Interview with Build
Hi Michael, tell us some about your professional background.
I left college in 1990, worked with/for Trevor Jackson at Bite It!, then at The Designers Republic, with a small stint at Me Company in-between. Interestingly I was at a dinner for the Howard Smith paper awards ‘07 [I was one of the judges], and I was sat next to Mark Farrow and for some reason we got talking about past jobs, I asked if he remembered me coming in for an interview? The interview went well, as far as I can remember I went home waiting for the defininite yes [Mark says he said yes as well], the ‘you can start on this date’ never came so I ended up at tDR, Mark said that as far as he can remember I turned the job down! Basically due to some mix up I never worked at Farrow due to the mix up, how different things could have been! I worked at tDR for a number of years, then decided to quit and go travelling for a year, then we came back and set up Build. Build is Nicky, Brockmann, Betty & I. We work from a nice studio in Walthamstow, 5 minutes walk from home.
Why do you think your work is appreciated by a lot of people?
Is it? I don’t know, it’s nice to be appreciated though. I’ve always just got on with it, believed in what I do, take my own path. I love graphic design, I hope it shows in the work we produce, maybe that’s it?
What do you do to maintain a unique style?
For the most part by ignoring current ‘trends’, not looking at design books, by looking around, thinking differently. Things around me inform the way I think, the way I do things, the things that inspire and influence me. I was never interested in Art History at college, some would say that’s a bit ignorant, but I have always just wanted to do something new, not look to the past. I think that has put me in good stead for the future.
In what ways do your surroundings (location, music, friends, etc.) influence your work?
Music is immensley important to me, we have it on in the studio all the time, I buy new stuff all the time, I can’t stand silence when I am working. Conversation is another thing, dialogue between Nicky & I can spin us off in all sorts of directions. Family, hugely important, family I find really earths a person. Being a Northerner as well, I love going back up North, I think northerners look at things a little differently, I’m practical as well as someone who thinks, I love ‘doing’, I love ‘thinking’.
What do you do to get away from the computer and find other forms of inspiration?
I sit down with Nicola and the cats. I drink. I talk to friends. I read. I walk around. I buy music. I listen to music. I look through old Letraset catalogues. I switch my computer off. I go back up North. I sleep.
Name your favourite 3 projects.
Very tough. Each one has a special part in my heart, for different reasons, some are just key moments in Build history, some because they signify a shift in direction. It’s usually the last projects I do, but here’s a few… On/Off exhibition in NYC [with Maxalot & Commonwealth]. London Electrics - LE:01 CD sleeve. Mono exhibition poster.
Please explain what you usually try to achieve with your work.
Make me happy. Make the client happy.
Future plans?
To keep working, be a good husband, friend, grow a beard, move back up North, build our own house, make an album, design a sans serif font, go into space, the usual really! 
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(Via The Style Press.)
