Oliver Sharpe is a Designer at The Financial Times. He is a multimedia artist using photography and design to question how we interact with and relate to our environments both physically and mentally. His storytelling re-discovers his immediate surroundings as allegories by drawing our attention away from the nostalgic stereotypes or sanitised narratives associated with well known topics and areas. Instead he turns something static into a living entity, weaving his own thoughts and feelings into its consciousness to problematise the separation of body and mind.
With a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California Berkeley and master's in Visual Communication from The Royal College of Art, he integrates fictional writing and poetry into non-fictional narratives, combining the stillness of design and photography with the movement of words to invite the viewer to linger on the meanings of each image.
Projects
- Creature | PhotographyEtched into a cobbled wall under a hidden walkway at the Royal Victoria Docks there is a folktale about a boy walking along the Thames. He encounters a creature who lures him into the river to his certain demise. Who is this boy Stan, The Gatherer, The Creature? What happened to Stan’s dog? What was inside the can? What was it trying to say? Sharpe investigates a tale with no lore, no backstory, and no explanation. It is entirely hidden from view and has become something to stumble across and
- BONE | Mixed MediaIn his short film ‘Bone’ Sharpe uses poetry and photography to illustrate how his experience of trauma has affected his perception of space. He reflects on a life threatening injury during his childhood where his skull was fractured and reconstructed to portray how it distorted the perception of his surroundings. Using The Barbican Centre as the location of his narrative, Sharpe transforms the area by connecting its characteristics to the traumatic event he experienced. He compares his bone to
Work history
Junior DesignerFinancial Times
London, United KingdomFull Time
Junior Designer in the Commercial Marketing Department for the UK, EMEA and APAC regions.
Providing high quality designs to help successful sales outcomes, working closely with marketing managers to deliver sales-support materials.
Using the Adobe Creative Cloud as well as HTML and CSS coding to provide digital advertising, website page copy updates, email HTML coding, FT commercial events collateral, branded templates and sales collateral.
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Multi-Media DesignerThe Royal College of Art
London, United KingdomFull Time
Whilst undertaking an MA in Visual Communication, as the student representative for my program I am lead exhibition curator as well as manager of the Royal College of Art’s Visual Communication official Instagram account. Coordinate with staff and students to update our community on all Visual Communication affairs including but not limited to college events, student work, and news surrounding London art communities. Other responsibilities include coordinating with lecturers, guest speakers and charity visits to the RCA campus in White City.
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Skills
- Photography
- Creative Direction
- Adobe Indesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe After Effects
- Graphic Design
Education
MARoyal College of Art
- London, United Kingdom
MA in Visual Communication
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BAUniversity of California at Berkeley
- Berkeley, United States
BA in English