Natural born talent is the best weed killer

I write in response to Les J Curtis’s letter (DW 6 January), headlined: “Qualifications are the best weed killer.”

I must be one of the “so-called practising designers” referred to in this letter – letters do not appear after my name unless I forget to use the spell-checker.

After an accident left me in a wheelchair, I started my own design business. My mother died when I was 11 and it was a greater priority for my father to see that my brother and I were fed and clothed rather than send me to design school – not that many went on to design school from Kingswood Secondary Modern in the heart of Ilford.

My company Studio Thirty 6 was started by me five years ago and today, as a one-man band (as I’m sure Mr Curtis would describe me), it has a turnover of about ú130 000. I don’t advertise; all my work comes from recommendation and my largest and most frequent client is currently Celect Multimedia in Ohio, part of GEC.

Many design consultancies are owned by people with “letters”, but it is often the guy at the keyboard who has the talent. if you are a natural you don’t need letters after your name and all the letters in the world cannot beat a recommendation.

As a “self-learned oik”, I obviously do not know how many letters Leonardo Da Vinci had after his name, but i’m sure Mr Curtis is qualified to tell me. The truth is that greater competition is the best weed killer and if you can’t stand the radiation of the design room stay away from the monitor.

Richard Crow

Studio Thirty 6

Hartwell

Nr Aylesbury

Bucks