A visual effects artist has gone from sketching in his bedroom while listening to Gun N’ Roses to going on tour with them across the globe.
Dan Potter grew up in a working-class home in Alma Street, Sheerness, but has since set up his own company which produces 3D packages for some of the biggest bands and brands in the world.
The 50-year-old has hundreds of pages of sketches that are turned into motion content used by Amazon Prime, Netflix, Universal and Fox Sports as well as iconic rock bands Metallica and Aerosmith – to name just a few.
It has allowed him to see Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi, Japan, New York as well as Real Madrid’s newly-renovated Bernabeu football stadium in Spain where he pitched one of its concepts to directors of the club.
But Dan routinely travels back to Sheppey from home in Eltham, south east London, to see his family and friendship circle which remains on the Island.
The father-of-two grew up in the town during the 1980s and 1990s with his mum and dad – Anne Richardson and Gordon Potter – as well as three brothers Nick, Stewart and Chris.
He attended Sheppey Comprehensive School, known as Sheppey Comp, in Minster which in September will be the Leigh Academy – formerly the Oasis Academy.
Gordon, who now lives in Minster, worked as a heating engineer at Sheerness Steelworks for 17 years and then at HMP Elmley as a boiler engineer and was the breadwinner for the family.
Meanwhile, Anne looked after the boys and kept the home at number 75 in shape.
While Sheerness is one of the most deprived areas in the county according to the government’s latest deprivation research Dan says when he was growing up he did not notice this impoverishment.
“It was a very happy and good upbringing," Dan said. “I was very lucky my family was always around and were always very supportive.
“I'd spend hours sketching and copying things I liked from monsters, dinosaurs, famous people and Star Wars illustrations. I got at least 10,000 hours of sketching and drawing in by the time I was a teenager.
“When I was at secondary school I was either in my room listening to Guns N’ Roses while drawing and sketching or I was out playing football with my mates.
“I remember growing up in Sheerness very fondly with a really lovely community here but I did not realise the poverty that was around me as it’s all you know.
“Things in Sheerness have changed when the industries left the town but also the world has changed in general with life becoming more competitive.
“I found an almost 'prophetic' sketch of a Terminator with a silver streak running through his hair, rose clenched between teeth which I completely forgot I'd drawn back in '91, inspired by the film Terminator 2 and Gun N’ Roses song You Could Be Mine.
“Terminator 2 blew my mind and the combination of the incendiary You Could Be Mine track was the perfect choice to bring the right musical attitude to such a ground-breaking film.
“I went through a period when I'd have that album on repeat whenever painting or drawing. It's mad to think that 25 years later I'd be working with the band bringing their brand to life."
During his time at Sheppey Comp, he made a core of friends including Swale council’s seafront office Ian Arnell whom he still sees regularly.
Dan says the school was “of its time”, and he achieved “average grades” which were mainly Cs and Ds but most importantly a B in art.
“School for me was something I just through that allowed me to go on to other things,” Dan added.
“It was a lot less competitive then than it is for kids now. My 15-year-old son is going through his GCSEs now which are so much more important for him than the equivalents were to me.
“I was lucky I didn’t get into fights and in trouble. I was an in-betweener because I was good at football and my art.
“Doing art can be quite lonely as it's often just you and your art but football allowed me to let out my extroverted side.”
He remembers his art teacher, Ruth Rundell, as a confident and flamboyant woman who he attributes to giving him “confidence” to do his work.
Despite his love for the Island, Dan realised that to become a successful artist he would need to leave during a visit to the seafront off Marine Parade.
He went on to study at Canterbury College after getting his A-levels at Sheppey Comp so he could get BTEC accreditations which he used to get into Croydon College where he graduated with a degree in graphic design.
During his first year his nan, Madge Potter, got Dan his first work experience at Torres Design Associates where he came up with menus and signage designs for Firkin Pubs.
This gave him hands-on experience before he was able to land himself a role at a company called Start based in Soho after college.
This agency worked with Richard Branson’s unsuccessful venture V-Shop but carried on designing for Virgin where he helped to create what’s known as the Virgin ‘swoosh’ branding.
Dan spent a decade at the company before he left to co-found Creative Works which was formed at the end of 2013 but was working in the background since 2011.
Their big breakthrough was with Guns N’ Roses in 2012 after his business partner had a chance backstage meeting with a member of the band called Bumblefoot after a show in the O2.
The American guitarist, who was with the band from 2006 until 2014, was looking for effects for a solo spot which Creative Works then produced.
Axl Rose, the legendary frontman of the group, saw this material and decided that he “loved” it and began working with Dan’s company, beginning a relationship which is still strong today.
“We worked on the graphics for You Could Be Mine for their 2014 South American tour,” Dan said. "Which is amazing to think about.
“Guns have been a massive inspiration to me but because of the work that I had done in the past with other massive brands, I didn’t have a pinch myself moment.
“I knew that I had the opportunity to work on some legendary songs and make something really cool which was thanks to having great friends around me who I work with.”
After the 2014 tour, the original band members reunited with Slash and Duff McKagan rejoining for a tour in 2016. Creative Works once again produced their effects.
“They are very professional and really look after us,” Dan said. “In the '90s they were known as that dangerous and edgy band and were an influence on my life.
“But we missed that part of their time and now Guns are a multi-million dollar Rock tour brand that is a well-oiled machine.
“Their main aim is to make their shows the best they possibly can for their fans and our visual effects and packages are part of that experience.
“Working with them allows my maverick side to come out through my designs. When I work with corporate brands I often have to rein that side of me in but Guns embraced that side of my work.
“When we ‘go on tour’ with them we don’t spend a huge amount of time travelling with them as when we are working with them we are so focussed on our work that there isn’t any time.”
Dan sees his recent 2023 tour with the band, which concluded with a headlining performance on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, as his proudest moment professionally.
He said: “When we were at Coachella in 2016 which Guns headlined I thought that was the pinnacle but Glastonbury was something else.
“We were backstage with actress Kate Hudson, Lizzo was zipping around and it was perfect.
“But that moment hasn’t changed my life. I was just mainly pleased for my team of 15-16 people and that the boys – Slash, Axl and Duff – smashed it with their performance.
“I think that my story shows that art can take you anywhere. If you keep working at your art you can really achieve great things.
“I wouldn’t say I was anyone special I have just worked really hard at what I want to do and took my opportunities when they have come to me.
“That’s irrespective of what anyone around you is saying or how much money you are earning focus on the things you love doing and eventually things start happening for you.
“My nan got me my first job in the industry so I was lucky in that sense but I had to prepare to take that opportunity so that when it came around I could do the job that was required.”
While Dan has no idea when Axl and co will next come calling he is working on mainly sports production products including Amazon Primes’ coverage of the Champions League.
In the meantime, he says there are plenty of other top-secret, high-profile projects he can’t tell us about just yet.
