Frequently Asked Questions | Toby Tinsley Design
To be the best, you have to work with the best. Be pushed, questioned and not be afraid to start again. Our way of working is to allow individuals who are experts in what they do to create the work .This ain’t a barbecue where everyone knows best. There is no Head Chef at our table.Thus creating a team of highly trained and experienced best-in-class talent. Individually we all know our disciplines inside out, we are masters of our trade. But together we create far from ordinary design solutions to lighten-up the world.
I work across print media, branding and identity, illustration, packaging, editorial and book design, typography, interactive and audio-visual, place making and film. Some projects use one discipline; most use several. Thirty years in, the range is deliberate - it means a brand can be built and rolled out without being handed between specialists who've never met.
I'm based in Dorset, in the south-west of England, and work with clients locally, nationally and internationally. Most projects run remotely with video calls and shared files; I travel for kick-off meetings, presentations and site visits where a project warrants it. Location has never been the deciding factor in whether a project works.
Both, depending on scale. I lead every project personally, and for larger briefs I bring in a network of established freelancers - motion designers, developers, photographers, copywriters - I've worked with for years. That gives full agency-level capability without agency overheads, and you deal with the person doing the work rather than an account manager.
Place making is design applied to physical environments - wayfinding, signage, environmental graphics and spatial identity that give a building, venue or destination a coherent character. It matters for hospitality venues, cultural spaces, retail and mixed-use developments, where how a place looks and reads directly affects how people move through it and how they remember it.
Household brands and start-ups alike, across automotive, hospitality, aerospace, architecture, charity and retail. Past work includes Virgin, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG, Overfinch, Lanzante, Hall & Woodhouse, RSHP, The King's Trust and Mellow Mushroom. Budget matters less than the brief being interesting and the client being willing to be pushed.
With a conversation, not a form. Email or call with a rough outline of what you're trying to achieve, and we'll talk through the objective, audience, timescale and budget. From there I'll write a short proposal setting out scope, deliverables, stages and cost, so you know exactly what you're committing to before anything starts.
It depends entirely on scope - a single illustration commission and a full brand identity with rollout are different orders of work. Every project is quoted individually against a written scope, with no hourly guesswork. I'll always tell you honestly if a budget won't support what you're asking for, before you spend it.
A standalone illustration might take a week or two; a full identity programme with applications typically runs over several months. Timescales are agreed upfront and built into the proposal, with clear stages so you know what's due when. Genuinely urgent work can often be accommodated - ask.
Ownership and usage rights are set out in writing before work begins, so there are no surprises later. In most cases clients receive full rights to the commissioned work for the agreed use, with original illustration sometimes licensed rather than assigned. I'll always make the arrangement explicit in the proposal.
Yes. Illustration is a discipline in its own right here, not a service bolted onto branding work - it has won D&AD and Creative Pool awards independently. Editorial, advertising, packaging, book and one-off commissions are all welcome, whether or not there's a wider design project attached.
Yes. I teach visual communications at degree and Masters level on a part-time basis, and take on occasional talks, workshops and critiques. If you're at an institution or organising an event and want to discuss it, get in touch.
Email toby@tobytinsley.com or call +44 (0) 7539 945 005. I'm available Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, and at weekends from 10am to 4pm (UK time). Tell me what you're trying to achieve and roughly when you need it, and I'll come back to you quickly.