Justin Brown

Personal Bio:

I took my Foundation Art qualification here in Banbury, before heading off to the wilds of Cornwall to study Advertising Design.

My first couple of jobs revolved around PR for computer games and artworking in an advertising agency, but the absolute bedrock to my career began when I ran the studio of a local print works. Getting to grips with the ins and outs of the technical requirements for litho print was a real eye-opener, and formed the basis of how I approach my work to this day.

I moved on to work in-house as a designer at Thames Valley Police (no, it wasn’t designing ‘wanted’ posters) and then progressed to heading up the graphic design team at Oxford Brookes University.

In 2006, I made the leap to being a self-employed freelance designer and cultivated a small but loyal pool of great clients. Having done things my own way for 12 years caused me to wonder if I would be unemployable thereafter, but I needn’t have worried. I joined Toast in 2018 and found it to be an agency that leans into individual team members’ unique creativity and experience rather than insisting on a one-size-fits-all approach.

And we truly are a team here. We pull together and have a formidable range of design know-how between us. We’re upbeat, approachable and professional.

Outside of work, I’m a keen cinema goer and lover of live music. Summer festival season is the highlight of my year. I’m a fan of fantasy and science fiction – watching, reading and also writing… my massively popular and awesomely bestselling SF novel is currently a work in progress.