Thomson Reuters – London |  Senior Mobile Interface Designer

 

We asked Chris about his highs and lows, regrets, “gold nugget” life lessons, and if his experience at Lincoln Uni gave him that all important “foot-up” into the “big bad” Design Industry.

This is what he had to say…

 

 

I graduated from Lincoln in 2010. I remember that my favourite  (which was also the most technically challenging) was my final major project, ‘Harmony & Discord’, as I aimed to combine all of the techniques I had learned over previous years into a single, coherent piece of work. This includes 2D/3D animation and craft.

The course was great as far as it encouraged creativity and helped me to look at problems in a multitude of ways. Not only to discover the first and often most obvious solution, but to further investigate and to explore new and more compelling outcomes. At the time the course wasn’t offering screen-based media as a presentation platform. This included mobile and tablet devices, which were only really being introduced at the time. This, however, allowed me to develop an edge over my peers in some circumstances and thus became a positive point for me.

If I could do it all again, I don’t think I’d do anything differently, as I came out with exactly what I wanted.

The one piece of advice that I’d give to young designers is to avoid clichés and to not just go for the obvious answer. This approach was absolutely crucial in expanding my creative horizons and allowing my work to stand out from others.

If you are someone that is just starting out in a Graphic Design Course, I’d say ‘stress the little details and never settle immediately on the first idea’. You may find that you come back to the initial idea, but it may be the alternatives that are more compelling and get your work noticed. Also, try to find occasions to reuse your knowledge and skill set. This can save you time down the line and ideas you have had can influence a solution to a different problem.

A memory I have of uni, that sticks in my mind, is the satisfaction I had in building the degree show and seeing it all come together at the end. The physical embodiment of years of work and effort all there on display for me and others to appreciate.

Those experiences really assisted me to deal with the challenges I face these days. My current title is Senior Mobile Interface Designer, for Thomson Reuters (London). This doesn’t cover my full range of responsibilities, but user interface design for mobile applications is my main role. Additionally, I also produce short documentary films for internal use for the development of proof of concept projects and marketing material for released products such as Reuters Sports Reel.

I really got my lucky break in my career when I began working for a startup iOS development company called Apsmart. We were then later acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2012 in response to a project we had worked on for the London 2012 Olympics.

Although I can’t really reveal too much I can say that a recent success has involved some work we have in progress for Android Auto.