Sean Hobman
I’m a British Designer and Art Director born and raised in Manchester, UK.
After finishing Sixth Form college, I took a placement at a small events studio who then gave me an ultimatum. University or Career. 5 years later, I moved to London in pursuit of working on projects that only dreams are made of. I joined AKQA on the Nike team, before accepting a team leading role at UNIT9. All I ask for is to continue to have the opportunity to work on beautiful and challenging projects with great people…
Questions for Sean Hobman:
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What did you do before becoming a designer?
When I wasn’t spending time on my college work, I was trying to get my head in the real world of design and advertising whilst working for the family business. A pet store.
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Where do you turn for inspiration?
I like things that are tangible. Things that you can touch. Or with a scent. So, books and prints are a huge inspiration to me. Along with films, music, architecture. Also, people have played a massive role in the progress I have made over the past 6+ years and are therefore key inspiration for me.
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Which are your favorite studios, designers or agencies?
I have too many heroes to state, including Danny Yount and G-Munk. Agency and Studio side I have always admired AKQA, Tool of NA, JAM3, Hello Monday, Prologue, FirstBorn, MediaMonks...
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Is your city a good place for designers?
Manchester is a great place to start out in the industry, but London is on a completely different level.
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Which technologies are you excited about in 2015?
MIt’s not exactly new any more but WebGL and Unity are still up there for me, so visually interesting and experimental. Any technology has potential, and it’s exciting to see what people make of it.
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Do you listen to music while you work? Describe your playlist.
Always. Whether it’s homely Mancunian Indie Rock, Acid House or Rap and Hip Hop.
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What are you cultural influences? (Music, books, films, ideologies, etc.)
Whether it’s something as small and whimsical such as my dog, or something as great and grand as the Godfather. I’m always open to both old and new cultural influences but it’s usually things that are close to home for me; things that I have grown up with and have always been around me…
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Have you got an academic background or are you self taught?
Well, I started off with Photoshop and a Mac when I was around 6 or 7 years old using a Wacom to play around with drawing and colouring so I’d say self taught, with a touch of help along the way.
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What do you do in your free time?
I try to be as sociable as possible. A drink with friends after work, the cinema, weekend trips to somewhere new, and FIFA nights in with some of the lads are all things I love to do when I’m not working.
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Where do you see the industry in 5 years?
Anything is possible…
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Are you working on any personal projects?
This isn’t a personal project as such, but will lead to many. I’m trying to start a small collective of specific individuals, with varied talents so that we can create and experiment together, using individuality.
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If you could give one piece of advice to newbie designers, what would it be?
Just keep on plugging away. Pester those who inspire you to guide you. Don’t just follow trends, create trends. Explore!
