Tom May

Tom May is a freelance writer and editor specialising in design and creativity, covering the creative industry, art, design and culture for Creative Boom. His coverage stands out for how it links the day‑to‑day realities of creative work with design history, visual culture and practical guidance drawn from the wider creative community. He brings more than two decades of journalism experience across magazines and digital media, and continues to write widely for design, technology and photography titles alongside his work for Creative Boom.

Creative industry surveys, money, burnout and AI

May is a leading voice on how creative professionals are coping with financial pressure, workload and technological change. His 2026 survey feature on the state of the creative industry examines pay, burnout and anxiety around AI in detail, using data and direct testimony from creatives to show how economic insecurity and automation are reshaping their working lives. In this kind of reporting he treats the creative sector as an industry with its own labour dynamics, focusing less on celebrity and more on how designers, illustrators and other practitioners actually earn a living.

Across this work he points to themes of exhaustion, rising costs and scepticism about AI tools, but also highlights strategies that creatives are adopting to adapt, from diversifying income streams to investing in new skills.

The tone is candid and grounded, with attention to how structural issues such as client budgets and platform changes feed into individual experiences of stress and burnout. This perspective makes his entertainment‑adjacent beat distinctly industry‑focused, centring working creatives rather than audiences.

Design books, archives and visual culture

A substantial part of May’s output concentrates on design books, archives and the visual documentation of creative work. He covers titles such as Semi Permanent’s 20‑year anniversary book, treating it as a non‑linear time capsule of projects and ideas that chart two decades of creative excellence across multiple disciplines.

He writes in depth about projects like Matchbook Book, which collects over 250 matchbook designs built around absurd or highly constrained briefs, using them to explore what “ridiculous” design instructions can teach practitioners today.

May also curates long‑form reading lists, including a feature on 50 essential books every graphic designer should read, where he draws together theory, practice and history to frame what a well‑read designer’s library might look like. He extends this interest in visual culture to brand history, as in his coverage of Clarks’ journey from classroom shoes to cultural icon, tied to a lavish visual history marking the company’s bicentennial. Through these pieces he treats books and archives as living tools for contemporary creatives, not just as objects of nostalgia.

Profiles, tributes and community stories

May regularly profiles individual creatives and crafts community‑driven stories that show how people move through the creative world. His profile of Tom Morgan, for example, follows a new graduate’s path into graphic communication, charting award recognition, developing interests in typography and social design, and the thinking behind his ethos of taking briefs “to the next level”. In his recurring Booms & Shakes column he assembles roundups of key moves, rebrands and notable moments across the design and creative industries, giving a fast view of what practitioners are talking about at a given time.

He also writes more reflective, community‑centred pieces, including his feature collecting ten tributes to David Hockney from across the creative community, which uses personal responses to show the depth of influence an artist can have on working designers and illustrators. In these stories he tends to foreground the voices of creatives themselves through quotes and examples, allowing readers to see how careers develop, how inspiration travels and how communities express collective admiration for their icons.

The result is coverage that treats creative work as a network of relationships, mentorships and shared references rather than isolated achievements.

Practical guides for raising profiles and navigating careers

Alongside his more narrative and survey‑based features, May produces practical guides aimed at helping creatives navigate their careers. In his piece on how creatives can raise their profiles without social media, he draws on advice from agency leaders and other practitioners to outline strategies such as speaking at events, attending conferences and building relationships in person. He focuses on tactics that are both realistic and specific, emphasising actions like buying a ticket, showing up and meeting people, as opposed to vague motivational language.

These guides sit in conversation with his survey work and profiles, reinforcing his view that visibility, networking and professional development are part of the same system as pay, burnout and creative output. He uses concrete examples from the industry to show how people move from relative obscurity to having a recognisable profile, and how they can do so even when algorithms and platforms feel unpredictable.

Across formats - survey features, book coverage, profiles, roundups and how‑to pieces - May’s reporting maintains a consistent focus on the lived experience of creatives and the structures that support or constrain their work.