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This is a designer’s tale – not a ‘celebrity’ designer, but a solid working designer who has seen a lifetime of change in technology, culture, society and the world of graphic design.

Ian West was born in Manchester, UK, and qualified in graphic design. After a very short spell in local ad agencies he moved down to London, first working in publishing for the Hamlyn Group, then with Transworld Publishers, Corgi Books. He spent a number of years there as art director, being responsible for some iconic book jackets including Catch-22, The Dogs of War and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Following a spell of freelance work, he moved to the midlands, setting up his own consultancy, Ian West Design. The group worked for some national and international clients including Qualcast, Adams foods, Lotus, Evode, Debenhams, Royal Doulton,Vileda and Midland Red.

Within ten years the company had grown into a full marketing services company and was sold into a leading Midlands group, with Ian running the design subsidiary.

It was in the early days of computerisation and Ian introduced the first Macs to the group, and in the 90’s, launched one of the first digital divisions outside London.

In 2004 a specialist division, One Marketing, was acquired, and in 2008, Ian took it out of the group and moved the operation’s focus to the South East.

Ian is still active in design, creativity and innovation. This website documents a fascinating personal and social history of creative design in the UK from education through to the digital age.