ABOUT ME
HOW DID I GET HERE?
My name is Oliver Solly, I live in Kent with my wife and four children. In my free time I walk my dog and ride my motorbike, I also enjoy creating images, logos and designs using computer software. Design by Ollie is my freelancing project, through which I fill some of that free time completing projects and briefs for clients requiring a local graphic designer, for logos, branding, marketing materials and some simple digital artwork.
For my day job I work for a large consulting firm as a Brand & Design Manager. I have been at the company for over 15 years now, and almost since day one on the job I have had the role of the brand custodian, and in-house graphic designer. At times I have worked with larger outside communications companies and media houses, to supplement our expertise and provide assistance on larger projects. I look after my company's day-to-day graphics requirements, producing detailed customised maps, technical diagrams, posters, flyers, brochures and marketing materials galore.
As the company has grown, and its brand image become more recognised and established in the industry, opportunities for me to get creative outside of my own brand guidelines have become more and more limited. It seemed a logical step to keep my creative teeth honed by working on some design projects in my spare time, while away from the office.
And so, Design by Ollie was born.
Camping around St. Moritz on my motorbike tour of the Alps, 2014
My daughter catching up on her homework
My story
My background has always had undertones of IT and computers. Ever since I built my own gaming PC as a teenager, I have had a natural affinity for anything from computer hardware, to server management, network maintenance and just about any software package put in front of me.
At school I did A-levels in Computing and Business Studies, as well as Biology and Geography, the latter of which I went on to study at Christchurch University. During my final year at university I worked extensively with Geographical Information Systems (GIS), a fancy way of saying digital mapping and analysis; and my interest in graphics and digital imagery was piqued. After a short period working as an Analyst for the MoD, I contracted at my local council working on their GIS systems.
It was here that I was put in touch with a small family-run consulting firm, needing a good all-rounder to look after their IT systems, and manage their databases. From that opportunity I blossomed, as did the small family-run consulting firm. Today, over ten years later, I manage their branding and design across the entire 'international group', as it now is.
My design
Why?
I love logos and brands. I find it amazing the way in which a simple drawing, or piece of text is able to capture what a business or entity does, what it represents, it's values and it's message... if done well, of course. Brand recognition is of huge importance to any successful company, if it doesn't have a recognisable and fitting logo to support it, then it wont get far.
I have spent hours of my life playing 'Guess the Logo' quiz games on my phone. Whilst on one hand it might be considered procrastinating, in a wider sense, it is a testament to the the success of the graphic design that has gone into each brand. Each and every logo in that silly recognition quiz has proven itself a complete success, in terms of what it was originally designed to achieve.
That is what I want to do. Create beautiful, effective, and emotive designs for businesses, clubs, teams, schools or whoever it may be that would like a good looking logo. Who knows, one day one of my designs might make it onto Level 50 of 'Guess the Logo' #LifeGoals
The Peak District in 2016, Lilo the Collie Cross already off down the lane
How?
I work daily with Adobe Creative Cloud. For the last eight or so years I have had Adobe InDesign on one of my computer screens for eight hours a day. Adobe Illustrator on the other screen for two hours, Photoshop perhaps an hour. I build-out and format market reports with text content provided by my colleagues, which stretch to 100+ pages in some cases - I design and publish the reports in InDesign and use Illustrator and Photoshop to create the maps, diagrams and imagery used. I have a lot of working experience with the programs, and have completed formal customised training in InDesign. I have a Professional Diploma in Graphic Design, to distinction level, and the same qualification in Adobe Illustrator. However, these software packages are incredibly complex and every day I learn a new tip, shortcut or tool for one of them.
Talking outside of Adobe, I cut my teeth on Inkscape, the open source equivalent of Illustrator, and did my first 'photoshops' not with Photoshop, but rather in GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). For many years I worked in these open source programs with some awesome results. Most recently I have been playing with browser-based tools, such as Vectr and Pixlr as alternatives to Adobe packages, to great effect. I'm always looking to expand my experience, capabilities and skills. So teaching myself to use new and unfamiliar tools, is a great means to do so. My latest hobby is doodling in Adobe Draw on a tablet, using a stylus, in an attempt to improve my hand drawing skills. Recent projects have seen me adding Adobe Xd to my skills portfolio, designing websites and app layouts for clients.
I'm a Microsoft Certified Application Specialist, and a Google Analytics Qualified Individual to boot. I've also got my 400m swimming badge and a sleeve full of cub scout badges, but that's not so relevant.