About me

A good friend of mine described me as a child’s imagination trapped in an adult body.

The story of

The Dreamer

I’m Gordon, and work as a graphic designer. Recently however, I have developed an interest in self-publishing.

When I was at University, I created a picture book for my degree show about a raindrop called Pip who fell to earth and went on a journey. At that time, ‘self-publishing’ technology as we know it today, didn’t really exist, but now it does. And so I find myself creating and illustrating various types of activity books for children and adults.

Born in to an RAF family, I was raised on RAF bases in the UK and abroad. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of planes all through my childhood, I naturally developed a love of aviation and dreamed of being a pilot. Alas, that was not to be. During this time, my artistic side developed. My brain lives in a world of shapes, colour, light and shadow. (I love Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio). Mum taught me to crochet at 8 years of age, followed by knitting and drawing in general. Music followed with the guitar. After a time in the Civil Service, I left to go to art college to gain the entry requirements to go to University. I had dropped art at school to pursue the necessary subjects to become an RAF pilot. A year at Jacob Kramer College of Art in Leeds saw me through to Staffordshire University. It was here I gained my BA Hons in Graphic Design followed by a Post Grad in Design, CADCAM, Accountancy, Advertising and Management. My design skills eventually saw me leave the UK to live and work in the Canary Islands as a designer and studio manager with a print company. This gave me an in depth knowledge of web based and digital printing and design. I then chose to go freelance and gained work as a photographer, videographer and timelapse specialist with a film company in Tenerife. My design website is www.pinkbee.media in case you fancy a little wander while having a cuppa.

The issue of Brexit hastened a return to the UK which was closely followed by the Covid 19 pandemic. With work in short supply, I found myself investigating the idea of self-publishing. After gathering information and watching innumerable Youtube videos, I made an about turn in what I wanted to do which allowed me to work from home.

I originally wrote the Pip Raindrip story in 19 ahem – more years than I care to remember! My design years with Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop meant I had the skills to be able to write, illustrate and produce books of all types from blank paper to finished print file. This started with simple lined notebooks and progressed to more involved books such as storybooks and activity books.

I hope this storybook and future books, will bring a lot of fun and pleasure to the parents who read them out loud and the children listening and looking at my illustrations. Hey, if you need a handy little notebook, then those are available too.

All the best

Gordon

Storyline

Left University with a BA Hons Degree and Post Grad PgDip in Graphic Design

Left the UK to work as a graphic designer in the Canary Islands

Went freelance as a designer, photographer, videographer and timelapser – still in the Canary Islands

Returned to the UK, Brexit and Covid 19

Discovered the world of self-publishing working from home

Published my first ‘low content’ notebook on Amazon in August. Children’s colouring and activity books followed in September.

Currently writing and illustrating storybooks for children. Also producing activity books such as colouring and dot to dot for children and adults.

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About me

The story of

The Dreamer

Storyline

I see the world in shapes, colour, light and shadows. Just add onions and I'm happy.

G Chesterman