Born 1958, Kendal, England. After studying to be a Catholic priest for three years at Ushaw College, Durham, he re-trained in graphic design and graduated from St Martin’s School of Art in 1985 and the Royal College of Art in 1987.

A freelance graphic designer since 1987 undertaking anything from humble print work for small publishers and arts organisations to typographic sequences for TV commercials. Since 1995 he has concentrated on editorial design, mainly for galleries such as Matt’s Gallery, or publishers such as Phaidon Press.

His approach acknowledges the primacy of the text and results in work which cannot easily be pigeon-holed: it accepts some of the ideals of Modernism without any of the stylistic restrictions.

Characteristics include a careful use of typographic structure – sometimes organic, sometimes highly ‘engineered’ – and a free approach to typeface choice.

In September 1991 he became a Senior Lecturer (half full-time) in typography at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London where part of his responsibility includes jointly currating the Central Lettering Record with Catherine Dixon.

Currently they are involved in creating a photographic record of Lettering in Lisbon for the Museu da Cidade. In addition to articles for Eye and other magazines, he has written two books, Type & typography with Andrew Haslam (London, Laurence King 2001) and Signs, lettering in the environment with Catherine Dixon (London, Laurence King 2003).

Créditos