About Me
Travelling a Path from Paste‑Up to Pixels

I’m an accomplished freelance graphic designer with a wide range of skills and experience.

Letraset and Paste-Up

I started my career artworking my designs using Letraset, floor-standing repro cameras, typesetting shops, cutting mats and paste-up techniques. But this was also the start of the desktop publishing era where I had the opportunity to produce designs using Apple’s first Macintosh computer and their subsequent, more powerful models (with colour screens!). Exciting times.

Back to School

After eight years of full-time employment, I decided to return to education and gained a First Class Degree (with Hons) in a new ‘computers-meets-creativity’ degree. This was at the height of the CD-ROM boom and the dawn of the graphical internet as we know it (shoutout to Macromedia Director and Netscape Navigator!). After Uni I worked in various web design roles until the dot com bubble burst.

A Break from Design

For the next eight years, I took a break from design to run my own successful business selling records and CDs online. This period was a blast — I met some wonderful people, had some fantastic experiences and learnt a lot about running a small business. But the pull of creativity was too strong so I sold the business and returned to design. My shelves still hold many records and CDs — although I’ve since digitised my collection to have my own personal Spotify. 🙂

Where I’ve Been and Where I’m At

Over the years, I’ve worked for educational establishments, boutique agencies, global companies, retailers (B2B and B2C), data providers, commercial consultants and household brands.

I’m currently a freelance graphic designer based in York, UK with a mix of private clients and contract work. I get a lot of satisfaction from helping businesses ‘up their design game’ to ensure they present the best version of their company, store or brand to their customers.

More Than a Graphic Designer

I see the services I provide as more than just graphic design. During many projects, I find myself suggesting copywriting and other presentational improvements as part of the design process. I also take a very customer-focused approach to projects — that is, I always consider how a client’s customers will receive and interact with the marketing materials, website or brand messaging and make suggestions to my clients if I feel improvements can be made.

/imagine prompt An Elephant in the Room, in the style of a charcoal sketch, 16:9

I’m fascinated by the potential of generative AI and large language models to augment creative workflows. I’m already using these tools to spark ideas, speed up processes, and generate material that complements my own skills, tools and other resources. While I’m mindful of the ongoing discourse and complexities surrounding AI, it’s too powerful a tool for me to ignore when it enhances creative exploration, provides assets unavailable through traditional sources and increases efficiency in my work.

A Bigger Screen and Less Sticky Arms

I continue to use a Mac (or Windows PC if necessary) running the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of tools and any other software or online services that help me get the job done. The screen on my Mac is a bit bigger than the one I started with all those years ago and I’m happy to say that I can’t remember the last time I had to wash spray mount off my arms.