Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and the work that you do?
My name is Daniele (but you can call me Dan), I am from Italy – from an Island called Sardinia. It’s similar to Wales – with its own language, flag and more sheep than people! I was a graphics designer back home and applied to do something similar in the UK, in order to improve my English. I wanted to go abroad and see the world outside my Island! After the first year of my internship, I was offered a job here in Cardiff which is where I still work, for an organisation called ProMo Cymru.
Could you describe what a ‘typical week’ looks like for you?
The organisation I work for is very Welsh-focused, so I work mainly in Cardiff. I don’t really have a typical week to be honest. The nature of my job means I often meet with clients and travel to see them or do a video call with them. I work mainly on delivering projects, designs, but also am sometimes behind the camera filming and photography for the projects I work on. I also deliver training, teaching about graphic design and filming. It makes my job very exciting, but also quite tiring! And, with a lot of demand and new projects coming, I need to learn how to delegate to others or say no… but it’s great, and I get to meet a lot of people.
What is your favourite part of the work you do?
Definitely the people! Having days focused on delivering and editing is great, but the part of the job I love is meeting with people. Most of the projects we run are focused on young people. We often include the young people in the making process, for example, by doing workshops. I love getting to spend time supporting young people in this way. I think the love of working with people comes from my Christian faith, I love sharing moments with someone, spending time getting to know people and serving them. It is great to be able to share the gifts that we have been given.
You mention your Christian faith, could you share a little bit about what it means for you to live as a Christian within your work as a designer and producer?
Our field is largely about displaying our work, which is difficult. When you display your work, you have to deal with a lot of feedback – and our industry is largely about taste (there’s no exact right or wrong). In our work everyone can have a say because it’s about taste, if people don’t like it they say “I don’t like it”. We are open to constant feedback, good and back, which is sometimes a real challenge. In this sense finding my identity in Jesus is a real blessing. There is so much freedom here.
Jesus takes our shame and gives us our worth. So, we don’t have to do our work in order to be worthy. On the cross, He took our shame, paid for our sins, and freed us. Christ was on the throne, but gave up his high place to come to serve us. When we look at Him, we find perfect humility and service, and that gives us strength today. Even though we face challenges and rejection, that’s not where we stand—we stand on a different rock. And while we're serving and working for men, we are ultimately working for our Father in Heaven, showing more of Jesus and displaying His glory.
As a Christian working in the creative field, are there particular challenges you find, and how have you worked to overcome them?
The creative field can be a very ego-driven field, so it can be quite challenging and can often take your heart away from God. Work is something that can really touch your identity – it is a challenge to be in that kind of space and to work through this. A helpful way to re-settle our focus on Jesus is to spend time in God’s Word, and with brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to make sure to set aside time for this throughout the week, not just on Sundays.
In the ego-drive nature of the field, it's easy to become a perfectionist. Spending more time than needed on a project – conscious that you don’t want bad feedback! But you can become so focused on receiving a good reaction from someone that your focus is taken away from other important things. So, I always need to remember to ask myself whether it is worth it – sometimes maybe not. It is helpful for us to think about what ‘excellent work’ actually means. This is something I have been journeying on with God – what does excellence mean? We read in 1 Corinthians 2 that the way for excellence is love. What is love? It is a relationship with others, giving to and serving others.
Excellence then is not primarily about us and the praise we receive, but about how we glorify God and love others well. And glorifying God is not always about making the most excellent artwork we can, but also about being kind, being there for others and being gracious in the way we receive criticism. This may mean we won’t always receive praise or worth – perhaps this can mean that others are lifted up instead of us. And we have to learn to praise God because of that. Not receiving the praise does not mean we are doing bad work necessarily. Also, this shouldn’t discourage us from doing our best at our job. In fact, in Colossians, we see that as we are working for others, we are working for our Father in heaven – so I always have to remember that I am doing my work for His glory. Excellence is not then about working in a way that is focused on receiving praise, but working in a way that God is seen more. This is a big challenge for me. The environment is competitive, and you have to give up the idea of being in that competition, even if that is costly. Being in creative Christian communities and being in church, is so important, being able to live together and share these challenges with others.
Excellence then is not primarily about us and the praise we receive, but about how we glorify God and love others well.
It is very easy to focus on the challenges we face in the creative arts, but there are lot of wonderful ways we can grow closer to God and be grown by him through our creativity. I wonder if you could share a little about your experience of this?
There is so much enjoyment! We are created by a creator, made in his image. Being creative is one of God’s characteristics and seeing this lived out in our own creativity is amazing. In Genesis we see that God himself finds enjoyment in the act of creation – he looks at what he has made and says, ‘it is good’. Similarly, there is something really enjoyable about taking a step back from something we have made and thinking ‘this is good’. This can help us to relate to our Father! At the same time, we have such a gracious Father who takes care of us, even if we fall short in our work – we don’t do something in time or have no inspiration. God helps us in this.
Have you had particular opportunities to have conversations about your faith with those around you?
In a job environment, everyone is sharing the ups and downs of life. We share a space every day, and there are lots of struggles we all have. People notice how we react to things, how do we react to others' success. Do we encourage others, despite a possible cost to ourselves? How do we listen and pay attention to the needs of others? We are all self-centred, but the way we can open ourselves to others is quite revolutionary. Doing this is a way of planting seeds – being salt of the earth. These things need to be practised. Opportunities come as we practise this selflessness and share life with others. Sharing the Gospel is about living it, praying and making opportunities to share the reality of the Gospel with those around us. We need to remember that the jobs, or fields we are in, are not a matter of chance. We are there because God wants to show himself to those around us through us. We are best placed to reach out to the others around us.
Do you have any helpful advice for those starting out in the early stages of your career?
Take the opportunities you are given! This is a great way to learn more about your work and to help others and build relationships. We need to learn to work with others and recognise how important it is to learn from others. Be open to opportunities that are happening around you in daily life. When I started out as a graphics designer, I was just saying yes to opportunities that came my way – and when people started to see that I was good at what I did, they started paying me! That was nice! Step by step it started becoming my job.
At my baptism at age 19, I had a verse from the Bible which was Joshua 1 v 9 which says “be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”. So for me, this has always been an invitation to see the opportunities that are opening, and being ready to welcome them – even if I’m not sure where they will lead me. This is what brought me to Wales and to the work I am doing now, which has ended up being a huge blessing in my Christian journey.
To find out more about Daniele's Work, visit his website: https://meledaniele.com/
