I currently live in Greater Manchester, UK and work in a studio at home. I studied art and graphic design in my younger years and started out for a short time as a junior graphic designer. I have had two substantial careers; first as a police officer in both London and Greater Manchester (20 years) before embarking on a career as a graphic designer and graphic design educator. My professional background is in the medium of print-based graphic design, and after successfully running a small design studio, I embarked on a career in teaching as a Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design. I hold a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design (1st class), a Post Graduate Certificate in Education and a Masters Degree in Graphic Design (Distinction). I have presented collage work at several academic conferences and had my work exhibited in North America. Other academic achievements involve the writing of graphic design degree programs of study and being on validation panels of other degree programs.
My work explores several themes, such as concepts of time, memory, secret behaviour and the overall unpredictability of life. I enjoy finding metaphors and new connections from seemingly disparate images and my collages are imbued with personal meaning, drawn particularly from my younger years. I also draw inspiration from my past lengthy experience as a policeman working in the tough inner city areas of Manchester where naturally, I have witnessed the best and worst of what life has to offer.
I utilize the knowledge gained from graphic design work and more often than not I try to keep my images to a minimum of elements out of preference. I have a wide variety of influences but Paul Rand, Milton Glaser and Josef Muller Brockmann are important design practitioners to me. Influence from art include Kandinsky, Miro and Matisse.
