This year bopgun sponsored the PPA Designer of the Year

Q: What inspired you to get in to design?
With an O'Level in photography at 15, I found William Klein's observations fascinating. But it was the madness of Manchester throughout my teens & the captivating artworks of Central Station that inspired me to study design.

Q: What felt like your first design triumph. As in what gave you that buzz?
When Design Week published a tiny piece (around 15 words) on a logo I had designed for a local Manchester firm, I knew I'd made it to the BIG TIME!

Q: One thing you know and are confident about that you weren’t when you first started out.
Design is subjective, and as a result, I have learned never to be too confident about being confident.

Q: What inspired you to get in to design?
I didn’t plan to be a graphic designer originally. I actually wanted to be a writer when I was growing up. Truthfully I discovered it by accident. We touched upon graphic design during my school days, but as we were the last generation to not use computers, everything was handdrawn painstakingly with a ruler on a draftboard. It was very technical and didn’t feel creative at all, hence why it didn’t capture my interest. After University, after making a few half-baked attempts at pursuing an editorial career, I found a job working for a small Wimbledon publishers as a production assistant. I started off designing adverts and quickly became totally consumed by it. Hours would fly by. I suddenly thought this might be a good career for me. I could still work in publishing and use my creativity too (I always preferred creative writing). I learnt how to use Adobe software by doing online tutorials; I was completely self-taught. Everything I did was very instinctive, I suppose I just had a natural knack for it. I began taking an interest in the design around me. Studying posters whilst travelling on the tube and realising that design inspiration was absolutely everywhere. I just wanted to learn more and more about it and the best thing about design is that you never stop learning.

Q: What felt like your first design triumph. As in what gave you that buzz?
Positive feedback was always great, when a client really loved what you did. I think that gave me a huge buzz initially. As I progressed, I think my first real triumph was when I was given my own magazines to design. I always had a pipe dream for working on magazines in some capacity, but I never thought I would be the one making them looking pretty! In my second job I was lucky enough to land new projects where I created magazines from scratch. I was given a lot of freedom and control over how things looked, something that I had never had before. It really helped to build my confidence as a proper designer and was an excellent learning curve for future projects.

Q: One thing you know and are confident about that you weren’t when you first started out.
When I first started out I was probably a bit of a people pleaser. I would create several different versions of the same design to give people lots of options, but then I was always disappointed when they chose my least favourite one! Nowadays I have the confidence to do what I think works best, rather pandering too much to other people’s tastes. Also I have the confidence to ask for a design brief. In the beginning I thought I should know what people wanted as I was the ‘designer’, but actually any design project should be a two-way process between the client and designer. If you can get the brief nailed from the off-set, it saves alot of time and stress!

Q: What inspired you to get in to design?
At school I loved the aesthetic of fin de siècle illustrator, Aubrey Beardsley. I was really drawn to his graphic style and when I was given the opportunity to do a work placement at M&C Saatchi in the creative department at age 15, my love of design was cemented.

Q: What felt like your first design triumph. As in what gave you that buzz?
I worked really hard in my last year of University and produced a number of editorial style projects (artist's books, book jacket design etc.) that I was incredibly proud of, but seeing the first issue of Stylist on the streets of London when we first launched was an incredible achievement for not only me, but the whole Stylist team.

Q: One thing you know and are confident about that you weren’t when you first started out.
I think having the confidence to make a great design decision and stick to it is so important and people will respect you for being confident in your decisions, especially as an art director.