At Reflect Digital we have a multidisciplinary design team with a combined 26 years experience, specialising in print design and digital design.
Nick
Hey I’m Nick! – Graphic Designer here at Reflect Digital. I’ve always enjoyed being creative – as a kid I loved making things out of cardboard boxes and watching all of the art TV shows. Creativity runs in my family, my dad is architect and both my dad and grandma enjoyed watercolour painting. So it was almost a certainty I would follow in their creative footsteps.
I went on to study Graphic Design at the University for the Creative Arts. I have been working as a Graphic Designer for over 11 years covering many aspects of design, such as: publishing, interpretation design, exhibition design and web design. Although I have specialised in print, I have a good working knowledge of HTML & CSS and building for responsive web design.
My proudest moment as a designer is having my design chosen by Stereophonics and printed onto T-shirts and sold on their merchandise stand across their 2007 tour.
In my free time I enjoy challenging photo retouching projects by restoring old photos.
I think it’s safe to say I eat, sleep, breathe design.
Charlotte
I’m Charlotte! I work as a Web Designer here at Reflect Digital. When I was younger it seemed like I always had a creative project on the go, from building Tracey Island to hand crafting dream catchers and bird houses. The fridge was full of my ‘masterpieces’!
Art and design was definitely my favourite subject at school, this heavily influenced the course I went on to study at University – Multimedia Design and Technology (with a year in industry) at the University of Kent, Canterbury. I graduated last year with a First Class Hons. The course covered many different areas including 3D modelling, programming, web design, photography and film editing. Initially I wanted to peruse programming as a career but after completing an internship as a developer I soon realised it wasn’t for me. I needed a career that would not restrict my creative flare. I am now happier than ever working in a creative agency, working on a wide range of digital and print projects.
Steve
Alright? I’m Steve, Graphic Designer at Reflect Digital. Since my uncle showed me that I can ‘colour in’ for a living I was sold on being a designer. Joking aside, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else so I pursued my career by getting in UCA (University of Creative Arts) Maidstone, but on what was meant to be my first day, I took up a design apprenticeship with a local property company instead.
I undertook the apprenticeship, spending 4 days at my workplace and 1 day at college, for 18 months learning from on the job experience and completing various modules. Mainly I am self-taught, following tutorials and picking bits up as I go. I have been working as a Graphic Designer for 4 and a half years now working in-house and at agencies, with agencies by far being my favourite environment because of the varied work and mixing with like-minded creatives.
My highlight so far is working with Puma on Professor Green’s clothing range, working on a limited edition shirt that went on sale in JD stores across the country and working together with them on his third ‘Honey Badger’ range.
In my spare time I print and sell some of my illustrations on t-shirts and prints online.
Wayne
Hey! I’m Wayne, Head of Design at Reflect Digital.
I’ve always had a love for creativity and art. As a child, my prized possessions were always my art materials so would often spend all day drawing or painting. Often the radiators at home would be cluttered with projects I’d seen on art shows! My parents were very encouraging so would put me up for art competitions at any given opportunity (my Dad being a bit of a painter himself). My earliest memory of winning a competition was when I was around 5 years old, taking home the 50p prize! Early successes like this spurred me on!
Throughout school I always enjoyed fine art and right the way through primary and secondary school, studied hard knowing that my profession would centre on this. After finishing A-Levels, I didn’t know where I could take Fine Art with regards to work, so enrolled on a foundation degree to broaden my skillset, studying all aspects of the creative arts. From here, I discovered a real interest in digital media and majored in Graphic Design, going on to complete a degree in the subject.
Since I took my first job as a web designer, I have developed a strong understanding of HTML & CSS. Though still primarily a web designer at Reflect, I work on a myriad of different projects ranging from screen-based graphics to full exhibition stands. A mix of digital and print based outcomes still give me ample opportunity to bring in my Fine Art roots, so illustration features in my work. Knowing I’m firmly in a creative industry that enables me to learn new digital techniques, whilst being able to introduce my passion for more conventional methods, assures me I’m in the right place!
For as long as I can remember I have always been busying myself with some sort of artistic endeavour and I’ve always had an ‘I can do that’ attitude to most projects. In my spare time I’m often helping others with any design requests they may have, designing posters for friend’s music gigs, creating hand-made wedding invites and even hand-crafted Christmas crackers.
Summary:
There’s no specific way into the design industry but if you have a strong interest and are keen to learn you’ll pick up the skills you need to turn your hobby into a career.
