Name: James Thomas
Business: JT3D
Location: Yapton
Website: JT3d.co.uk

Tell us about your background:
I was born in Sutton, Surrey and moved (very reluctantly at the time) to Steyning, West Sussex, in 1976 when I was 10 – you work out my age! I now live in Yapton with Karen, my wife of 17 years. After school I qualified from horticultural college and it was my intention, at that point, to stay in commercial horticulture and keep warm in the winter growing thousands of cut flowers under glass. Obviously, that didn’t exactly pan out, as they say. A combination of factors, but principally due to developing a life changing medical condition, led me to retrain in 3D modeling.

I now count myself as one of the growing army of people who ‘work from home’, which can be lonely on quiet days but at least I don’t worry about rush hour traffic. I can’t imagine there are many people that get to have quite as much coffee and biscuits on tap in the work place as I do, let alone a television in their office to watch Test Match cricket while they work!

Tell us about what you do:
In a nutshell, I draw three dimensional computer models of consumer products. Depending on each case, these models may be used for detailed design analysis, digital and physical prototyping, promotional purposes or just to explore ideas and concepts. These all come under the loose umbrella of “product visualisation”. The products I work on are extremely varied and range from high-end audio products to window profiles. I specialised in precision engineered products, but with the change in the economic climate, now undertake most things. I can be involved in almost all stages of the design process, which can be challenging, but at the same time extremely rewarding.

I also provide stock 3D models of typical household items such as furniture, television and kitchen equipment. These are sold online, typically to be used in architectural animations and presentations.

Tell us about the kind of people that you meet and work with:
I meet and work with people from all sorts of industries but most often it’s people from an engineering background, principally because of the nature of the products. I also work with designers, carpenters and even flooring specialists.

What is your greatest achievement?
Personally, it was being able to find a way of coping with and adapting to a life-changing illness and being able to move forward with it.

Professionally, it was being able to learn a completely new, alien skill. I’ll never forget my first day at college on a CAD course; staring blankly at a computer screen, which was staring blankly back at me, and wondering who on earth I was trying to fool! Two years later I passed my exams with distinction.

Who or what inspires you?
Where do I start? On a personal level, my inspiration has always been plants and flowers. That may sound a little odd at first reading, but the process of beginning and development as a plant grows, married to an absolute purity of purpose is fascinating to observe. There are so many colours, forms, textures and variety in plants that I don’t believe anyone could fail to be inspired by them.

Jon Maeda is a huge influence for me professionally. He is an American designer and professor at MIT. His books and lectures on tackling design solutions and presenting the same are something I try and apply in my work. His book, The Laws of Simplicity, was insightful and extremely practical in the way it looked at solutions to not only design challenges, but also life in general.

What do you hope to be doing in five years time?
Well, with a bit of luck, I hope to be doing what I am doing now! I meet people who don’t particularly enjoy their work, or wish they were doing something different, and I count myself fortunate that I enjoy mine and absolutely don’t want to do anything else.

I try and set time aside to practice different techniques in 3D modeling as often as I can, just to make sure I am working in the best way possible and to try out different combinations of modeling techniques. I would like to think that one day one of the many concept models I produce in these sessions might be snapped up by a large multinational and put into production but I’ll probably be saying that in another 5 years!

I’m also looking to improve my drawing skills. I can draw to an acceptable standard, but want to improve to offer a better range of skills for my clients.

What projects are you working on now/ have you worked on recently?
I’m working on the visuals for a turntable, which for those of us above a certain age, is also known as a record player. I am at an early stage with this so I am working on presenting some colour and material combinations. It’s a lovely, elegant looking product that someone spent an awful lot of time designing and working out the various component parts of; a true audiophile’s dream piece of equipment.

After that, it’s the visuals for an office layout. Who says my work isn’t varied?

I’ve just completed the modeling for a range of furniture inspired by traditional and contemporary Japanese furniture. My involvement in this project was from start to finish and included prototyping, promotional images and eventually manufacturing drawings.

What do you do in your leisure time?
I enjoy spending time in my garden. I can’t think of anywhere else to be on a lovely warm summer evening. In the summer evenings I retreat to the bottom of the garden where we have a quiet area with outdoor armchairs and a sofa, surrounded by lush greenery and overhanging tress, and just sit, and sit and sit…It’s not unknown for me to take a long lunch (the advantages of working for yourself and from home) and spend a couple of hours just sitting in our ‘outside lounge’, again!

I also enjoy archery and belong to a great local archery club. It’s a fascinating and thoroughly absorbing pastime that can be extremely rewarding and frustrating at the same time. I hold no aspirations to reach Olympic standards, but hope to reach a standard that enables me to even secretly believe I may win something somewhere someday!

Cinema? No thanks; I’m part of the ‘wait ‘til it comes out on DVD’ brigade.

Walking? Yes, but not in the rain and no hills please and certainly not where a good ploughman’s and cold beer can’t be easily found on route.

Eating out? Yes, but only Chinese.

Socialising with friends? Yes, naturally, but only if it includes plenty of laughter!

Finally, any words of wisdom for other creative people?
It’s a tricky one this. I think it goes without saying that you need to believe in yourself and your abilities. It’s a very competitive world for anyone in the creative industry and it’s easy to get a bit despondent on those days when things just don’t go your way, but belief in the service you offer is important. More than anything, I believe in talking, not necessarily literally and certainly not constantly. You should keep in contact with people, listen to what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and learn from them. The creative industry is always changing and I find the best way to keep abreast of this is by just talking, whether it’s by email, telephone, messaging or in person, I always learn something new.