Design life after Shillington

Getting the right education can be the difference between bagging your dream design job and, well, not. Now successful graphic designer Christopher J Porter is a proud Shillington graduate from 2009, who has been out in the design world for almost a decade now.  

Porter has been killing it on the design front since graduation from Shillington’s full time course in London. Here he talks about setting up his own studio I See Sea in Falmouth and working as a freelancer at branding and packaging studio Kingdom & Sparrow. 

In the full interview over on the Shillington blog, Porter also discusses his latest exciting project The Collection, in which he tackles topical mental health issues with a slick collection of pins and patches – currently live on Crowdfunder.

What originally made you enrol at Shillington?

After school I had been working as a professional musician, during which time I had been doing a lot of ‘amateur’ design work for the band. When the music came to an end, I decided that it would be good to train in design. However, at 23 I was reluctant to sign up for three years of study. 

Shillington seemed like the perfect place to totally immerse myself in design and learn the ropes – and it totally was. The studio environment and fantastic support from the teachers was the perfect foundation for my future in design.

Tell us a bit about one your favourite projects of your design career so far. 

That’s like asking me to choose a favourite child..! I’m going to group a few into a category. I have worked on design and branding for a number of great cafes down here and, as a big coffee lover, I always enjoy this work. 

As someone who works with mainly small businesses, opportunities to see your work on printed materials can be few and far between, but when working with cafes you get to see your identity spread across cups, loyalty cards, signage - it’s a really  satisfying feeling. 

To read the full interview with Porter, head over to the Shillington blog.