It can be hard to find the right term to describe the people who are coming up in the creative industry without it seeming patronising and diminishing.

For this issue of the magazine, we’ve settled on ‘new talent’ as the way of grouping the 14 creatives that we’ve profiled within. But this isn’t ideal either, as many of those featured have already scored commissions with major brands or have thousands of followers across social media. They are therefore not brand new, really, but are still in their early years in the industry, and on a steep learning curve in discovering how everything works, pitfalls and all.

And, it really is sad to discover, there are plenty of pitfalls. Despite their early success, many of those featured in this issue have experienced racism, sexism, or a general lack of support while trying to find their way in the industry.

This has led to a common theme of tenacity – whether that be in finding ways of teaching themselves the skills they need to get to where they want, or in overcoming mental health issues caused by the setbacks they’ve encountered.

This determination is truly admirable, but it surely should not be this hard to make your way into these worlds, especially considering that the creative industries claim to be doing all they can to make new voices and new people welcome. Our conversations with the talent featured here would suggest there is much more work to be done.

But this is perhaps to dwell too much on the negative, for despite the challenges they’ve faced, everyone in this issue is producing work that can make us all feel excited and reassured that the next generation of the industry is in great hands. Remember to make a note of their names, for you may well be looking at the early work of future stars.

STOCKISTS