Designer Charli Prangley juggles a lot of balls – her side projects include a funky t-shirt company and a fast-growing YouTube channel (she has a way with words, too, as she demonstrates in her Webstock recap). 

?What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

My first full time design job was at Mitsubishi Electric. I learnt so  much there because the team was really small so I was able to take on a lot of responsibility and learn quite quickly about inhouse design.

What do you do now? What’s a normal day in your life look like?

Now, I work at Xero as a marketing designer  by day and spend all of my spare time on side projects like my little t-shirt company, Liner Note Kids and my YouTube channel where I make videos about design and fashion.

A normal day for me involves attempting to go to the gym, spending the day working at  Xero HQ, then spending my evening tackling things on my ever-growing to-do list whether that be printing a t-shirt order, editing a video or something a bit more normal like cooking dinner for my flatmates.

What’s the story behind Liner Note Kids and the YouTube channel?

I started Liner Note Kids because I wasn’t loving the band merch available at the time, so decided to make shirts inspired by music that I really wanted to wear. Luckily for me it turned out that other people wanted to wear them too!

I started CharliMarieTV because I got really addicted to watching YouTube videos and hearing about people’s lives, but I found there was a severe lack of designers vlogging. So I decided to start my own channel and talk about design as well as other things I love, like fashion and music, and I’ve been so pleased to find that it’s something other people seem to be interested in too.

What are your most popular videos? How are you growing the channel?

One of my most popular videos is one where I told the story of starting my t-shirt business. I get lots of comments on it from people who are starting an online store and wanting advice. I think it’s amazing that I can help a few people out with my videos and that’s definitely a goal I have.

What have you learned so far and what tips would you have for anyone else starting out on YouTube?

My number one tip is to be yourself and create videos that you enjoy making. If you want to grow your channel you need to upload content regularly so it’s really important to love what you’re doing, else you won’t be able to stick with it.

I’ve also learned that there is an amazing community of content  creators on YouTube, especially here in New Zealand. So make sure you get involved and befriend other YouTubers because they’ll be able to give you support and advice when you need it.

What lies ahead for both ventures in 2014?

I’m hoping to find the time to design a new line of tshirts for Liner Note Kids this year, and I’m sure I’ll be documenting the process on my YouTube channel while I continue to grow my audience.

Who do you admire, designwise?

I’ve always been a huge fan of Jessica Hische  and her amazing hand lettering. Paula Scher has also always been an idol of mine and I was really excited to hear her speak at Webstock this year.

My work in three words is…

so much fun.