Lánre Adeleye

Lánre Adeleye’s journey is proof that a successful design career is possible without formal education. After teaching himself skills online, completing D&AD Shift in 2022 opened doors to work on briefs for major clients like Adidas and Penguin. Driven by his belief in creativity as a force for change, Lánre went on to co-found The Junior – a community supporting aspiring creatives. Today, as a brand designer at HSBC, he uses creativity to communicate on a global scale. Keep reading to discover Lánre's advice for aspiring designers.

What I do

How would you describe what you do?
At HSBC, I am a Brand Designer in our Global Brand Design Team to build, elevate and govern our brand. Every day is a bit different but I mostly support businesses within the Bank to use our brand foundations to create iconic experiences that are on brand, through our Create Design System that aims to support designers and agencies to deliver work for the Bank.

How would you describe what you do?
My day-to-day at HSBC involves helping teams across the Bank create impactful, on-brand experiences. At The Junior, I work to make the creative industry more accessible for aspiring talent. Founded “for juniors, by juniors”, we create opportunities for junior creatives to learn about roles and the industry through various initiatives in my free time.

Socials for The Junior

We’d love to hear more about The Junior!
The Junior is inspired by 'youth-led' movements – we call it 'junior-led,' offering a space where junior creatives support their peers. One of our initiatives, Dialogues, spotlights underrepresented communities in the creative industry, like Black creatives, women, disabled creatives and working-class talent. Through agency events and networking, we connect juniors with industry professionals to answer their questions.

We’re also rethinking recruitment for entry-level roles, working with smaller agencies to create a 'minimal experience' hiring process. For example, in 2024, this approach helped secure a hire for an agency that couldn’t have otherwise found the talent.

What are the main influences and inspirations behind your work?
I always tell people that when I was younger I actually wanted to be a software engineer, because when I would always spend my free time learning how to program.

But during a career identity crisis when I was 14, I found the Chapel FM Arts Centre, and it’s like my North Star. It's where I fell in love with the arts and discovered more about creativity in different forms. It eventually led me to design and helped me realise I wanted to be a creative, so it has a special place in my heart.

Lánre Adeleye's workspace

Would you say you need any specific training for what you do?
I personally think you don’t need training in terms of school and qualifications to be a designer. I learnt everything I knew (before D&AD Shift) on YouTube at midnight when I was 12. You just need to develop the skills and basic knowledge, and the rest you can learn on the job.

For my current job, some essential skills are definitely be people and stakeholder management skills. I often tell people part of my job is customer service (the customers being colleagues seeking support), which I very much enjoy and are hugely transferable if you have ever worked in hospitality or retail.

What’s been your favourite project to work on from the past year, and why?
Before joining HSBC, I was a Digital Apprentice at Bite Back, a youth charity founded by Jamie Oliver to champion equality in the food system. Just before I left for the Bank, I had one final hurrah.

In the UK, over 800,000 children living in poverty miss out on free school meals. Bite Back launched a petition urging the Conservative government to extend free meals to all children in need. With over 250,000 signatures, we delivered the petition to Number 10 Downing Street with a bang.

I had the chance to lead the art direction for the campaign, designing ads displayed in Westminster tube station and placards paraded to Downing Street (hard to miss the bright purple!).

How I got here

What was your journey like when you were first starting out?
When I was starting out, there was very little guidance available, and I wish I had something like CLIP or The Junior to steer me. I realised early on that I didn’t want a traditional career, but I didn’t see many people doing jobs like the one I have now. My high school (and my very traditional Nigerian parents) prioritised non-creative subjects. I started a Media GCSE, but it was scrapped, and the career advice I received didn’t cater to creative paths.

Most of my teachers pushed university as the best option, but I knew I wouldn’t thrive there. Honestly, I wanted to prove them wrong, so I didn’t even apply – I deliberately ignored the application deadline. Instead, I focused on researching career opportunities and routes I could take myself and finding ways to pursue a creative future on my own terms. And I think it worked out!

Work for Penguin Random House during 'brief in a day' at D&AD Shift (Team: Hannah Joseph, Laura Zuwa, Justyna Wilk)

How did you go about landing your first few jobs, clients and/or commissions?
I’ve been designing websites since I was 14, and obviously when you’re a kid, you’re either lucky and get the rare opportunity or people just don’t take you seriously. The latter happened countless countless times, so I would just post random design timelapse only, and would tell anyone who would listen that I make websites. And before you knew it, my very first paid gig was my teacher’s wife’s wedding photography business. Now I only got paid £20 and some fancy chocolate, but it's the principle of being the first.

After the first, I just kept posting about my work (some cheesy archives: Vid1, Vid2, Vid3). And bigger people keep noticing. I did some concept web design work for Sony Music, designed and built a digital showcase for We Don’t Settle, and landed my first role when I was 17 all through the power of promoting my work online.

Have there been any courses, programmes, initiatives, access schemes or job boards you’ve found helpful or would recommend to get into your sector?
Everything I know, I learnt from the internet. But D&AD Shift changed my life. I had originally got a place on the class of 2021, but due to my location I ended up not being able to do the programme. So very nearly didn’t do it but got into the 2022 programme, and when I did do it, It taught me more about my craft and it taught me more than I could learn from the internet and what I could get from university.

What I really love about Shift is that they get you to put the skills you are learning in practice. We created work for Penguin, Diageo and adidas during our time on the programme and it really helped me both network with industry professionals and also work on other skills you need as a creative such as presentation/pitching skills.

What have been your greatest learnings with making money and supporting yourself as a creative?
Outline how you want to get paid in the contract, and have a contract! I once worked for a large agency network (I won’t mention names), but they took eight months to pay my invoice, but I never had a formal agreement in place so it taught me a few things.

Another is when you’re presenting work, even if the client knows more than you, explain the work like they don’t know a thing. It has helped me land many concepts and ideas.

My advice

What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
You don’t have to follow the path everyone around you is on. Cut through the woods if you have to. I used to compare where I am in my life with others and would want to follow the pack. Since embracing that statement, I care a lot less about where I am now, and more about where that path will lead me. It’s the unknown, but I’m very excited for it.

What is one piece of practical advice you’d give to juniors navigating the creative industry?
Don't be afraid to be different. In this world, anyone can fulfil a job description, making the industry very competitive. But the thing that can give you a competitive advantage is how you approach your creative practice. Use your portfolio to show how different you are, how you approach things differently and how you show up authentically. When you nail that, show the world what you’re made of and stick at it.

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into brand design?
If you want to be a brand designer, before you put pen to paper creating a visual identity, learn the fundamentals of brand building and why brands matter.

A common misconception is that graphic designers can be brand designers (don’t get me wrong, skills are transferable) but the difference between the two is brand designers focus on why it matters for the brand.

Once you can nail the strategic thinking, the sky's the limit, put what you know into practice, even if it’s for fake clients. Post about it, because you don’t know who’s watching.