Moshi provides the perfect blend of technical, creative and critical thinking… to help guide your organisation to success in the digital age!
Tell us about your journey to becoming a creative?
At 44 years young, I now fully embrace the idea that I was an artist before I was ever a designer and had I been born 2-3 decades later I might well have pushed for an artistic career path instead. But really I was just a curios and creative kid that found a diminishing range of subject matter that got me excited during high school and art, graphic design and design + technology was the general outcome.
How has your creative practice changed over time?
If anything the industry and the technological trends have shaped me far more than any internal drivers.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced working in the creative sector?
It’s a fast paced industry and it’s brutal. If you’re a freelancer starting out and the initial client feedback is straight-up rude and not constructive, it’s tough to survive. You need to develop a mindset for it, otherwise the industry will chew you up and spit you out. If you can stick with it long enough, balancing the harsh lessons with some serious craft will create opportunities you can’t even comprehend right now.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Only ever use Helvetica (Russell Walker, my uni lecturer). Whilst I’ve expanded somewhat, I do tend to lean into this ideology to a degree, adapting the weight of the font to communicate the deeper stories. By minimizing the font choices it helps to focus in and get some creative momentum. My first job after university was working for my local newspaper, putting together some very basic advertisements – I was sat beside an older fella named Geoff and he was old school printer plate grounded. So he knew about type layout and alignment. My general eye for text layout is all attributed to his trained eye.
What would your dream project look like, if you had unlimited money and time?
In some ways, looking at my work through a more artistic lens and asking different social/cultural questions about it, something which builds a legacy. That’s all a bit esoteric, so if you know of people with blank cheques to spend on the idea economy, please send them my way 😉
Name three South West creatives that inspire you and why?
Ben Yew – he’s a great friend and I love how he works and what he does. In some ways, what he does away from the camera is every bit as powerful as his actual work and I can’t deny the impact his curious mind has had on me.
Aidan Lee Smith – I’ve loved his work for some time now. It has a vibrancy and playfulness that I really dig. There are some great layers in his work and he takes a real unique twist on some of the subjects.
Andrew Frazer – his work is well seen across Bunbury and has no doubt had a major impact on the local community as well. I see his work as some architecturally complimentary, often working hard to soften or hide a building into a deeper part of the landscape.
