Thomas is British National with an avid passion for design. His forte is working on editorial and branding design. He studied at the City of Bath College and the University of Weston and currently works as a freelance designer. Thomas strives to offer what the client wants to gain, which is a functional and professional design solution. His portfolio is quite diverse, ranging from photography to logo, and editorial design. He prefers to let my work speak for itself, so feel free to visit his website.
I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Thomas about his work. Check out the interview below.
Hi, Thomas! Tell us how you got your start in graphic design.
I distinctly remember back in secondary school (high school if you’re in America) I was interested in art and design in a huge way. One of my best friends was very good at creating cool artwork as well, and at some point, he started to talk about graphic design. Back then I didn’t even know what graphic design was, but I was intrigued.
From there I started to gain an interest in graphic design and started to seek out the path I needed to take to get into a position where it would be my career in the future.
My main inspirations early on were typography design and editorial work such as magazine layout. I found that I had an eye for layout design and typography whilst in university, subsequently falling in love with it
What style do you style do you like to draw the most?
Over time I have sculpted my style to be more towards minimal and contemporary. This is especially relevant in a lot of my logo and brand designs. There’s something so appealing and attractive about minimal yet sophisticated design to me, the whole ‘less is more’ mentality springs to mind.
It’s important to find a niche and to ‘find your voice’ in this industry, as a means to stand out in the right way. For me, it happened over time and it was a process of me learning what I was drawn to from a design perspective, as well as finding out a few things about myself.
What is in your graphic design arsenal?
I’m always adding to my armory, but as of now I have a Wacom drawing pad, an Apple Mac, a Canon DSLR (the EOS 200D model, love that camera so much) a beefy external hard drive, and a whole host of books and magazines for inspiration.
Do you have a special approach to design?
My forte when it comes to graphic design has foundations in logo/brand design, and for that specific area of design, I have a precise process.
I first discuss the brief with the client and try to gauge their vision and intentions for the project ahead.
From there I conduct research into the brand/client and begin to generate ideas on paper based on the brief. This part of the process is crucial and I feel that many designers overlook the power of using pen and paper when it comes to logo designing.
Once I have several ideas and concepts down on paper, I take those ideas to Adobe Illustrator and start to give them digital life in the form of vector designs.
Finally, I will present my pre-designs to the client for feedback, and refine until a final solution is met.
Let’s talk about your career. What has been your favorite experience working in the industry?
There are a few projects that at the time were not a whole lot of fun, where I was rushing and toiling to meet a deadline. But looking back on them now, I have a sense of accomplishment and can laugh about the hustle I had to put in.
I also remember the first time I saw my work being used in real life. I think every designer loves to see their work being used in the way that it was intended for. So for example, I designed a logo for a fashion label based in Ghana, ‘Zelia Vanderpuije’ – to see that logo placed on bags, tables, huge billboards at fashion shows; that feeling is like no other.
Tell us where you see graphic design going in five years.
Personally, I’m going to put more energy and effort into my graphic design Youtube channel, as well as my social media presence. I currently have 18,000 subscribers on Youtube, and I intend to get up to 100,000 subscribes before 2018 is at an end, that’s the goal anyway.
I’m moving away from actual graphic design work projects, and more towards personal branding, tutorials and providing online graphic design resources for people.
As far as the future of the graphic design industry, I feel that as the wheels of social media turn faster and grow in size, the bigger this family and community grows; it’s awesome! I think in 5 years graphic design will expand further, and there will be an even bigger sense of community. It’s great to see an amazing design on Instagram hashtags, and people posting their work and projects online.
What are your thoughts on using graphic design templates?
This is quite a touchy subject lol. There is a growing fear in many sectors of business and work that robots and machines will replace people and take away their jobs. It has already started to happen in many areas of industry, and it has started to happen in graphic design to an extent.
However, I feel that templates do have their place. Firstly, those templates do not design themselves, so any designer can make them and market them if they know what they’re doing. So there is room for financial gain from a designers perspective.
Secondly, some people do not want to use templates for their business. They want to be original and have a design custom made for their company/brand. I feel there will always be a market for people who want custom and original design.
Times change and that is just inevitable, the key is to change with the times and learn how to leverage certain situations.
What has been your biggest challenge as a graphic designer?
Where to start! I feel that university/college can only teach you so much, and every designer needs to throw themselves into the deep end and make mistakes. Things such as dealing with the dreaded ‘client from hell’ or being conned out of money through ignorance; basically the business side of the industry. I learned the lesson of asking for an upfront deposit before any designs are created the hard way for example.
So I think the toughest challenge isn’t the creative side of things and the design work itself, it has been the business side of things for me and understanding how to operate as an artist in a business environment.
What keeps you inspired?
It’s rare for me to become burned out and to experience a creative block, but it does happen. When I do hit that wall, I often take a step back and totally change up what I’m doing at that time. So I may go out for a walk, exercise or maybe meditate for example. Eventually, when I come back to the design, I will have a different outlook on things and that often helps a lot to smash down that wall.
As far as making content for Youtube goes, I absolutely love reading comments on my videos from viewers. People often comment how my content helps them with their design skills or their knowledge of graphic design and reading that my videos help so many people, makes it all that much more worth it.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
Ah spare time, something I have a small amount of lately. It is crucial to give yourself time to unwind and do other things that you enjoy, that’s for sure.
I try and get to the gym 3-4 times a week, I’ve become a gym rat in the last year or so. I studied photography alongside my graphic design course at college, and ever since then I have had a fondness for photography and capturing images when I can.
I also love traveling, I’m originally from England, but I left my homeland back in 2010 and have yet to return; I’m currently moving around SE Asia from place to place.
Do you have any upcoming gigs that you would like to share?
I recently have just finished a branding project for a movie production company based in Amsterdam, which went down very well and both I and the client are pleased with the final outcome.
However, right now I’m focusing a lot of my attention and energy over on my Youtube channel, as I mentioned earlier. I’m also working on some in-depth graphic design tutorials that are going to be placed in the digital download section of my website. There are other small components of my website I want to focus on such as my graphic design blog, and online store. I often feel like I need to be cloned into 2 or 3 versions of myself, so I can work on all of the projects that I have in mind; 2 hands isn’t enough.
Complete this sentence, if I had an opportunity to do anything I want, I would do ___________.
go an expedition to Mount Everest, but I haven’t the financial means and the ‘guts’ to do it. It has always fascinated me for some reason. I may take the 10-day tour-hike from Kathmandu to Everest base camp, which is still at a super high altitude. Just to be able to gaze at the sheer immensity of Everest would be cool enough.
Connect with Thomas:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/satorigraphic2k
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/satori_graphics
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoeJKtPJLoIBqWq4o8TDLpA
Website: https://www.satorigraphics.net
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