I have been doing what you see on this site all of my working life. I must confess I was not a huge fan of secondary school – in fact I loathed it with a passion, but the silver lining in my cloud was a wise old art master who saw that I had an aptitude with a pen and paintbrush. He introduced me to a former pupil who was the studio manager in one of London’s busiest design studios and before long my foot was on the first rung of the commercial art ladder. I was surrounded by a wealth of talent – each individual was a specialist in their field at a time when traditional skills and indeed tools, reigned supreme. Glue, sharp knives, art board and other now pseudo medieval materials ruled the day. It was the ultimate education. I learned a lot and had great fun doing it.

Unbeknown to me at the time, on the other side of the Atlantic, two blokes named Jobs and Wozniak (incidentally also both Steves – there’s a common thread evolving here) were laying down the foundations of a new era in graphic design at a company called Apple Computers. A colleague at the time, also named – wait for it – Steve, had seen the writing on the wall early on and had invested in a bundle of their boxes that you had to plug in to do your work on. He offered me the chance to learn how these newfangled things worked whilst working for him – a win, win situation. So I did.

A steep learning curve ensued and over the years I have animated, illustrated, designed and built more press advertisements, brochures, websites and online media than I can remember. I have branded supercars for Gumball 3000 as well as fleets of commercial vehicles that travel our motorways daily. I also played a significant role in promoting the Historic Royal Palaces Tower of London Poppy Campaign in 2014. If you bought one at the time, have a look on the back cover of the accompanying booklet – my name is on there. Working with HRP then led to cross platform campaigns for the Royal Horticultural Society.

Interestingly, 99 per cent of my commissions have come via recommendation. As anybody who knows me will tell you, I am the last person to blow my own trumpet, but I feel this is testimony to my wide ranging abilities and my desire to get things right.

Now after umpteen versions of Photoshop, Illustrator and a multitude of other software, I find myself still in the same industry as when I left school, and still enjoying it.

To that end, Fred Stoneham – Art Master, Erith School, bow tie wearer par excellence – wherever you are, I salute you.