It's been ten years since Sean Collier graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design as a fledgling web and graphic designer.

While he's won a host of local awards over the course of the past decade, this year marks a watershed for the 33-year-old Bermudian: the first time he and his graphic design company Cosmic Ltd. has been recognised on an international scale.

Mr. Collier, his US-based business partner David Scott and local employees Krista Viera and Nicole Phillips at Cosmic have been named silver award winners in the Creativity Annual Awards ¿ a prestigious accolade in a fast-growing industry.

As a company of four pitted against 2,800 other agencies from 44 countries, Cosmic has not only beaten out stiff international competition but gained invaluable exposure worldwide.

The firm's winning entry ¿ an annual report for Bermuda-based Sovereign Risk Insurance ¿ will now have pride of place in the Creativity Annual, a trusted guide to the best of the graphic design industry. Since this win weeks ago, Cosmic has picked up two further awards for the Sovereign project, plus a silver prize for its work on an annual for Oil Casualty Insurance Ltd.

"It's exciting to be recognised," said Mr. Collier. "Technology today is allowing us to expand our reach; there's no reason why we should just focus on Bermuda."

He added that while he's always known he had a knack for design, both graphic and web-based, it's taken him the past few years to learn how to translate his talent into running a successful business.

"I have the gift of creative talent, but running a business is a whole new ball game," he said. "It's constant learning, trying to get your foot in the door with the big international companies. Being younger, it can be difficult getting them to trust me."

Now Cosmic is looking to expand its offering to include "more international, more corporate" services, according to Mr. Collier.

The company focuses on annual reports and corporate brochures, but has identified web design as an area of growing importance. While in past years web design has accounted for about 30 per cent of the company's business, that figure has recently shot up to 50 per cent.

Mr. Collier hopes local and international companies will see Cosmic as a full-service agency, not just a graphic design outfit.

"We do anything from starting an identity ¿ with a brand or a logo ¿ to advertising campaigns. In a smaller marketplace like Bermuda, you can't specialise. You won't make it."

While Cosmic's team of four competes against larger agencies both locally and overseas, Mr. Collier does not see the agency's size as a handicap.

"I compete with the big agencies, but the work speaks for itself. We're still delivering designs on par with international level work," he said.

"Trust in us that we know what we're doing. We're looking to have control over the brand of a company ¿ its image, doing it consistently, professionally and for a reasonable price. It's nice to be recognised for that."

Mr. Collier plans to meet his business partner Mr. Scott in the US in two weeks to attend a major design conference in Austin, Texas.

"We want to stay in touch with what's happening out there in the wider world of graphic design," he said. "I'm very passionate about what I do. I go home at night and design in my free time. It's about setting a goal - this is not where I'm going to stop. The ultimate goal is to create work that has global recognition. Bermuda is pretty unique, but you still have to produce professional material."

While Mr. Collier names designing all the posters, T-shirts, signs, tickets and programmes for the former XL Tennis Tournament as his "most artistic, fun" project to date, he is open to clients from diverse industries. Indeed, just last week Cosmic won a competitive pitch to design a new website for the L.F. Wade International Airport.

"Whether it's a landscaping company or a big corporation, we'll get the job done," he said.

Mr. Scott has been attracting a growing list of US-based clients for Cosmic, mainly on the web design front. So far, Florida's Homeless Emergency Project and the South Tampa Medical Group have benefited from the team's work.

"David's got the clients and I've helped deliver the work," said Mr. Collier. "He's had interest from everywhere, for example universities in New York. Interest is starting to build from the US side."

For now, Mr. Collier reassures his loyal clients in Bermuda that while he's looking to expand his business, he will never forget how he got his start ¿ with that time-honoured island tradition, word-of-mouth.

"I can't forget the clients that have supported me, and have trusted me with the decisions I've made with their work."