5 minutes with Jennifer Bailey

We recently sat down with Jennifer Bailer - our very accomplished Creative Director and got to pick her brain over a soy cappuccino and a few almond biscottis...

Name: Jennifer Bailey

Job title: Creative Director

First job in the industry: Design Assistant – paid in Mac computer bits

What is your area of expertise: I love to think no one is ever an expert on anything there is always room to learn. So my area of constant learning, is the creative thinking and ideas that go into making standout mail based campaigns.

What do you love most about your job?

The freedom of a tight brief. You have to make a little bit of magic happen within challenging constraints or in the same shaped box over and over again without repeating yourself.

In a digital first world, what excites you about print?

When someone is reading a mailed item, it’s the only thing they are doing – you have their full attention. And not just on a tiny part of a small screen. You can fill their arm span with a fold out mailer. You can send them 50 pages of content to flick through and spend time with, when they want to. Mail is the way to excite consumers about print.

What’s caught your eye on your doormat?

Unsurprisingly I love a mailed magazine subscription and any subscription really. So I get a lot of third party inserts – things from other companies that the mailer might think I’ll like. There was a well written flower retailer’s insert with an attractive offer that promoted me to instantly send some flowers to a friend, that otherwise I would possible have just sent a text to. She was so touched to received mailed flowers, so quickly after sharing her lovely news, that I think ‘Rose’ might be on the baby name list!

Where is your mail spot in your home?

From our battered outdoor mail box – I really need a slightly industrial sized mailbox –  it’s the hall table usually until end of day. Then sorted on the kitchen table in the evening, reviewing things as the evening dinner time chat starts, which are then usually delayed by me going –‘oh look at this’…

We are all in office 3 days a week at Dragonfly HQ in Edinburgh’s lively West-end, tell us something about your weekly journey to the office?

I am very lucky to go door-to-door in under 20 minutes, including using a train. I feel I live in a hidden bit of Edinburgh.

Your best work from home tip?

Getting fresh air before you log on. I manage to just squeeze in taking my son to school on our bikes before I start the day.

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

Live forever. I want to see how this place pans out..

If you didn’t do this your job would be….

Making beautiful gardens for people and nature to enjoy.