By his own admission, Tony Cronin was a tough guy at school. He sat at the back of the class drawing and sketching. He loved to read as well. Being a graphic designer was never part of the plan when he was growing up in a working-class area of Tallaght, Dublin.

"I did art at school and I enjoyed it, sitting down at the back of the class drawing and sketching."

After primary school in Scoil an Chroi RoNaofa, he went to Killinardin Community School "for the duration of the war," he jokes. "I think I was a very difficult student . . . I never planned to be a graphic designer."

He describes art as "the only subject that was about personal development - and not in Californian New Age terms." All the other subjects seemed to be about "rote learning," whereas art "just by a process of looking at things was about using our imagination. It was enriching.

"The art teacher, Mr Sweeney, was always down in that annexe. Those art teachers were thinkers. He was an amazing man. He set it all off for me."

Cronin got a good Leaving Cert and started a computer programming course. "I lasted six months," he recalls. "It was just so dry."

Today he works at the Public Communications Centre, a non-profit communications agency in South Great George's Street, Dublin, which works with organisations involved in education and justice issues. "Being a graphic designer is not a sinecure," says Cronin. "It involves a lot of energy. Here you're getting a chance to make a difference socially. I look forward to coming in to work. You have to be passionate to make it succeed. All work in here is from the heart. It's very refreshing."

Quickly he runs through the type of work on his desk. He's working on a campaign for a trade union to highlight the issue of bullying in the workplace, and a series of leaflets on equality issues. "I'm also working on a book cover for Trocaire's Lenten Campaign. There are about eight jobs on my sheet, but you find the time. I'm never bored."

Generally, explains Cronin, a client will come and tell the centre what is needed. Maybe a booklet or a logo has to be designed. "And they leave it with you. You do a bit of research," he says, pointing to shelves of reference books which line the walls of the studio, "and you do some sketches."

The graphic designer needs to be passionate. "It's a hard career. You work long hours. You're working for a client and, if the client doesn't like the work, that demands a certain level of maturity. You have to separate yourself from your work."

"You also have to be able to draw," says Cronin. "It's all about vision. We're becoming a more visual society."

His route to graphic design involved one or two twists and turns. After he dropped out of the computer programming course, he headed for London.

"When I came back, I decided to do an art foundation course. I was a little bit scared really. I wanted something with security where you could make a living."

He found the foundation course, in Stillorgan, very useful. Afterwards, he applied to DIT College of Marketing in Mountjoy Square to do an advanced diploma in visual communication.

"I wanted something that I could be happy with," he says. "Office work didn't really appeal to me. There's a big artisan tradition in our family. We were all plumbers, electricians and so on - but realising that you can draw and get paid was a great discovery."

The four-year course was exactly what he wanted. "We didn't specialise in graphics until very late in the course. We did illustration, photography, computers. They were equipping us to be able to work as a one-man studio."

He cautions those who mightn't have an interest in computers to realise that, "if you haven't got an aptitude for computers, you have to develop it. It's cut down on the number of people who work in the industry."

On graduation, he worked with a commercial company for three years. Then, a few months ago he moved to Public Communications Centre.

Graphic design, he says, is a new industry. Getting into it is all about ability.