Creative Career Stories: Jaheed Hussain
Jaheed Hussain is a graphic designer and writer based in Manchester. During his final year at University, Jaheed launched Fuse - an inclusive platform dedicated to elevating the voices and work of creatives of colour.
Fuse has since gained huge momentum and now has several volunteer-led chapters spread across the globe.
The Narrative In Education
I always felt like the narrative in education was that creative subjects weren’t worth following and because of that, there weren’t many students at my secondary school actively looking towards a creative job in the future. We were encouraged to take more humanities-based subjects over art and design and tech.
Luckily, my parents let me pursue whatever I wanted and were supportive of the fact I chose creative subjects instead. I studied Graphic Communication and Fine Art in secondary school, and at college, I chose Graphic Design and Photography. At college, there was more awareness of the industry we know now. There were plenty of resources to follow and use in research whereas, at secondary school, it was extremely basic probably due to the lack of funding for creative subjects in earlier education.
Whitewashed
I went to the University of Salford where networking was encouraged, helping me become more confident in navigating the industry. My university experience was amazing! However, throughout my entire creative journey from school to university, I wasn’t taught by a single person of colour. We once had four designers, set up as a panel, come into the studio. One of them was Black – he was the only person that I received a lecture, talk or presentation from who wasn’t white.
"
I didn’t feel comfortable in myself or confident that the industry would welcome someone who looked like me.
Based on this experience, I wrote a piece for Intern Magazine titled Whitewashed, which looked at the lack of diversity within my education. This article summed up the problems I had internally, more than anything. After writing it, I finally realised I had a place. Before that, I didn’t feel comfortable in myself or confident that the industry would welcome someone who looked like me. I still have those tendencies, but less so now thanks to the growing support of Fuse. Intern allowed me to articulate how I’d felt without it becoming a piece that shouts.
Launching Fuse
My final year at university easily became the best of the three! I loved the freedom of working on my own projects, as well as the opportunities that came as a final-year student. I started Fuse as my final project with the aim of simply representing people of colour. As it was the final project, it had to be designed well, meaning that the concept had to be important but the design thinking of the project had to be clear. No one else had thought of doing a local directory in Manchester, or anything that related to creatives of colour, so, it instantly became a different ‘type’ of project.
My hope for the future is that Fuse keeps the momentum going and that the conversation about a better industry doesn’t slow down.
Contact Us
Sign up to our newsletter:
© Diversifying Illustration CIC - Registered Company Number: 13651546