Hamish Muir studied visual communication at Bath Academy of Art in the UK (1976-79) and graphic design at the Basel School of Design, Switzerland (1980-81).

He was co-founder (with Mark Holt and Simon Johnston) and principal of the London-based graphic design studio 8vo (1985-2001), and co-editor of Octavo, International Journal of Typography (1986-92). 8vo’s typographically led design work was produced for a wide range of clients in the UK and Europe, including album covers and posters for Factory Records, Manchester; exhibition catalogues and posters for the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Identity, posters and publicity for the Flux New Music Festival, Edinburgh. With Mark Holt, Muir wrote and designed »8vo: On the Outside« published by Lars Müller in 2005. In 2011 Muir co-founded Outcast Editions, a digital publishing company specialising in interactive design and architecture books for iPad. Muir is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale.