JIM WILLIAMS
Year Graduation / Grade
1982 / 1st class honours
Having left Preston on a Friday, I started work as an advertising typographer at Benton & Bowles Advertising’s offices in Knightsbridge the following Monday. What a difference! Following that, my grounding in advertising typography was completed at the celebrated Collett Dickenson Pearce, working under Len Cheeseman. Eventually, I returned to general Graphics and worked at The Chase for the first three and a half years of its history. I also enjoyed a long working relationship with The Creative Circle, London. Currently, as well as teaching part-time at Staffordshire University, I work closely with a small group of clients, including a letterpress greeting card company called Blush, and in Spring 2012 a book I am working on about simple tips on typography is to be published by Merrell Publishers.
How and where did you secure your first job?
My first job was at Benton & Bowles Advertising with Maggie Lewis who, at the time, was considered one of London’s leading advertising typographers. I was very fortunate because I was offered the position four months before finishing my degree and, when I declined because I wanted to complete my degree, they agreed to hold the job open for me.
Do you think being a Preston student has benefited you in any way?
Having a name like Preston behind me certainly helped in the first few years after graduating.
How has the industry changed over the years in your experience?
The core principles of an ‘idea’ and ‘craft’ haven’t changed, but the march of technology has altered how we go about it and has presented designers with new opportunities.
Were do you get your ideas from? Do you prefer collaboration or thinking alone?
I don’t mind where an idea comes from, if I come up with it great, if someone else I’m working with comes up with a good idea, that’s also great.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Working with people I like and respect.
What is the most unusual thing you have done in your career?
Designing a range of domestic tableware.
What do you look for in graduates and their portfolios?
Do they really care about what they do?
Are they still keen to learn?
Can you work with this person?
Any advice for students entering the industry?
Remain focused and enthusiastic, and embrace type – it can make the difference.
Volume eight of the Creative Circle Honours
Volume nine of the Creative Circle Honours
A corporate brochure for an established Manchester legal practice
A Blush greeting card
A mug from a range of typographically themed tableware for Flux of Stoke-on-Trent
