Member Spotlight: Elliot Garner, Head of Design – Make Events

Introduce yourself

Hello,

My name is Elliot, and I am the Head of Design at Make Events, an event production agency based in Wilmslow. I have been in the industry for over a decade, working both on the agency side and as a freelancer. I have had the privilege of working at some of the leading agencies in Manchester before embarking on a five-year journey with Make Events.

During my time at Make Events, we have expanded from a team of approximately six to seven members to now boasting over 20 team members, including a content studio with three designers.

Career highlight

It’s a tough question! I’ve always said that the events industry, particularly in the design department, is unique compared to other areas of design. It’s fast-paced, with a broad variety of design principles ranging from concept work and print artwork to branding and video animation.

A career highlight during my time at Make Events has to be our collaboration with Nike and JD for their recent Retail Conference at the end of last year. It ticked all the boxes: working with a highly recognisable and cool brand, creating a plethora of print elements, and producing some truly next-level, complex screen content, all encapsulated in an engaging event at Victoria Warehouse. It’s by no means the largest event I’ve worked on, nor did it have the biggest budget, but it was a particularly memorable one that I am very proud to have been a part of.

Name three words that describe your personality

Adaptive, Intuitive and detail orientated

What’s the best thing about pro-manchester

Having only recently joined Pro Manchester, the benefits of partnering with such an organisation have become immediately apparent. The connections we have already made have been incredibly beneficial to me personally, as well as to Make Events as a whole. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

What are your priorities for 2024

Great question! Personally, my priorities are to develop my skill set and delve more into motion graphics as a form of design. Throughout my time in the industry, I have always sought to develop new skills and build upon existing ones, which I believe is why I am in my current role. I’ve never been content to simply settle into a comfortable area of design that I am good at; I always want to push myself to learn more.

Professionally at Make Events, the major goal is to grow the content studio into its own entity. We are already on this path to some extent, but over the next few years, with the support of organisations such as Pro Manchester, I aspire to see it really take off and become a key player in Manchester.

What do you think are the most important things going on in Manchester at the moment?

Obviously, this is a biased answer, but I believe the recent surge of creativity in Manchester is truly remarkable. From events and exhibitions to creative meetups, it all represents such a positive step in making Manchester what it is!

For example, this week, my fellow designers at Make Events and I are attending an Adobe meetup at New Century in town. It’s going to be an amazing evening where we’ll hear some exciting updates and also catch up with colleagues from across the industry.

Favourite meeting place in Manchester

We recently hosted our own event, ‘Anything Is Possible Live 2024’, and as part of the sponsorship for the event, we partnered with Glassworks, a new modern workspace in the Northern Quarter. This has quickly become one of my favourite meeting places in town. Make Events has used it as our hub in the city centre for the past few months, and it has truly become a second work home for us.

Are their any particular types of businesses that you would like to meet

We are always keen to meet new businesses and interesting people. From the perspective of Make Events, we are constantly looking to connect with anyone interested in partnering with us for their upcoming events, as well as for content studio or design-specific enquiries. We are a friendly bunch and always looking for any excuse to get out and about for a coffee!

Get In Touch

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 07581508825

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliotgarner/