How has the design industry changed since you first started?

A lot of the changes probably come from a technology perspective. Web design has changed a lot with the introduction of responsive design for different devices. There is also more you can do with animation and motion graphics now. In other areas, maybe not as much as you think, Illustrator and Photoshop were already established when I started and InDesign was starting to become standard, so no more QuarkXPress, yay! (Sorry, Quark lovers).

After 20+ years, what still excites you about design?

Well, firstly, thanks for making me feel old. But I still get excited for a branding project, from the initial process of sketching out ideas through to seeing it all come together at the end.

Is there a piece of work that really stands out in your career so far?

The Thomas James Clocks branding is a relatively recent one that springs to mind. It was something really different to work on, which is always nice for the creative process and it was great to see the final brand rolled out across print and online, so I definitely enjoyed my time working on that one (pun intended, sorry).

If you could design for any space mission or sci-fi film, what would it be?

Being somewhat of a sci-fi nerd, I’d love to work on anything in the Alien franchise. The original film had a series of stylised pictograms and symbols denoting different parts of the Nostromo (the ship), so working on something like that would be a dream. As for a space mission, it would be awesome to work on anything for NASA, such as the recent Artemis mission branding.

What’s your go-to spot in Manchester?

Probably somewhere in the Northern Quarter, but if it’s warm and sunny, there’s a chance I’ll be in Rain Bar enjoying a pint in the sun. And if I have too many pints in the sun I might end up in Fab Cafe doing some very sensible dancing… so apologies in advance if you see me on the dancefloor in there.