Graduates 2010: Pete Dungey

Pete Dungey has just graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in graphic design. Originally from Oxford Pete spent two of his summer’s cycling from Brighton Pier to Paris and Lake Zurich believing both trips contributed to developing his design work and refreshing his outlook having been exposed to so much fresh inspiration.

He also lists the following ‘mild obsessions’ that have inspired him during the past three years (in chronological order), Cannon Fodder, Gladiators, Ewan McGregor/Charlie Boorman, Tennis, Bourbons, Fishville and Peter Andre.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I remember using ‘Kudos’ in school IT lessons: a software package that asked you questions and in turn suggested possible career paths. The results suggested I become either a butcher or a crane operator, but neither seemed to fit. I had an interest in carpentry and sign writing, elements of both can be seen in my current design practice.

In reflection, how bad was your work in the first year?

My first ever project comes to mind – it was pretty amateur. I like some of the processes I used in first year, such as distorting type using bleach, but the finished results were (in hindsight) always a bit clumsy. There was a collaborative video project where we spent 3 days in a completely blacked out room filming a ‘catch 22’ situation about the repetitive cycle of gambling. I still like that one.

If you could show a piece of your folio to one person, what piece would you choose, and who would you show it to?

I suppose I would show Múm my Finally We are No One LP designs. It’s a piece that covers all bases in showcasing my design work, including photography, which is something I use regularly in my work. Aside from that, I think it would depend whom I was showing work to. Each time I show somebody my work, I personalise the presentation to make it appropriate for that person. Also, I have never really had that moment that people seem to have of discovering a single ‘design idol’ that I would aspire to show my work to.

If you had your own studio, who would you share it with and why?

I think watching my dad run a business over the years gave me an innate sense that it would be great to be self-employed. It presents you with an opportunity to create something new; the idea that you can build a business from the ground up, shaping every aspect of it really excites me. There are tentative plans in place to set up a studio early next year with fellow Brighton graduate Miles Gould, who I have successfully collaborated with on numerous occasions during our final year.

If you’ve got any left, what will you spend the last of your student loan on?

Most has already gone, on a Glastonbury ticket and fixing my car engine. What is left however, will go towards a cycling trip later in the year, with possible routes including the perimeter of Iceland along the Route One ring road, or from coast to coast of the US.

Where will we find you in 12 months?

I’m moving back to Oxford for a while, but beyond that there is nothing set in stone apart from the cycling trip. Design wise, I want to try a new city, either abroad or in the UK, but have no immediate preference as to where. Twelve months down the line I would hope to be formally starting to build a studio, that can grow and adjust to last 20, 30 or 40 years, who knows?