These are examples from his 2001 series: Žižkov.

More: Flickr

I live in Toronto, Canada where I’ve been settled for about 3 years now. Originally from the UK, I’m currently residing in a flat I rent just outside of downtown Toronto, near ‘Little Italy’.

I love Toronto, as there’s always loads going on. The events, concerts and festivals in Toronto are as diverse as its inhabitants, and each of the city’s seasons offer very different experiences.

My girlfriend and I were lucky to find our current apartment as not only is it a beautiful house in a nice neighbourhood, but it had also been recently renovated. It has terrifically high ceilings, lets in lots of light and is a great space to live and work. I have converted the spare room into a little studio space where I get to cause a little chaos each day.

Most of my time is dedicated to running my design partnership Core, but I also occasionally take on freelance work at agencies or in-house design departments. I love to lock myself away and work on designs or illustrations for hours on end, and I find that shifting between my business and freelance work is a good way of balancing my dedication to my own work and getting out there and interacting with people. I have a tendency to become a bit of a hermit when I get stuck into projects! I’m definitely most in my element when I’m in the studio working on something creative.

My bread and butter is working on branding projects – creating logos, print collateral, online web assets and interfaces. However, I also like to draw and illustrate, and enjoy doing commissions or personal projects in my spare time. One of the things I love about my work is the variety. I can work for all sorts of clients from different industries and there’s always something new to learn and explore.

I love working from home, although I must admit it took me a long time to get used to it. I used to struggle with disciplining my hours and avoiding distractions, but now I’ve settled into it and look forward to work on a Monday morning.

It took me 25 years before I worked out what I wanted to do with my life, work-wise. Despite having gone to an Art and Design College after I finished high school, I didn’t explore the idea of making a career out of my craft until several years later. I’m very fortunate to be doing what I love, but I think more than anything I have gotten to where I am today through hard work, drive and determination.

I’m always open to new opportunities and to collaboration, so please feel free to get in touch with me at tom@core-agency.com.

More: Website | Core | Facebook | Twitter

//////

‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.

I work from home and have dedicated a room to it – my studio. I tried working for a year in a studio a short walk from home in Gothenburg, but it didn’t work well – I still did more and better work when being at home. I really enjoy working from home as long as the room is separated from the rest of the apartment. When not working I hardly spend time in my studio – on weekends and evenings I close the doors to it to get some distance and let home feel like home.

Important to me is to dress well before entering my studio – I always wear clothes I feel good in and would wear if there were colleagues around. Personally I don’t feel very professional if I’m working in my nightgown, and I never work in my bed. A good start of a work day is to get dressed and go out for a walk; it doesn’t have to be a long one, but at least to get out of the house and get that feeling of taking a walk to work.

I don’t make plans to meet friends during daytime on weekdays. I need everyday, after breakfast (breakfast dates with friends are amazing), to be a tabula rasa that I can fill with whatever pops up. I never really know what will come to my inbox workwise and inspiration & flow are things that are really difficult to schedule. I do however sometimes meet my husband or friends spontaneously during the day if I all of a sudden need a change of environment. An unplanned lunch date can be very refreshing.

Sandra wrote more about how she works and what she’s up to in her own blog. Read all about it.

//////

‘Where I Make’ invites readers behind the scenes of artists from many disciplines to share photographs and a little insight about where they create their masterpieces. See more from the series here.

1 — Blackpool Pleasure Beach / Burger flipper
Having never really had a part-time job of my own when younger, this challenging position in the fast moving world of consumer catering for adrenaline junkies was done at weekends while at my first year of uni, to supplement beer money. I think I spent all of the aforementioned beer money in the arcades.

2 — Fingerprint / Junior Graphic Designer
While doing my ND in Art & Design, I managed to get a part time position at a design and print studio. Just as Macs were on the way in — with Freehand 4, QuarkXpress 3 and Photoshop 2 — PMT cameras and film output was on the way out. I had a great opportunity to learn that I seized with both hands. It started from a 2 week “off my own bat” work placement, but I got offered weekends and any uni holidays due to my eagerness and contribution to the studio.

3 — Sony Entertainment Europe / PlayStation game tester
Playtesting PlayStation games, and getting paid. Student. Heaven. I was introduced to the testing department through a friend while on a tour of Psygnosis (Sony and Psygnosis shared the same building in Liverpool) a few months before the launch of the Playstation. I talked the talk and beat a few testers at a few games.

Nearly every weekend in my second year at uni studying Graphic Design was spent playing video games in the name of working. I worked long hours on a flagship Sony title, completed many games (but broke more) and had great fun, but ultimately knew that the QA life was not for me.

4 — Subnet New Media / Pixel pusher
Straight outta uni, I got a call from a local new media agency needing someone with Macromedia Shockwave experience. My friend Pete and I had done a lot of Director work at the tail end of uni, so we spent an evening preparing some demos, and hey presto… “we’d like to work with you long term”.
Subnet was a very rock’n’roll agency. Blissfully unaware of our own potential or power in the late 90s, we worked on some quality accounts like Disney Interactive, Coca-Cola Schweppes and Volvic. Ultimately, after five years, the agency was disbanded, but most of us forged on with other creative and digital projects.

5 — JP74 / End of level boss
In 2001, Pete and I started JP74. Over the last ten years we’ve worked on a wide range of digital projects, walled garden sites for set top boxes, stadium screen display software for a Premier League football team, through to design and technical scoping of iOS and web app development.

The jaypee team consists of about 15 creative and skilled team members, we enjoy the challenge of problem solving for our clients — all highly placed in a variety of sectors — including D&AD, Egencia and Quadriga.

We try really hard to do the right thing at JP74, from taking on the right kind of interesting projects, advising clients correctly — even if it means we lose out — creating a relaxed environment and collaborating with bright people. Might sound like a cliché, but it’s harder to do than you’d imagine!

You can follow Jake on twitter here.

//////////

We’ve asked professionals in creative industries what jobs they have had in the past to get their foot through the door (or at least pay the rent). For more in the “My First 5 Jobs” series look here.