Who the hell is Tom Hadaway?

We only work with cool people. And we thought it was time to share some of their thoughts with the world, so we’re chatting with members of the DixonBaxi studio about what makes them who they are. Meet Tom, a designer with a background in illustration and a lot of ink on his arms. This is what we got up to:

Who are you and what do you do?
Hey gang, I’m Tom Hadaway, one of the designers at DB.

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What’s your story?
I got hooked on design at an early age watching the wonderful people down in Brighton spray painting the lanes and other artsy areas. I later applied to university in which I was wildly unsuccessful but tried again a few years later and succeeded! I studied Illustration for the first two years, however, after finding out what Graphic design is, I swapped to the dark side. Here I discovered my love of layout, art direction and photoshopping my friends onto risky greetings cards.

After hopping cities a few times and moving my way up from an internship at a couple of different agencies I found myself joining the super talented bunch at DixonBaxi.

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What are you working on right now?
Some super duper wicked sick top secret shenanigans which also happens to be my first project at DB!

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“Flexibility for brands I think is becoming increasingly important; the need to engage with different audiences reflects how communication is driving our society forward. Collaboration is the end goal of good design.”

Describe your working style in 3 words.
Alarmingly into gradients.

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Tell us about some of your interests. What are you into?
If I’m not in a dark room gaming you can usually find me in the opposite place, on top of a mountain or in a wood – preferably with a pint.

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Do you think design can change the world? How?
It absolutely already has and most likely always will, the challenge is designing things to last without the cost of our planet.

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If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
I’d have different lanes for walking (slow to fast) and make people use indicators.

What’s the last song you listened to?
What’s a Girl to Do – Fatima Yamaha (big ol’ earworm this one).

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Why do you do what you do? What motivates you?
I love that design is constantly evolving, will the McDonald’s golden arches ever be blue? When’s the right time to make the Nike tick a cross?

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What’s your definition of good design?
Flexibility for brands, I think, is becoming increasingly important; the need to engage with different audiences reflects how communication is driving our society forward. Collaboration is the end goal of good design.