The AoC Charitable Trust presents the Gold Awards to a select number of former College students each year in recognition of the vital role further education plays in the careers of the winners and of their continuing achievements in their chosen fields. James accepted the award on his and Simon’s behalf last Tuesday (15 June) in a ceremony at the House of Commons along with other high profile recipients such as actor Colin Firth and Deborah Meaden, businesswoman and star of Dragon’s Den.
Simon and James, whose enduring creative partnership began at Kirklees College, studied the National Diploma in Typography, Photography and Graphic Composition from 1984 to 1986 at the Batley School of Art, now part of the College.
In 1987 they received a £2,000 grant from the Prince’s Trust Business Programme and joined forces to launch their design studio. They now run the renowned global creative agency, with offices in Leeds, London, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“For both of us, attending College was difficult,” said James. “Beyond participating in classes and performing our studies, it required us to believe in ideas and prospects that were well beyond our real-world experiences up to that point.”
“Participation in academia definitely legitimised the pursuit of our beliefs,” Simon added, “allowing us to meet under the best circumstances and uniting us in the goal of achieving success.”
Today ATTIK helps some of the world’s most forward-thinking companies engage and build meaningful connections with their customers. Their clients include Coca-Cola, adidas, Sony, Lexus, Scion, Virgin and Heineken UK. In 2004, James and Simon were invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace in recognition of ATTIK’s contribution to design.
James is based in the Leeds office and Simon is now mainly based on America's West Coast..
To highlight the important role further education plays for students today, the AoC Charitable Trust runs a ‘mini me’ campaign alongside the Gold Awards with the nominating colleges each selecting a current student who shows promise in a similar field to their Gold Award winner. Recent Kirklees College graphic art students Matt Eastwood and Dan Madden are keen to follow in the footsteps of Simon and James into graphic design or advertising and have even considered pooling their talents as an art director and a copywriter and working together.
Matt, 23, completed a BA in Graphic Communications in 2008. He began studying the two year Foundation Degree course and then decided to do a top-up year, which he says was especially good as students were given a lot more advertising briefs which helped him decide on his future career. After College he did a five month placement at Gratterpalm in Leeds where he worked on his portfolio as an art director. Last year he moved to Manchester to look for work in advertising.
Dan, 22, who also studied Graphic Design at the same high school as James Sommerville, was at Kirklees College from 2006-2009. He said:
"I found that the most beneficial aspect of the course was its one-to-one nature, which was extremely important for my development. The tutors were top-notch, in particular Ged Flynn, who took us through the last year and who I continue to contact for advice."