My name's Nick Thompson, also known as Thumbs and I am a designer and artist.

I spent most of my teens skating and being really unsuccessful in school. At around the age of 16 I quit school, or rather I was “asked to leave”, and I ended up working in a skate, bike and snow shop in London where I was desiging graphics for shirts, skateboards and stickers in my spare time. I’ve been drawing for a long as I can remember but I fell out of love with creating art when I was in my 20’s. A lack of direction and drive meant I didn’t feel like I had a reason to draw. I always remained creative but had nothing to aim it at. I was doing a bit of graff and doing the odd illustration here and there but I never dreamed art could be something I could actually do full time

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I met my wife through the skate shop and she pushed me into going back to college and joining a graphic design course. I enrolled in 2014 and juggled my job and course work for a year. I loved learning about graphic design and it gave me a clear insight into digital art and how I could take my drawings and make them ready for print. I started drawing more and I posted some of my work on social media and slowly built a following.

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My art style is very pop culture and nostalgia driven. I have a huge love for cartoons and animation which has a big influence on my work. Before I knew it, fans were asking for shirts and stickers. Thankfully in the depths of the skate shop basement, was an old t-shirt printer which was gathering dust. I figured out how to get it working and spent time printing shirts after I finished work and inbetween spending time with my family. It wasn't smooth sailing, at this time creating art was more of a hobby so finding time to do that along with working full time and having family obligations was a real juggling act. But, my wife was really supportive and I stuck with it. Even when I did my first Comic Con and completely flopped with barely selling anything I was determined to keep going! Soon after, my online store started picking up and I couldn't keep up with demand so I had to look into getting my shirts professionally printed and the Thumbs clothing range has flourished over the years. I started Thumbs Studios in 2016 primarily selling stickers and pin badges and since then it's grown massively with a worldwide following. I love getting tagged in photos from collectors and it's amazing to see how many people resonate with my art.

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Over the years, my art career has flourished and I've showcased my work at various shows in Europe, the UK and America. I've been lucky enough to work with some amazing brands and individuals on some brilliant projects. I'm constantly exploring and developing my art style and I'm just as in love with creating art now as I've ever been!

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In 2025, I was offered the role as Creative Director for Zavvi UK - who hold licenses for some of my favourite pop culture franchises. Working with them on elevating their own brand and having access to their wide range of licenses has evolved my own Thumbs brand so expect some really exciting collabs in the future!

If you have any questions about starting your art career or need any advice please feel free to pop me an email!

If you'd like to commission me for an art piece or have a project you'd like me to be involved with, I'd love to hear from you! I love working with brands of all sizes and I also do personal commissions. Some projects I have worked on include murals, original paintings, clothing designs, packaging artwork and more!

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Some of the brands and individuals I've worked with include; Virgin Galactic, Xbox, B:Gaming, Looney Tunes, Deadmau5, Slash Snowboards, Chicago Bulls, Hello Kitty and most recently completed commissions for Mark Hoppus from Blink 182 and Ron Funches.

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If you have a project you'd like to me to involved with, feel free to get in touch for a chat!