I’m Toby Howes: HND graduate & bronze medal winner at WorldSkills UK National Graphic Design Finals.
An HND design graduate from the South East coast of England who specializes in mostly digital artwork, I have also dabbled in printmaking and am willing to learn from any experience to improve my craft. I’m particularly interested in advertisement, branding & merchandise within the design industry and I hope to pursue a career in the marketing field in the future as it is something that has always interested me.
After graduating from my Level 3 UAL: Extended Diploma (grade high-merit) in graphic design at Canterbury School of Visual Arts I took a year to decide what my next steps would be, resulting in me enrolling to study for a Higher National Diploma in graphic design pathway. During the year between graduating from my extended diploma and starting my HND, I received a bronze medal for reaching the finals and placing third out of eight finalists from across the country in the WorldSkills UK National Graphic Design finals, which were held at the Birmingham NEC in November of 2017.
Graduating with a distinction grade from my HND in a difficult time speaks for my confidence and reliability as a young designer with exceptional technical ability that brings an open mindset to the table. My design eye is open and I have had to apply my creative vision to a plethora of contexts over the past few years as a student; as a result, I have developed my design process to be flexible which allows me to adapt to the requirements of clients whilst being mindful of audience appeal and aesthetics.
I am comfortable reflecting upon constructive criticism and can work as an individual or within a team environment as my time management, critical thinking, multi-tasking and prioritization skills are progressing. I always strive to remain conscientious, friendly and approachable at all times.
My strengths lie in: my ability to conceptualise successful creative solutions with appropriate visual communication; my consideration of aesthetics (which helps me to support branding through the platform of understanding layouts), vectors, colour sense, font usage, attention to detail and my passion.
However, my skills as a graphic designer are constantly evolving and I am always open to learning more to refine my craft and approach.
Projects
- 11. 'Aeqis' - Brand ConceptFebruary 2020 (HND) - This project was a branding project, I had to choose a photo of an object out of a hat, at random and the object I happened to pick out was an umbrella. From here I had to develop a brand concept and generate visuals to accompany it. After some brainstorming, I reached the brand concept of a sustainable utilitarian water bottle company called Aeqis (Aegis + Aqua), the idea was that Aeqis created sustainable metal water bottles that mimicked the utility of umbrellas, being a
- 10. 'Being Well' - Wellbeing Postage StampsMarch 2020 (HND) - For this project, I was tasked to design: a set of three postage stamps, a first-day cover and a postal mark, using the theme of wellbeing. My visual inspiration for these designs was Art Deco as throughout my research I discovered various examples of expressionless human form, with the process of silhouetting and block shading. Wellbeing is a very personal topic and everybody achieves wellbeing in their own ways, so I felt as though depicting the human form was a key visual a
- 9. Vinyl Cover RedesignApril 2020 (HND) - For this project, I was tasked with redesigning vinyl cover for a punk rock album - after some research into vinyl covers and punk rock culture, I landed on the album 'Give 'Em Enough Rope' by The Clash in 1978. For my designs, I was inspired by photomontage and punk aesthetic. This resulted in dark, high contrast imagery of rebellion and protest, mixing the modern day with the punk era. My idea of merging the two eras came whilst researching, as I noticed similarities between
- 8. COVID PPE Plastic PosterJune 2020 (HND) - Here is another COVID19 lockdown project. For this project, my task was to create four A2 sized mixed media collage pieces which responded to the effects of the pandemic and the lockdown. After conducting research into various local, national and global news stories I came across the worrying discussion of what is going on with all of the single-use 'disposable' PPE that everybody is being advised to use. I have written a blog post which additionally responds to the situation (
- 7. Black Lives Matter FlipbookJune 2020 (HND) - For this COVID19 lockdown project, I was tasked to create a moving image piece with an option of either a flipbook or a tunnel book with moving parts. After some consideration, I decided I would go with a flipbook. My design is inspired by the recent Black Lives Matter protests and riots and the people who are fighting for justice and equality. I have used the iconic fist raising in solidarity as my motion source, depicting the words Black Lives Matter on the back-side with eve
- 6. Independent Streetwear DesignsApril 2019 (HND) - My sixth project was an independent brief where we had to decide what we were doing, write a client brief and a design proposition. My project revolved around an independent clothing brand called Zeggy, who required abstract t-shirt designs that stepped away from the oversaturated and recycled streetwear market. My designs utilised linocut/lino printing, digital composition and silk-screen printing. Here’s they are on t-shirts:
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Work history
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Poster DesignerPOW! Thanet
- United KingdomFreelance
Skills
- Adobe Indesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Ideas Development
- Branding Ideas
- Digital Artwork
- Concept Creation
- Poster Design
- Vector Illustration
- Typography Design
- Editorial Design
- Adobe Photoshop
Education
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HND Graphic DesignCanterbury College
Canterbury, United Kingdom
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UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Art & Design (QCF)Canterbury College
- Canterbury, United Kingdom
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Awards
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Bronze Medal in Graphic DesignWorld Skills UK