5 Minutes With... Will Hudson / It's Nice That

We recently had an opportunity to catch up with the lovely Will Hudson, founder of It's Nice That, on TWO occasions. In addition to being one of our 'magnificent seven' which comprised the LPA Futures judges, we also spent time catching up with him this week, finding out more about him and his work. Here is what Will had to say... © It's Nice That - Thanks for joining us Will, can you tell us a little about what you do? I'm founder and director of It's Nice That, a London based publishing platform focused on championing creativity across the art and design world. We do this by publishing work online, through our quarterly magazine and programme of events. I'm also co-founder and director of INT Works, an independent creative agency all about understanding brands to deliver creative solutions with meaningful results. Clients include Nike, Channel 4 and MTV.

- It’s Nice That is one of our favourite websites here at LPA, how do you see your site within the cultural sphere? We try and cover a real breadth of creative work, from graphic design, illustration, photography and art to fashion, film and product design. I think it's really important that things things can be seen side by side and more importantly that we can stick a second year illustration student next to an established ad agency. It's Nice That has never been about saying "this is the best" it's much more about something that resonates and makes you look again.

"Sample of Will's new venture, Printed Pages"

- You were one of our LPA Futures judges, what did you think about this year’s entries? Phenomenal. From the initial round of judging the quality was right up there and that only made for a tough process to whittle down to the final five.

- How important do you think competitions like LPA Futures are in finding new, creative talent? Really important. I think it's key that creatives that enter know what they are entering and what they want to get out of it. Something like LPA plays a more important role because of the expertise they can benefit from over the next 2 years.

- What would you be doing if you weren’t in your current job? Your guess is as good as mine!

- Apart from LPA Futures, of course, are there are any emerging photographers you particularly like? I find it tough to answer this question. We see so many amazing photographers it's difficult to identify one or two. I got to know Jake Green a few years ago and have always loved his work, we were also lucky enough to work with Ryan Hopkinson last year and he's doing some interesting things.

- What advice would you give to anyone trying to make it within the creative industry? I don't think I have the authority to offer advice just yet. I did read this in this month's Port magazine from Michael Stevenson (Assistant Director) though, he said, "Work hard. Listen to people. Offer to help. And don't take shit from no one." I think that's pretty good.

- Where do you go in London to seek inspiration? I'm lucky that my job throws so many inspirational things in front of me on a daily basis that I tend to seek respite from quiet spaces. London has a great number of parks and open spaces that often get neglected, Battersea Park is a particular favourite.

- Can you tell us something about yourself that not many people know – hidden talents or secret tattoos perhaps? Aged 11, I hit a 6 at Headingly playing cricket for school.

- Any exciting insider information you can give us on the future of It’s Nice That in 2013? Yes, we're working on a number of new things, we've just launched our new quarterly magazine Printed Pages, we have an online shop launching as well called Company of Parrots,  and a London listings service This at There.

"New copies of Printed Pages - we're looking forward to seeing them in the flesh!"