We are proud to share with you the fantastic work of Mr Michael Driver in today’s designer interview. Michael is a recent graduate from Kingston University where he’s studied illustration for three years.
Already in his young career he boasts a prestigious list of clients including; The Washington Post, The Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Print Week and Kiblind Magazine.
What’s your story? Can you share a brief history of how you’ve got to where you are now?
I got into illustration through listening to a lot of metal bands when I was younger. I got really infatuated with ‘Emptees’ which was a website devoted to the designing of band merchandising. Some times I’d buy shirts because I liked the bands, other times I’d buy shirts because I liked the design and quite naturally I’d get into the band. It was all very obsessive and for a while I thought illustration was just doing merchandising. I stacked up a hell of a lot of t-shirts and my mum got pretty mad at me!
After my A-levels I started working full time as a chef. I worked for a good year or so until I started to feel incredibly unfulfilled. It was then I thought about enrolling on an art foundation course. After my foundation course I applied to a few universities and very happily left dreary Nottingham for Kingston. I studied illustration for three years there which was real fun. That’s sort of where I’m at now. I recently graduated and I’m currently working full time as a freelance illustrator.
What was the first piece of work you ever sold? What was it and who did you sell it to? How did you feel?
The first piece of work I ever sold was to Liam Henry over at No Culture Icons. I’d just passed through my first year and he got in contact and was interested in me doing a line of tote bags for the site. It was a very strange feeling to have someone so interested in my work early on but strangely reassuring. I charged pennies for the design but it still floats around and it’s nice to know a hundred odd people liked the design enough to want to buy one.
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Michael is a freelance illustrator and recent graduate from Kingston University, where he studied Illustration and animation. He has worked for clients including The Washington Post, The Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal, his work is bold and graphic and often relies on his knowledge of traditional print to make images.
Visit Michael’s website and connect with him on:
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