Mike Dempsey at 4 Designers
Mike Dempsey, has worked as a graphic designer for over 40 years. He founded the design consultancy CDT in 1979 and has created everything from stamps to film title sequences and editorial design to visual identities. He is a writer, photographer, broadcaster, painter, blogger and studied acting at the Method Studio London. Mike has won ten D&AD Silvers and a Gold and was elected a member of Alliance Graphic International, was President of D&AD and past Master of The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry. He left CDT at the end of 2007 to form Studio Dempsey which he describes as “an intimate space to dream and create.”
This is what he had to say:
Recommended reading:
The Graphic Artist and His Design Problems by Josef Müller Brockmann
“I want to personally promote something which I love”. One of his passions are music and it was because of this, he did work for the London Chamber Orchestra for very little money.
Mike only works with two typefaces: Akzidenz-Grotesk and Baskerville
12 words to help you grow on your journey
1. Look. If you really look, turning off your brain, then new solutions pop-up from non-obvious solutions.
2. Read. Read the copy you’re given.
3. Ideas. Ideas endure. Styles fade.
4. History. Absorb everything. The richer your experience, the richer your work will be.
5. Passion. It’s infectious. Transmit it to your clients.
6. Curiosity.
7. No. Always push if at first your idea or proposal gets rejected.
8. Rules. Learn rules before you break them.
9. Words. Don’t just think visually. Words are just as fruitful.
10. Voice. Your voice is an instrument to not underestimate. Try to talk directly to your client and not through various business filters.
11. Ego. The industry is filled with it.
12. Rejection. Learn from it.
Recommended listening:
thanks, nice post.