What led you into design?

My older brother was always into technology and taught himself to code when he was young. So I think he got me interested in computers at a young age. When I was around 12 or 13, I got really into Flash and started making animations and imaginary websites. I made-up a company I called Zoom Active and developed an elaborate Flash website for it, which involved a UFO flying through a house and exploding to reveal the ‘client portfolio.

Even though I was making pretend agency websites and user interfaces, it somehow never clicked that this could be a profession for me, I was just doing that stuff for fun. I took a career guidance quiz at school, and it suggested I be a ‘van driver’.

Other than the quiz, I didn’t have access to much career guidance; studying seemed so abstract and I didn’t really make a connection between class and a future job at all. I ended up dropping out of school and working full-time in a pub—and not a quaint one; it was part of a chain; the type where the burgers are microwaved and no one tips. After a long shift, I’d go home and make music with friends, and that kept me going.