I strongly believe that you are never too old to learn something new. And to that end I like to regularly take time doing just that.

To improve my graphic design skills I did an intensive three month course in 2018 at Shillington … in New York. I figured I might as well do it somewhere exciting. The course took place from January until April, hence Winter in New York.

During the course we were put through our paces and completed 35 briefs. Some had a deadline of a few hours, others a couple of days. As the course progressed we learned more skills to help us tackle each brief.

After completing the course I entered some of my work in design competitions. I was a semifinalist in the 2018 Adobe Design Achievements Awards with two projects. And in the 2019 Indigo Design Award I won a Gold, two Silver and a Bronze.

Here is a selection of the work I did during the course when we brushed up some of our projects to portfolio standard. You can browse through the rough projects on the little blog I kept during the course.

Festival No 6

Design the branding and rollout for Festival No 6, an intimate boutique music and arts festival in Portmeirion, Wales. This project received semi finalist status in the 2018 Adobe Design Achievements Awards. And it won Gold in the 2019 Indigo Design awards for Promotional Materials and Silver for Branding and Mobile App.

Zaha Hadid Font

Design a font inspired by the architecture of Zaha Hadid. It won Bronze in the 2019 Indigo Design awards for Typography.

BFI Film Festival

Design a brochure and the rollout for the Hitchcock film festival at the British Film Institute. This project was also awarded semi finalist status in the 2018 Adobe Design Achievements Awards.

Task managing app

Design a mobile app to help people organise their life and schedule.

Handmade

Book cover design for The Wives of Los Alamos, a book about the wives of the scientists who developed the atomic bomb at Los Alamos.

Packaging

Design a spaghetti brand aimed at brewers. It’s all about brewing practices where flavours are added to the base ingredients of wheat, water and yeast to make the beer more flavourful.