Print is where I started out as a designer. First of all working on layouts for business, construction and environmental magazines, and then working my way up to senior designer at a small publisher in the North West.
From there I moved on to work for marketing agency Lifestyle Instore, where I spent five years delivering campaigns for companies such as Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Sony, O2, Panasonic, Nestlé and many more. Whether it was advertising, marketing collateral or point of sale material, I would deliver from concept to print delivery.
In the meantime, I also started working more and more on freelance work, whether for local busineses, charities or other work that just came my way. I largely rely on word of mouth for work – and so far that's served me well, so I must be doing something right. I still do freelance work for my old agency, but deliver a lot more as well.
When it comes to design, I believe that a clear message is key. What are you trying to communicate and to whom? It seems like that's an easy thing to say, but it usually takes some thinking through before you actually understand what your message is. Once you've got it, everything else just follows.