Graduating from Royal College of Art in London in 1966, Holmes ran his own successful graphic design practice in England.
[1] From 1966 to 1977 he worked as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer for clients such as British Broadcasting Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and Island Records.
[1] After a sabbatical he started his own company, which has explained things to and for a wide variety of clients, including Apple, Fortune, Nike, The Smithsonian Institution, Sony, United Healthcare, US Airways, and Visa.
[3] In 2011 Stevenson University held a retrospective show of his work titled Picture This - The Explanation Design of Nigel Holmes.
[4][5] In 2016 an exhibition of his work from 1960 to 2015 was shown at the QVIG Conference in Munich, Germany,[6] and also at the VisCom Gallery, Schoonover Center, Ohio University[7] Partial list.