Just to briefly introduce myself, I am a 26 year old web designer currently living in Wigan in the North of England. However, I was born and bred in London, hence the URL - oopnorth.co.uk.

As everyone's parent eventually does, my Dad used to take me into work with him. Me being an overexcitable, hyperactive kid - he used to dump me in the graphic design department who were a lot more patient (I wasn't complaining though, they had Page 3 girls on the wall). It was there that I really gained an appreciation and love of the design process. It was also there that I first ever played on an Apple Mac - which would later be my weapon of choice.

From that point on I decided that I wanted to be a Commercial Artist - an idea that soon got dropped when I found that everybody else seemed to be doing the same thing - and let's face it - at the time I wasn't any good!

As soon as I was able, I dropped any subject that wasn't going to get me a design job. I did a B-Tech National Diploma in Graphic Design in Guildford Tech and then an HND in Graphic Design at Kingston Uni and if I have to hear another lecturer telling me not to rely on a computer for designing on I'm gonna scream!

Following a complex chain of events involving Bertolt Brecht, award-winning public toilets and lesbians (which obviously I'd prefer not to go into) I created my first website - and became hooked!

And I've been hooked ever since!