Hello

I am passionate about art.

A graphic designer, illustrator, art educator and author, I started out at London design agency Michael Peters, then worked for the BBC and Harper Collins Publishers before co-founding design partnership XAB. Now an independent creative, my recent projects include corporate identity, branding and promotional design, book illustration and photographic art direction.

I balance my time between my creative design practice, university and books.

For the past eight years I’ve been working with students at Middlesex University, London, where I lead the pre-BA Foundation years (iFAD, Foundation year in 3D design and Foundation year in Visual arts). I also work with young students at the National Art and Design Saturday Club (NADSC) at Middlesex University, which is part of the nationwide Saturday Club Trust.

I have previously published two books with Octopus Publishers ‘Art Life’ (pub 2017) and ‘Fast Art’ (pub 2018). Inspired by my creative journey, Art Life is a personal collection of art projects with the intent to excite and encourage others to create artwork that they may never have expected from themselves. Created at a kitchen table and photographed on a camera phone, these projects are accessible to everyone. In a nutshell, it’s experimental and fun: inviting you to take a creative journey into the intricacy, colour, texture, form and quirkiness of what’s around you. Fast Art is a collection of 30 fast and fun art projects for everyone. They’re designed for speed and spontaneity, to avoid over-thinking, encourage you to make artworks that are fresh and original. Every ideas presents a diffrent challenge to stimulate and inspire.

My exciting new book will be available from March 2019 – ‘Project Collage’, published with Octopus books and Tate. Project Collage is the first in new series of art books that I have designed for Tate. It is packed with exciting ideas for making collage creations, with 50 step-by-step projects to inspire, introducing different styles and directions to explore. Collage is the art of reinvention, a magical and tactile process that involves collecting, experimentation, combining and transforming imagery. This book requires no specialist equipment – only everyday materials – it is an artform for everyone and every budget. I hope you enjoy it.

Bev Speight, M.A. PGCHE