My story . . .

I am a designer and illustrator
living in Devon. 

Always the observer, I grew up with a love of looking and of making. Often finding myself daydreaming and imagining, these early honed skills have served me well, as ideas are what makes me tick. I love the start of a project, when the terrifying but exciting space opens up before you, as the ideas start to generate. At the beginning of my career I found that open space more terrifying than rewarding, as I was learning the ropes, but my first job at Bloomsbury publishing was some of my most informative. I used to walk around the post room in the Soho Square offices, where the proofs of each cover would be kept. It was a treasure trove of book designs at their best and I would relish in the potential of these covers, soon to be wrapped around books and launched into the world. I knew then that book cover design space was a special place to create in. I aim to reach as far as I can creatively as the author has done for the writing, and when the process works there is no other feeling like it.

I moved onto Pan Macmillan Publishers in 2007 as a senior designer and then finally as design manager for Picador where I found my nest. Room was the first cover that made me feel like I had arrived at my style in book covers, and I went on to create covers there that were intrinsic to the books becoming bestsellers. 

After many happy years at Pan Mac, my creative tank was running dry. A decision to move, go freelance, and take up an MA in illustration at Falmouth University was just what I needed, so here I am, currently halfway through an MA, and building up a freelance business.