STUDYING at Glyndwr University has opened up a world of opportunity for a young graphic designer.

Daniel Kevin Lloyd, who graduated with an MA in Design Practice, is building up a reputation in the industry thanks to his work on a wide array of projects.

Daniel, 26, from Shrewsbury, chose Glyndwr for both its convenient location and opportunities to learn new skills after working as a freelancer designer for several years.

He said: “As a self-taught designer, I wanted to do this course primarily for myself. It was important to me to do a course at this level to prove to myself that I was capable of doing it and to help build my confidence as a designer.”

After earning a communications and journalism degree in 2014, Daniel became a social media manager before gradually transitioning into design.

The self-taught designer explained what appealed to him about the MA Design Practice programme, which is taught at the Regent Street campus.

“I wanted to make sure that I did the right course that would have some benefit to my career and what appealed to me most about the Design Practice course at Glyndwr is that it was open to various creative disciplines,” he said.

“The creative industries are vast but as a designer, you don't often get the opportunity to work alongside fine artists, ceramicists and costume designers - and this was one of the most valuable experiences I took away from doing this course at Glyndwr.

“Because of this I've also been able to build a whole new network of friends and supportive people working in the creative industries and I think that is something you would struggle to find elsewhere.”

During his studies at Glyndwr, Daniel worked on a project in his hometown which saw 30 flags featuring Daniel’s illustrations on display in the town centre, to mark the life and work of pioneering scientist Charles Darwin, who was born in Shrewsbury.

The illustrations were based on creatures Darwin might have encountered on his voyage to the Galapagos Islands.

Daniel added: “This was one of the first large scale outdoor projects I have worked on and it was a learning process for me, but I really enjoyed it and the designs have since gone on to be prints, which many people have bought to put up in their homes.

“After doing this project I went onto design more flags in the autumn and a permanent sign at the train station welcoming people to the town. I'm not sure I will ever get over the excitement of seeing my work in such public spaces and it's really nice when people choose to buy your artwork to put up in their homes.”

Daniel graduated from Wrexham Glyndŵr last Autumn and is continuing to show that designers don’t have to be based in major cities to achieve success – and studying at Glyndwr has certainly helped him expand his business.

“I would say that since completing the course my overall confidence in my career has grown, and the advice given to me by lecturers even helped me to consider the direction of my freelance career and undertake jobs that I wouldn't necessarily have before.

“For example, before I started the course I very much saw myself as just a designer - but after sitting down with my lecturers and showing them my work, they helped push me to realise that I can also do illustration work, which is not something I had considered before. I'm very pleased I did the course and I'm excited about where my career will take me next because of what I learnt!

“Doing the course at Glyndwr really helped to build my confidence as a freelancer and extend my network of clients. Since completing the course, I've gone on to work with a lot of new clients on projects that I wouldn't have expected to have worked on just a year ago,” he said.

“Once you start the ball rolling and building your client base, there's a real shift in what you're able to achieve. I have more interesting projects coming up this year which I'm looking forward to start working on.”