Hachette UK to hold THRIVE portfolio sessions for BAME designers and illustrators

Hachette UK is launching portfolio sessions for designers and illustrators from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background with its employee network THRIVE.

THRIVE, the publishing house's BAME employee network, has partnered with the design teams in its trade divisions to launch the series of free portfolio sessions. The aim is to help improve diversity in the creative industry.

The programme, which opens for submissions on 28th September, will continue for the rest of the year. It offers designers and illustrators the opportunity to meet an in-house designer from one of Hachette UK’s trade divisions for a virtual one-to-one portfolio session, with feedback and guidance included.

Hachette UK acknowledged that creatives from BAME backgrounds are "significantly under-represented". The initiative "aims to help connect Hachette UK to a more diverse pool of talent", it said. It forms part of Hachette's wider programme of diversity and inclusion initiatives under Changing the Story.

The scheme is led by Ebyan Egal and Joelyn Rolston-Esdelle, co-leads of THRIVE, and Alice Duggan, designer at Hachette UK, who said: "We’re really excited to launch this initiative in partnership with the divisional design teams. We hope that the sessions will allow our design colleagues to offer advice and support to BAME creatives, whilst also engaging with them to better understand and break down the barriers they may have faced in the creative industry, particularly in book design.

"The need for more diversity within our industry is one of the reasons we exist as an employee network and we encourage anyone to apply for our scheme regardless of what stage they are at in their career."

To apply, candidates need to submit either a portfolio or up to six artworks to ThrivePortfolioSessions@hachette.co.uk with the email subject header "Portfolio Session submission". Candidates must be over 18. No prior book design experience is required.