Stephen Coates began his career in editorial design in 1984 working alongside Simon Esterson at Blueprint, the monthly architecture magazine, which won D&AD awards in both 1986 and 1989. Coates went on to become the founding art director of Eye, the quarterly review of graphic design, in 1991 and set up a studio in partnership with Tony Arefin. He also had spells as art director of Tate, the art magazine, and Sight and Sound, the magazine of film criticism. Wanting a more influential role in the editorial conception of his projects, he left Eye to launch a publishing imprint and design consultancy called August in 1999. Coates completed the redesign of New Scientist magazine in 2002, Music Week in 2003 and, renewing his collaboration with Simon Esterson, of Building Design in 2004 and The New Statesman in 2006. His work has been shown in several exhibitions including ‘Communicate: British Graphic Design Since the Sixties’ at the Barbican, London, 2005.