Changing the Story: Hachette UK’s Design Project for Diverse Talent

Hachette UK has announced the launch of the Changing the Story Design Project. The project is made up of three elements, all of which have the common goal of finding the best future design talent and bringing them to the publishing industry: The Changing the Story Design Festival, the Freelance Designer Database and the Design Education Programme. 

The attendees of the Changing the Story Design Festival together with the designers from the Design Project

The Changing the Story Design Festival took place at Hachette UK’s London office on Thursday 19th September in partnership with Creative Access – the UK's leading diversity, equity, and inclusion social enterprise – with a mission to bring together attendees from communities underrepresented in publishing. Spearheaded by Charlotte Abrams-Simpson, Art Director at Orion, the aim of hosting the day was to attract new talent that better reflects the world we live in and to inspire, inform and engage with designers from underrepresented backgrounds. Designers and Art  Directors delivered workshops and talks sharing their knowledge and expertise, and the day culminated in a networking event for the twenty-nine attendees and representatives from Design departments across the business.  

Charlotte Abrams-Simpson said: “The idea for the festival came from my own experience in  publishing, seeing a complete lack of representation within art departments. Now, more than ever, designers are privileged to answer briefs from a thriving list of authors from different cultures and experiences. I think it makes perfect sense to unify this with an inclusive environment  and support new, diverse talent into the industry.”  

Laura Turner-Blake, Director of Access at Creative Access said: “It’s disheartening to see Creative  Access data reporting a 10% year-on-year dip in career optimism from 2023 to 2024 among  diverse creative career hopefuls. Initiatives like Hachette UK's Changing the Story Design Project  are essential in combatting this trend by providing under-represented talent with training opportunities and inspiration they otherwise may not have had access to. We’re proud to join  efforts with publishing partners like Hachette to connect diverse talent to impactful development experiences. The format of the day was well-curated, with a varied mix of presentations and  hands-on learning.” 

Hachette UK has also created a Freelance Designer Database in order to expand and diversify its  database of creatives. This will allow Hachette Design Departments to connect with more  freelance designers from a range of backgrounds and disciplines. The existence of the database  will be promoted to a range of design-specific media and websites across the UK, encouraging  Freelance designers to register their interest. This is a continuation of the Editorial Freelancer  project led by Katie Packer and the Hachette UK Managing Editorial teams in 2023.  

Mel Four, Creative Director (Mono) at Octopus Books, said: “I’m really excited to use this new  database to find freelancers to work on book covers and content, and marketing and publicity  materials. The database will provide an easy and accessible way to ensure freelancers work is seen  across Hachette and we hope it will mean that we have a wealth of talent to work with who truly  represent the breadth of our readers.”

The third element of the project is the Design Education Programme. Originating at Little, Brown  in 2009, Designers visit schools and universities across the UK to talk about Design within the  Publishing industry. Through the projects already completed at Little, Brown, common feedback  from schools and students is that a career in Design in Publishing remains a relatively unknown  option. Therefore the Design Education Programme is now being rolled out across Hachette UK. There is a huge amount of talent and expertise in Hachette and the ambition is that every designer  across the business will share theirs and contribute to the project, leading structured talks and  interactive activities that will engage students at secondary school age. Hachette UK is partnering directly with schools, with additional support from the African-Caribbean Education Network, and the expanded scheme will begin in January 2025. 

Nico Taylor and Hannah Wood Art Directors at Little, Brown, said: “In order to broaden the pool of  designers and collaborators for the future, and to really change the story, we need to reach  emerging talent earlier on in their education, before they are making choices about their design  careers. Design education is becoming more and more underfunded and we should feel a heavy  responsibility in the industry to invest in future creatives.” 

Madeleine Burrows, Director of Year 7 at partner school East Manchester Academy said: “It’s  crucial to understand how important outreach is. To have colleagues and professionals from  creative industries demonstrate that there is a future career path for them. It enables them to be  able to see the connection between what they’re studying and how it works in the real world.” 

Designers working in Hachette UK’s national offices will play a key role in the Design Education  Programme. Bekki Guyatt, Deputy Art Director at John Murray Press, and Isobel Platt, Designer at  Octopus, both based at Hachette UK’s Manchester office, said: “Being based in one of Hachette’s  regional offices is a privilege, and we are passionate about recruiting locally and taking part in  outreach in and around Manchester. Being able to demystify the world of publishing and speak  about creative roles within the industry to schools, colleges and universities in the North-West can  only be a positive thing, and we hope this will encourage people from different backgrounds to  see a place for themselves within the industry. Publishing is traditionally very London-centric, and  it is only through a diverse workforce that we can truly make it easy for everyone to discover new  worlds through books” 

Anna Bond, Managing Director at Octopus Publishing Group and Changing the Story Publishing  Lead, said: “Changing the Story is at the core of Hachette UK. Whilst we still have so much more to  do to realise our ambitions, creating and funding annual projects such as these within each part of  the publishing process – that then leave a legacy that becomes integral to the ways we all work – are further steps towards real and lasting change.”  

The link to register for the Hachette UK freelance database can be found here.  

For more information, please contact Chloë Johnson-Hill, Communications Director, Hachette UK:  [email protected] 

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