Tracey from Hilaris Designs
Hi my name is Tracey Gurney from Hilaris Designs. I am a working mother to a teenage son. Creativity runs in my family. My mum was a dressmaker, my dad a tailor, my brother a graphic designer and my sister a hairdresser. It was only logical that I followed in their creative footsteps, as did my son who is a first class bricklayer (the best to pass through the college doors in 31 years).
I did however decide to take the very long path to where I am now. I have worked in many different trades; banking, money markets, retail, car sales, police and teaching. I love learning new things, that’s why I have 2 degrees, one in sociology the other in Graphic Arts. I have even been to Australia to teach.
In the career I am now in, learning never stops. Running your own business is an even bigger learning curve. But I love it!
The idea of my company grew from a small seed in August 2010. After finishing my design degree in 2009 I carried on teaching part time until the end of the academic year. During that time I looked for work in my field. Unfortunately so did about a million other people. When a friend of mine decided to have some graphic design work done, I was so disgusted at the result and the treatment she received, I decided I could do much better. It was then I thought about how I wanted to be perceived by customers. The first word that sprung to mind was Cheerful. Cheerful Designs! Didn’t quite do it for me. Being an ex-teacher I thought I would be clever and found out the Latin meaning. Hilaris Designs was born!
I have worked as a designer for most of my life without realizing it. I didn’t have the label, just the talent. It was only when I studied Graphic Art that I realized what I was. Not only do I use a computer to create, I use pen & ink, graphite and acrylics. So I suppose you could say I am an all round creative. I love art and anything creative.
