hello

I’m Stephen, nice to meet you!

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Located in the South West of England I am an experienced, creative and ambitious Graphic Designer with 13 years of working

in the industry. On my site you will find commercial work and personal projects as well as work from my college education.

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If you have any questions or want to get in touch you can reach me at hello@opb.design

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I look forward to hearing from you.

about me

My story so far

I’ve always been interested in art and from a young age I was particularly interested in drawing the world around me. I grew up in a small town in Somerset, only a stone’s throw from the green fields of the countryside so there was always inspiration nearby. 

After completing my secondary education, I studied for a National Diploma in General Art & Design. As a two-year course I had the chance to study various art and design techniques - from ceramics and art history to textiles and black and white film development. Throughout the second year of the course I began to specialise in the area I enjoyed the most - Graphic Design. I began to work with Quark, Photoshop and at the time Freehand software programmes on the Apple Mac platform. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, learning different disciplines, observing others on the course and taking influences from them.

College and career

Following on from my National Diploma at Strode College I began to study a Higher National Diploma in Multimedia and Graphic Design where the emphasis was on both digital and analogue aspects of design. As the course was condensed it allowed me to start my career in the print industry part time. There I learnt to hand make lithographic plates with U.V. and how to cut film, alongside computer work with my own projects and paying clients. The company was traditional in regard to technology and what was available at the time. Working with these old techniques has made me appreciate more the technology that is available today.

UCS and D&AD

Fast forward (a few) years to 2019 where I discovered with great delight that the University Centre Somerset (UCS), Taunton offered a top up course to further enhance my qualifications to Degree level.

Once again, I balanced attending the course whilst maintaining my career and I completed three exciting projects as well as a dissertation on LEGO - An investigation into the impact of LEGO in adult culture. 

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I also entered a chosen industry supplied brief by Virgin Atlantic for the D&AD awards. My work was displayed alongside my fellow students at the end of year College show and also at the D&AD Festival later in the same year at The Old Truman Brewery, London. I completed my Degree with a First-Class Honours in BA (Hons) Graphic Communication. It was a defining moment for me as I achieved something which I had always longed for and I am so proud to now be able to add my degree to my portfolio.

Graduation 2019

some of my design interests

If I had to choose one design interest it would have to be graffiti art, for example I love the work of Banksy with his creative use of the world around us. I also admire the digital artwork of Simon Stålenhag. I enjoy TV adverts and advertising – when I was much younger, I would pay more attention to the adverts than the actual television programmes! CD and vinyl cover artwork design and music videos are another favourite, which comes from my love of music. One of the first videos I can remember is Ah ha’s Take on Me, with its pencil overlay video effect and more recently the highly creative videos for the music group OK GO for their use of technology and interesting camera effects.

a few of my favourite things

Other than design I am a real petrol head. I love retro rally cars and the current WRC - two worlds apart in regard to technology but always aimed for the same outcome. I also like live music and comedy, with my music interests spanning a very broad range of genres. I like DIY and (trying) to fix things and also films and the cinema. I have been lucky to travel to lots of countries and cannot wait to visit the next! When time is available, reading books is another favourite, especially the books of Stephen King, so much so I have nearly read them all. My favourite book of Stephen King is The Stand which I have read at least three times - I can definitely recommend it!