Did I want a Mickey Mouse career?

From my early days of cutting and sticking at school, I’ve always been fascinated by art and design. I wanted to study fashion at the London College of Fashion, but my strict father told me I’d end up with a Mickey Mouse job. So instead I went out and got a joint honours degree in French and German from one of England’s poshest universities and graduated in the midst of a deep recession. I came to the rapid realisation that 14th Century French Literature and German Comedy seemed vocationally hopeless for a career in anything, let alone anything remotely interesting. Interesting in my world was still design, and I was madly keen to pursue my passion.

After a stint as a copywriter for Ann Summers, I ran away to Sydney and worked for JWT where I caught the bug to be part of agency life. Back at home, I spent the next decade working in London’s top design and branding agencies where my passion for design became my career. Design has taken me all around the world from New York to Tokyo, Singapore to Scandinavia, and allowed me the opportunity to work on world-famous names and billion dollar brands - working for diverse clients such as the legendary Jack Daniel’s to the boutique craft micro brewers. I’ve even managed design projects for Disneyland Paris... Now what was my old man saying about a Mickey Mouse career?