I studied at St Martins, then went to Amsterdam and got a job at a music magazine. There was a brief spell there before I was offered a job with Designers Republic. I was quite wary when I started the job, as my work was nothing like theirs. I think they were looking to change the face of what they were doing. From there I moved to London and worked with Big Active and W+K, then set up Sanderson Bob shortly after.
When you're doing a brief, it's exciting thinking about all the thousands of different people you can call - that's why the job's so interesting. It's important to craft your own way of thinking and working, not point in the same direction as everyone else. You need to bring people in all the time to freshen it up.
There's so much you can do to get your message out there these days; not just a poster, but something interactive. Sanderson Bob is myself; I know I'm not great at moving image, so I'm not going to take time struggling with it. It's a case of talking to those that are trained in it, asking people who have knowledge to give it life. Being outside this can be an advantage: you can think outside any known restrictions.
You can tell if someone enjoys what they're doing, and you're not trying to force it on a brief. People love that; it has a quality to it. You can dip into it, but no-one should be telling you what to design. It depends on who you're speaking to. I've done government stuff where people don't understand what you're doing; it's too much, so you have to tone down your portfolio. Someone like Nike is more interesting. They're creatives: it's just a case of showing them that there's a little twist or spice - not to scare them, just to say you want to push it as far as you can take it.
My own label work (Yutaka Tajima) is a great thing for me. At the moment we've got some jumpers we're working on. It's good thinking about side projects; you can do what you want but take tiny steps. It's a form of R+D. You can't just jump into it; you need to work with people to get that real knowledge.
I think it's important to craft something, you can tell the difference. It does go massively wrong sometimes; you just have to keep delving into your pot and you'll get to something. I just keep a massive library.
You don't have to wait for these people. Do it yourself, and you don't have to beat these people. Don't think they're the golden touch to beat; there's no reason why in ten years' time your dream might not take over. For me it's always new - there are endless possibilities. Never stay the same all the way through.
Written by Dan Davies for Channel 4 - Ten 4 magazine