I’m Col Blackwood, a versatile, passionate graphic designer who specialises in apparel graphics and fashion-focused illustration for menswear, boyswear, and licensed product ranges. I enjoy creating highly detailed artwork—from concept through tech pack and artworking—ensuring designs translate cleanly for factories and production. I’ve worked across both studio-style contracts and freelance collaborations with major retailers, producing lifestyle and seasonal graphics for t-shirts, sweats, nightwear, and surf-inspired prints. I also bring creative energy to trend research, sketching, and presentation for brand and licensing needs, including surf brands and major character-driven licenses.

Col Blackwood

I’m Col Blackwood, a versatile, passionate graphic designer who specialises in apparel graphics and fashion-focused illustration for menswear, boyswear, and licensed product ranges. I enjoy creating highly detailed artwork—from concept through tech pack and artworking—ensuring designs translate cleanly for factories and production. I’ve worked across both studio-style contracts and freelance collaborations with major retailers, producing lifestyle and seasonal graphics for t-shirts, sweats, nightwear, and surf-inspired prints. I also bring creative energy to trend research, sketching, and presentation for brand and licensing needs, including surf brands and major character-driven licenses.

Available to hire

I’m Col Blackwood, a versatile, passionate graphic designer who specialises in apparel graphics and fashion-focused illustration for menswear, boyswear, and licensed product ranges. I enjoy creating highly detailed artwork—from concept through tech pack and artworking—ensuring designs translate cleanly for factories and production.

I’ve worked across both studio-style contracts and freelance collaborations with major retailers, producing lifestyle and seasonal graphics for t-shirts, sweats, nightwear, and surf-inspired prints. I also bring creative energy to trend research, sketching, and presentation for brand and licensing needs, including surf brands and major character-driven licenses.

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Work Experience

Menswear Graphic Designer at Saltrock Surfwear
September 1, 2025 - April 1, 2026
Research-led design role for surf trends targeting summer 2027. Sketched concepts and created graphics for the men’s range, with a focus on t-shirt prints, hoodies, and boardshort designs.
Menswear Graphic Designer at The Walt Disney Company, London
October 1, 2023 - October 1, 2025
Designed menswear graphics primarily for the Primark account across multiple character-driven licenses including Marvel, Mickey Mouse, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and more. Conducted trend research and completed shopping trips, then collated and presented findings to support design direction and seasonal development.
Menswear Graphic Designer at Saltrock
April 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022
2-month contract covering for illness. Created graphics for the AW23 menswear range, including some boyswear and womenswear. Handled tech packs and artworking for both own and other designers’ graphics. Produced highly detailed CAD illustrations to support communication with factories and ensure print-ready accuracy.
Freelance Graphic Designer
October 1, 2013 - Present
Freelance graphic design across apparel brands, mainly supporting men’s and boy’s ranges. Produced lifestyle graphics for t-shirts, sweats, and nightwear for clients including NEXT, ASDA, M&S, Fat Face, and C&A. Created some license-based artwork for these accounts, and produced graphics for various surf brands from the USA and Australia. Worked across concept-to-artwork delivery, including design files suitable for commercial production.

Education

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Qualifications

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Industry Experience

Retail, Media & Entertainment, Consumer Goods, Manufacturing