfying answer…but 90% of the books I’ve read in the last decade (or more specifically since having kids) I haven’t finished. I have a real issue with “taking time for myself”, and as reading is such a solitary activity that requires extraction from activity/“doing” it always gets bumped down my list until I realise it’s been 6 months and I’m still only on chapter 3. I guess that’s why I listen to a lot of podcasts…?! I need to commit to audiobooks, up my game. So picking a favourite feels like an exercise in pretence, because I probably haven’t read a book in years that’s really blown me away, but that’s more to do with my own crappy attitude. Plenty of classics in my “have read” list, but naming any of them just feels wanky because I don’t cite them as having had a profound impact on me. I still think writing literature is one of the highest art forms, though. I’d just struggle to pick “the one”. Basically I’m a very tormented lover of literature who barely reads. I’m also a tormented artist who rarely paints. And a tormented musician who can’t play any instruments *facepalm*...can of worms much? Ha!

What's Your Favourite Quote?

I saw an Oliver Jeffers keynote speech this year at the Adobe conference (perks of Covid, it was all remote)—and I'm paraphrasing, but the basic thrust of it was "everyone's just making it up as they go along, no one has a clue what they're doing". I love reflecting on that, and I come back to it all the time. It's true, right?

Show notes:

• Santa Ponsa is a coastal town in Western Majorica
• Don Draper Pitching The Carousel
• Don Draper telling Peggy to move forward