"I have been in the graphics industry since 1979, when I served an aprenticeship in lithographic printing. I had long stints in the darkroom and design studio as well as running the presses themselves.
I finally moved out of that environment and into a 'proper' design agency, in around 1985. This was Duncan Studios. Owned by Richard Duncan, a great photographer and graphic artist who could 'rule a form with a paint brush' - or so he used to tell me!
During the 18 months I was there, Richard decided to invest in the new 'Desk Top Publishing' technology and I was 'made' to learn it! What I really wanted to do was learn how to visualise with felt tip markers.
Richard had actually bought an Olivetti PC with a monitor, an A4 Laserprinter and a copy of
'Aldus Pagemaker'. At the time it cost him I believe, around 10K, which was a hell of a lot of money to invest.
Anyway, although I had never touched a computer before that time, I found that I was fascinated by the possibilites. I was the first graphic artist in Hull to use the technology and I decided to become an 'expert'.
In about 1988 I moved to another company, 'Design Workshop', where I spent the next three years working for a great guy, Dave Mitchell. Sadly passed away now, but he was pivotal in my development because he bought the 'holy grail' of desk-top-publishing – an Apple Mac! Wow - was I excited? We decided to go for Quark Xpress instead of Pagemaker and I can remember cutting my teeth with that programme on several large sales/news sheets for ARCO.
Around 1991 and despite what some say – Dave offered me a Directorship in the company, but alas, it was not to be as other interests managed to scupper the plan, causing me to move on to another excellent agency, Sowden Watson. Here I spent the next three and a half years, working on a variety of interesting projects and honing my mac skills!
For certain reasons I got itchy feet and was attracted to a 'flashy' high-tech
company called Trident. There were some really nice people there, but the regime didn't sit well with me and I decided to leave and set my own business up. That would be around 1997.
Design By Storm was the result and we operated out of a converted Methodist Chapel situated half way between Hull and Beverley. We had some really good clients, including Allied Distillers, Reckitt Benckiser and Procter & Gamble and everything was going along swimmingly. Unfortunately, we lost 25% of our business overnight with the closure of the Leeds and Glasgow operations of Jarvis Porter. On top of that, there was the dotcom crash of 2000, which led to the retraction of some major projects and accounts in Europe.
It was against this backdrop that McGurk Group approached me and offered to buy Design By Storm and employ me in the first place as Creative Director and then as Managing Director in the design business part of the group. On the whole I enjoyed the two years I had there and I worked with some great people. However, a long term future at the company was not to be. Maybe it was the lure of running my own business. Maybe it was a culture clash. Repro and creative – do they really mix in the same environment? I don't know, but whatever, in 2005 I left McGurks and went off once again to start from scratch and set up a new design company.
I must be honest, I was full of doubts. Design By Storm had gone so well, I wondered seriously if I could do it again. As it turns out, I need not have worried. The Five Fingers Design Company was formed in December 2005 and I have not looked back since. We have some major clients and against the trend we have 9 new clients in 2010 which is unheard of for me as I usually aim for one or two new ones per year.
Touch wood! We are surviving the credit crunch and I feel so confident, that I invested the money this summer into creating a new office/studio.
Just another point of note is that in 2006 we invested in some digital photographic equipment and set up a commercial operation to provide photography as a service to our clients. The convenience
and sheer speed of turnaround on projects has really delighted them. It delights me! I have always enjoyed taking 'snaps'!
Anyway, that's me Derek Schulz and my company Five Fingers Design in a nutshell. As you can probably see from the above, I should by now know what I am talking about. I have a lot of experience and knowledge that can benefit your company. I can absolutely promise you a focused, and productive all-round service as well as a near guarantee to slash your marketing budget and thereby increasing profits. So if that sounds like it may be of interest to you and you want to get to know us both a bit better and find out what we can do for you, just give me a call or drop me an email. That doesn't cost alot does it?
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