Steve TurnerPassion: Design. Steve started off his design career in the mighty Manawatu, completing a design certificate and then getting snapped up quickly for an apprenticeship at McGregor Design. With no computers around back then, you had to be a genuine artist, which made great use of Steve’s love for drawing, sketching and painting.A few years later it was time to make a leap overseas, so he headed to London, freelancing for various companies and along the way picking up the computer skills required for the new era in graphic design. The move back to New Zealand meant a new step into publishing. Steve spent the next seven years designing for newspapers and magazines, eventually becoming the Art Director for titles like NZ Rugby World, NZ Fishing World, Rip it Up and Crème Magazine. Even though the work was challenging and fun, Steve kept thinking back to conversations with his long-time buddy Al in their London days – over some burnt toast in the mornings after a big night out they’d talk about the creative agency they’d open … some day. Now it seemed that ‘some day’ had come, and after initially running Toast from home, they bought current office ‘The Breadbin’ in 2001. It took a year of DIY weekends to get it looking snazzy, but Steve will tell you it was worth it. So, after all the years of running Toast, what keeps him excited? “I still love conceptualising with the team, and seeing brands rolled out across the board. We want to be proud of what we do – we’re not about cookie-cutter graphic design, it’s got to be awesome. We’ll spend more time on it to make sure it ends up visually better.” When he’s not bouncing around ideas in the Breadbin, you might spot Steve doing some DIY on his bach (which he designed and built himself) or enjoying the outdoors with his son Finlay and Wife Janine.