How many years have you been a freelance illustrator?
I’ve been a full-time illustrator for 12 years now and before that I worked in animation. Altogether I’ve been self-employed in the creative world for almost 20 years.

What can your work be applied to commercially?
I’m lucky to work on a variety of media for varied clients, but I do find that my graphic illustration style is very useful for editorial work – I especially find that it suits education and business magazines. I like to think there is a simplicity to what I do, and many of my clients appreciate this, alongside my ability to bring colour to any subject matter.

Where would you most like to see your illustrations being used?
I would like to be working more in the lifestyle and fashion industries, especially illustrating interiors like cafes and homes. I think my ideal project would be illustrating a huge series of cafes, bars and restaurants, perhaps for a travel book. For a long time I worked in the advertising industry and as my style has evolved since then I would like to return to that area and work on new projects.

What inspires you?
Colours and places. I love to travel and always bring my sketchbook. I think the most inspiring thing for me is to sit in a beautiful interior, be it a home, hotel or cafe, drawing my surroundings while taking in the views outside and beyond.

Apart from illustration, what other skills do you have?
My wife and I have a product range, and I have designed and illustrated all the surface patterns, which have been applied to textiles and wallpapers, and screen printed onto ceramics. Over recent years, I have also been asked to do some consultancy on varied design projects and art direct or curate projects.

What’s your favourite sandwich filling?
Jam! Around 15 years ago I actually led a campaign to get more cafes selling jam sandwiches. It was a self-promotional project for my design studio at the time, so we had an interactive cartoon website and even ended up on Radio 2 with Dave Gorman!