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 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.

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