beyond tellerrand 13–15 May 2019 Düsseldorf • Germany

Rob Draper

Portrait of Rob Draper taken at beyond tellerrand in Düsseldorf 2019 by Norman Posselt

Rob Draper is a British Artist & Designer who has gained global acclaim for his unique take on creativity and an international client list ranging from The Golden Globes, NASA/JPL, Nike, Gap, Levi's, Samsung, Penguin, Pentagram, Gumball 3000, Sunglass Hut and WWF.

His work has been featured in the worldwide press from IdN International Designers Network, Design Taxi, UC Quarterly, The Design Museum London, The Daily Mail and has been featured in numerous art/design/style/creativity books and publications.

Talk: Hard Work, Relentless Dreams and WiFi

Rob is going to tell two stories. The first is how he got here – How did he end up doing this and why does he draw on things? It’s a peculiar story that he himself wouldn’t believe unless it had happened to him. After unexpected redundancy from his dream job he felt he was at a junction - retrain and leave behind a 20+ year design career or go it alone, not turn anything down, try new things and see what happens. That approach left him working in a high security prison and spending his spare time drawing on coffee cups.

The second story is how once finally some of his dreams came true, he found himself back at square one – he had no studio, no office and “home” was living on a camp bed in his sister’s front room next to his 11 year old son and how this has shaped him, his work and his outlook. It’s basically a story of relentlessly pursuing dreams when at times the odds are stacked against you and how sometimes that goes right, sometimes it goes wrong but it’s what you learn and take forward that matters …

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