Three years ago, graphic designer James Raftopoulos was far away from the creative world he is now. After completing a Bachelor of Commerce and Arts at Melbourne University, he went off to a full-time job at NAB. It took working there to realise his dream of design. James went straight back to RMIT to begin his studies in graphic design and although he’s only worked in the industry for a year, he’s building his professional accolades by the minute.
Last year he was awarded the $10,000 first prize in the Canberra Centenary Typeface Design Competition. His winning design was a typeface design containing echoes of ‘’all those circular and hexagonal shapes’’ in Walter Burley Griffin’s famous designs (as rendered by Marion Mahony Griffin) for the layout of the city.

“I hadn’t gotten into type design before that,” James tells Neos Kosmos, “and it was a really good experience and a massive learning experience too.”
James works part-time as a website designer for The Urban List and also freelances as a graphic designer. A lover of ‘modern design’, he says “every project is different and ultimately the most important thing is you are addressing the design problems that are presented to you”.

“Aesthetics comes into it as part of a broader solution,” he explains. “I try not to gravitate towards certain styles and getting stuck in it; I try not to limit myself in that way.”

James first got a taste for graphic design in high school but also credits his father’s career as an architect for imposing a certain creative influence on his life.

“I don’t know if that drew me to graphic design but it’s definitely a big part of my childhood and I do look up to him as a design inspiration,” he says of his father’s influence.

When asked what it’s like to face a client brief and create a design he says with a nervous laugh: “First you panic.”

“You have to be open and listen – especially with client based work and understand what they actually need.”

In relation to his personal work, his own design, he says he opens himself to all variations and styles so when it’s time to create for a client, he has a lot to draw from.

Last weekend, the designer exhibited his work at Supergraph art fair in Melbourne. It was the first exhibition for the artist who used funny illustrations of mediocre ‘90s footballers. All very tongue-in-cheek for this already award-winning artist.