John Newton

What inspired you to want to become a designer? 

I think the lack of knowing what else I can or could do. This is all I enjoy doing. If I wasn't doing this, I have absolutely no idea what I'd do. 

Who is your favourite designer/design agency? 

Daniel Eatock’s work is rather fantastic, it’s not always graphic, but I think he has very interesting ideas nevertheless. Plus he's quite prolific, so looking at his work just makes me want to do huge amounts of work too. Craig Oldham’s website is also something that influences me quite a bit. 

What else has inspired you? 

A website called vvork is something I look at quite a lot, it’s just full of interesting artwork, some of them quite strange and occasionally over my head, but generally brilliant. Advertising is also quite a big thing for me, probably because good advertising stands out miles compared to most of the crap thats out there. I suppose that’s also true for design and lots of other disciplines, but still, advertising stands out for me. Lots of Len Lye films are also inspirational, his work is fantastic, very cutting edge for its time, and still now in a way.

What is your favourite piece of design? 

I think the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel work by Kesselskramer is probably my favourite piece of design, it has been for a while. Clever stuff. 

What qualities do you think you will bring to the project? 

Hopefully a slightly different perspective on things, even if only slightly different. A willingness to try and do lots of different things, even if I don't quite know how to yet (theory through practice and all that). But in a more tangible sense, a little bit of screen printing knowledge, a little bit of binding knowledge, a little letterpress knowledge and some film editing ability. 

Where do you see yourself in ten years time? 

I find it hard to see a couple of years after I've finished my degree, so I'm not too sure about ten years, but hopefully I'll have worked my way into a design company, one thats interesting, not too commercial, not too small, not too big, one thats just right.

What do you hope to get out of the project?

A rather large step up in knowing much more about design and how it works in the real world. So lots of helpful information about how stuff works, but I'm also expecting that working with Chris, Stuart and James will develop my design skills quite a lot too.

Tell us a random fact about yourself...

I am addicted to curry and pepsi.

You can contact John at john@wearethoughtful.com