None of the great work we do at Maxwell Rogers would be possible without our fantastic team. This week we caught up with Matt Hodgson, Senior Designer. To find out about Matt, from why he loves his job, to which (rather loud) music genre motivates him, read on!

Mat hodson, senior designer What does a typical day at work look like? 

One of the reasons I’m loving my time at Maxwell Rogers is that there really isn’t a typical day. The work is varied and our broad roster of fantastic clients present us with a diverse range of challenges, so there’s a sense of freshness every day. I mean there are constants… but I don’t think you’re asking about excessive consumption of coffee and biscuits really.  

How did you get into your role? What made you want to become an Senior Designer? 

It’s sounds like a hideous cliché but I wanted to be a graphic designer since beginning secondary school and finding out there was such a thing. I always love engaging my creative brain but was never introspective enough to fully engage with fine art as anything other than an observer. My path to where I am now was the pretty typical route from school through art college and university. Then I hit London, and that’s where my journey as a designer really began. I worked my way through book jacket design, POS, Packaging, Marcoms, Through the line, B2B, B2C, and Employee engagement to arrive at the beginning of lockdown 1 when my conversation with Paddy began.  

What would you say is the best thing about your job? 

I love design as a discipline as for me it represents the perfect marriage of creative thinking and commercial, practical intent which satisfies both sides of my brain. Working at Maxwell Rogers with a team who all understand the value of quality creative thinking and application is really invigorating. I get to indulge my passion every day, crafting the phenomenal solutions our amazing clients expect from us.  

Any advice for someone wanting to become a Senior Designer? 

Don’t follow the money, follow your heart. Trust your instinct and take risks.  

What do you like to do outside of work? 

I’m a father with two kids so a lot of time is spent with them (generally providing taxi services). I’m a Level 2 British Cycling qualified coach and I coach at a kids cycling club catering for ages 6-16. I ride with my son a fair bit (mostly MTB now although I used to be a proper MAMIL). I consume music voraciously and read when time and energy levels permit. Most of my remaining free time is spent playing guitar (8 string electrics), trying to write instrumental tunes and feeding my seemingly insatiable GAS (gear acquisition syndrome). 

Tell us something about you that we wouldn’t know from reading your CV? 

When I was about 11 (maybe younger), I won a colouring competition and the prize was a flight in the Barratt Homes helicopter and a photo op with a member of the cast of Corrie… I have literally no idea who it was but apparently she was famous! 

When you’re in charge of the office music, what is your go-to playlist? 

Depending on the day, it could be Animals as Leaders, Tesseract, Mestis, Meshuggah, Fallujah, Rivers of Nihil, Von Citizen, Dissipate or something equally unrelenting and loud. My music taste is pretty diverse but for maximum motivation… METAL!!!!  Which is why I’m rarely allowed anywhere near the office music…  

What is your favourite font and why? 

I’m going to go with Tiffany by the late, great Ed Benguiat. I was introduced to Ed’s work through my fan-boy obsession with the work of House Industries and immediately fell in love with his ability to marry practical application and functionality with an intoxicating exuberance.   

If you could spend the day with any cartoon character, who would it be? 

Has to be Tank Girl (not the horrible Lori Petty movie, the original Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin version). You probably wouldn’t make it to the end of the day, but those last few hours would be memorable… I mean her boyfriend is a kangaroo… and she drives a tank.  

What is your favourite Pantone colour? 

Going to go with Pantone Warm Grey 1. I mean it’s grey, admittedly, but you look at it and you know there’s a little something bubbling away under the surface. Hints of hidden depths and mystery…  

PANTONE WARM GREY 1

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