Simon Clowes, who graduated in BA (Hons) Graphic Media Design in 2005, was snapped up by Prologue Films in Los Angeles weeks after finishing his studies.

 At the South by Southwest festival (SXSW) in Texas this year, he won a Judge’s Recognition in the Excellence in Film Title Design category for his X-Men First Class sequence.

 The creation also received a Silver cube at the Art Directors Club awards in New York this May.

 Simon was inspired by Prologue’s clear dedication to good design principles when he was studying at LCC.

 “I contacted Kyle Cooper [founder of Prologue] when I was doing my final-year dissertation research on film title design.  I asked him about how he considers typography and its place in film title design.

 “I later asked him if could send some of my work for him to look at.  He said yes – and then shortly afterward offered me a job,” Simon says.

 Simon is now a Creative Director at Prologue, where his main duties include concept development, direction and colour grading work.  He is often in charge of production teams of varying sizes depending on the job requirements.

 He is currently working on a couple of film jobs and recently colour-graded the Adidas “Smart Soccer” commercial.

 “My time at LCC gave me a very good grounding in the foundations of design principles and typography, but initially the technical requirements of the job were very demanding.

 “In America, clients want story boards and compositions to represent the finished product before it is made, therefore you need to develop very high-level Photoshop and Illustrator skills”.

 “This is often very different In the UK, where you can sometimes get away with a drawing done on the back of a napkin to sell your idea,” Simon says.