As a student at St Martins School of Art in the fifties I was encouraged to keep a sketch book. I only had to step into the street to find plenty to sketch: shop fronts, ornamental street lamps, wrought iron railings and red telephone boxes - all were full of London character and a challenge to draw.
The Commercial Design department of St Martins introduced me to a whole new range of skills and values. I learned about the world of typography and graphic design and since this was long before the advent of computers, everything had to be done by hand. We were set projects to train us to think in design terms and required to devise - among other things - logos, trade marks, promotional booklets and book jackets.