With a 48-year career in graphic design, Tim Garman could be described as the perfect person to be tutoring at tertiary level, sharing his significant industry knowledge with students training for their future careers.
UK born-and-raised Tim already had more than two decades in the graphic design industry before immigrating to New Zealand in 2005. Coming from a creative, musical family, Tim gained a diploma and advanced diploma in graphic design at college, then started his career in 1983. “I worked in London for three years, in a small West End design agency, just off Oxford Street,” he says.
Whilst he liked his work, Tim didn’t like working in London. With a 9.30am start and 6pm finish, Tim reveals he never saw the city; if he left work later than 6pm he would miss his train, and there was a two-hour commute each way to his home on the South coast. He usually slept on the journey and became very good at waking up at precisely the right moment when the train arrived in his West Sussex station. “I go back now and visit London and enjoy it; I do like going back.”
Tim then spent a couple of years working in Lewis, East Sussex, at an agency that had good accounts with well-known brands: L’Oreal, American Express, NatWest bank, Anais Anais perfume, and more. Tim managed to build up his own clientele in his own time and became self-employed. “It was a great feeling to hand my notice in,” he admits. Then his employer invited him back to do freelance work. “I was able to name my price; I have worked for myself since 1989.”
Tim has a broad range of illustrative styles, making him versatile as a graphic designer. “I like to think I can turn my hand to most styles; if you only do one thing you limit your market,” he explains.
Initially, all Tim’s design and illustration work was undertaken using traditional methods. He purchased his first AppleMac computer in 1989, (which revolutionised the way graphic designers worked), making turn-around times much quicker. “I still appreciate the benefit of learning traditional illustrative styles, which gives me greater flexibility when approaching an illustration project.”
The move to New Zealand was initiated after visiting Australia for a holiday; Tim and his wife Donna went with their 20-month-old son and decided to take the plunge. “I felt like I was in a bit of a rut. I love the UK and there are things I miss about it, but I didn’t want to get to 80, look back at my life, and regret having not tried it.”
At that time, Australia had much stricter immigration rules, so Tim and family opted to become Kiwis, settling in Whanganui. “New Zealand was more open. We thought we’d move on to Aussie pretty quickly, but 20 years later, we’re still here.”
Tim took a year out and did an Honours degree in Computer Graphic Design at UCOL, where he received recognition of prior learning and his years in the industry. He was an excellent student, achieving six A pluses and an A from his seven papers. He also taught at UCOL until 2022.
Tim discovered SIT when his son left school at 17 and-a-half and came to Invercargill to study film. “He had a degree before he was 21,” Tim says proudly, adding “When he finished, he was offered a role as a facilitator.” and worked for SIT2LRN, so Tim enquired to see if they needed other facilitators and started as a SIT2LRN facilitator in 2015.
Tim really enjoyed attending the facilitators’ workshops at the beginning of each year, acknowledging that the team he works with all have industry experience, “which is key”.
“It was great to meet the rest of your department, start to make friends and work as a team. I certainly appreciated their skills and professionalism. You could fire a question at them; there was a sense of belonging.”
In his facilitator’s role, Tim says “My main paper is Level 5 Professional Post Production (or the Photoshop paper) in the New Zealand Diploma in Photography,” and he enjoys connecting with the students. “With any teaching, whether face-to-face or online, the best part is working one-to-one and helping [students] solve their problems. It’s helping them to learn.” The students who get in touch, who connect and who want guidance are the most rewarding. “The to-and-fro connection with students is much better, and I encouraged them to do that.”
With classes of up to 70 people, Tim says there will always be some who struggle with distance learning. Students with no prior knowledge of the software are wise to tap into their facilitators’ knowledge. “I find that those students who engage with their facilitator tend to achieve better results. Also, those who might otherwise have dropped out, make it to the end of the paper with a pass.”
He has also appreciated the flexibility of his facilitator’s role; at one stage, he was able to base himself in the UK for a couple of months and carry on working when he needed to be near his elderly father.
Tim acknowledges there have been plenty of highlights in his career. “I designed five different postage stamp issues for New Zealand Post… Currently there is a 400-page book called “Down to Earth Gardening”, written by Kiwi expert Philip Thomsen in national bookshops which I designed and illustrated,” adding there’s a second, companion book coming out next year (2026) on pruning.
Tim is retiring at the end of 2025 as a SIT Facilitator. He admits “I’d like to move away from commercial design and teaching, and just do my own creative thing. It’s been too long since creativity was my hobby.” His creative juices are already reinvigorated by all the things he wants to pursue. “I enjoy wildlife photography and may use my photographs as a basis for a series of illustrative work.” Whether or not this leads to anything commercial, he’s not too worried; “It’s all about the enjoyment.”
Tim and Donna are also planning to spend some time in Australia as their son is now Melbourne based, working as a videographer. “We may even buy an Airbnb there!” and plan to do some touring around the country as well. The family loves travel and they’re quite comfortable with the idea of ‘straddling the ditch’ as there’s now a grandchild in NZ to consider. “It feels like the right way to go at this time in my life. I need to go and do the things I’ve always wanted to do,” he says with anticipation.