When the net curtains of his Dundee bedsit froze to the window, Dave knew it was time to abort his degree course in design and went back to his home in the north west of England and designed himself a CV/fanzine called ââ¬ÅDave on the Doleââ¬Â.
People liked Dave on the Dole and offered Dave work. Dave tried very hard and before long found himself responsible for graphic design at Mathmos the original manufacturer of the lava-lamp. He teamed up with his old friend the designer/illustrator ââ¬ÅSupermundaneââ¬Â and between them they managed not to make too many costly printing mistakes and not get fired. They also won some awards for the Mathmos website that they designed and built.
Fallon London took a punt with Dave in 2001 when Dave asked for a job there. Dave sat very quietly and conscientiously in the corner and again managed not to get fired. He also did some work for Sony, Skoda and Starbucks. He also wrote a lot of TV scripts which mostly ended up in the Creative Director's bin.
Dave asked to be head of design at TBWA in 2004. TBWA liked him and let him do the job. Dave designed the UK and worldwide launch campaign for the Sony PSP.
Lowe London asked Dave to be their head of design in 2006. Dave liked Lowe and said yes. Again he tried very very hard and won a D&AD pencil in Graphic Design for the Peeterman Artois campaign in 2007. He also won a stack of other awards for work on Unilever, John Lewis and Stella Artois.
In 2011 Ed Morris asked Dave to join him at Rapier. Dave won a Creative Circle Gold in Typography for a poster campaign for Yell.com which was his first brief when he joined the agency.
Dave started his own business towards the end of 2012. He works with advertising agencies and direct to clients on specific briefs. He has enjoyed a long spell with NOW, a start up advertising agency. He has also completed projects for Specialized Bikes in America, Bombay Sapphire, Warrior Football Kit Suppliers, Adidas and film titles, DVD packaging and promotion for Madchester rock n' roll survivors The Charlatans.