Interview With Mike Brough

My interview with Mike Brough, creative director of Fusion in Darlington:

1) What first made you interested in graphic design, in particular typography and layout?
Not a great interest until I went to art college to be honest, but the biggest influence was when I started work at the northern echo newspaper as an editorial artist and typography became instant - a mac! I realised that to use it properly some training was required - there was a great typographer called Bob James - google him - who helped me greatly on one of his training courses.

2) How did you start out in graphic design, and get yourself noticed in the industry?
Not sure how 'noticed' I am but I started after art college - Chelsea then St martins - by doing crappy artwork jobs, then a stint at a marketing agency then freelance followed by the northern echo. I then became design development manager at Prontaprint head office - my job was to elevate design within the company. They moved and I set up Fusion some 13 years ago.

3) What does an average day consist of for you?
Hands on design; managing a couple of other designers; planning future work; checking artwork and liaison with clients - usually via email

4) Who/What has been your inspiration for your design work?
Many influences - I loved illustration at college but it wasn't my forte - I liked peter Blake in particular. I still enjoy looking at magazine and newspaper layouts

5) How much does budget play a part in your design process?
A great deal - we need to make a living and keep people employed

6) How important is the cover of a publication as opposed to the design of the inner spreads?
Both important but I guess the cover us the window and if you don't set the right tone for the audience you may fail to attract a viewer!

7) When you develop a design, in what order do you undertake a project and then in which order do you work?
I start on the front page but jump around the different sections if it's a newspaper to build a set of different but related styles for the publication

8) What attributes should a good layout have and why?
Difficult to answer this, for instance The Sun is a great product - hits the right notes for its marketplace, but the same could be said for the Times! I guess both need to be readable and legible and need to keep the reader's interest for as long as possible - the Sun will be busy and bitty and the times will have longer in-depth reads.

9) What considerations need to be made when developing a layout for editorial design?
As above

10) Which publications do you think are particularly well designed?
As above.

11) Where do you see editorial design heading in the future?
Ipad, smartphones and kindle plus online will change things massively, but I hope the paper version hangs around a bit longer

12) Anything else you’d like to add, or any other advice you could give to a budding designer?
Look at newspapers, magazines and other sources of print, as well as online versions as often as you can. Read the design press, visit art galleries and museums, learn the software inside out, especially the type tools and keep an open mind