Rob Draper

Rob Draper is a British artist and designer celebrated for his distinctive approach to creativity. His expertise in hand-lettering has earned global recognition, leading to collaborations with an impressive international client list—including The Golden Globes, Meta, NASA/JPL, Nike, Gap, Levi’s, Samsung, Penguin, Pentagram, Gumball 3000, Sunglass Hut, and WWF. His work has been widely featured in international press, from IdN International Designers Network and Design Taxi to The Design Museum London, High Fructose, Meta, and The Daily Mail. He has also been published in numerous books on art, design, and creativity.

Rob's Talk

Work, Dreams, Swings & Roundabouts

Rob will be telling 3 stories. The first is how I got here - How did I end up doing this and why do I draw on things? It’s a peculiar story that I wouldn’t believe unless it had happened to me. After unexpected redundancy from my dream job I felt I was at a junction - retrain and leave behind a 20+ year design career or go it alone, not turn anything down, try new things and see what happens. That approach left me working in a high security prison and spending my spare time drawing on coffee cups. The second story is how once finally some of my dreams came true I found myself back at square one - I had no studio, no office and ‘home’ was living on a camp bed in my Sisters front room next to my Son and how this has shaped me, my work and my outlook. The third story is how a shed and 'that' global pandemic wiped out my work, sent me back to square one and changed everything again. I discuss experimenting and new directions under the watchful eye of social media and how I’m still not sure if ‘Flintstones Photoshop’ is a compliment or a criticism.