Originally from Kiltimagh, County Mayo, John Tarpey is a product of a small, rural town of the nineteen seventies through to the nineties. Since leaving college in 1998 he has worked in various graphic design positions as practitioner and as an educator in five Institutes of Technology in Ireland. John has now settled in Waterford City, where he works as a lecturer of graphic design at Waterford Institute of Technology. He continues to persue his interest in graphic design and problem solving with a focus on improving the design process for others.