- Where do you come up with inspiration for your designs? A lot of my work is inspiring by wit and whimsy- funny things I hear people say or conversations I have with my friends that always make me laugh. I like to keep my work as uplifting and light-hearted as possible. Although I would happily take on the challenge of creating work which is perhaps more dark or macabre, I feel that whilst I still have the opportunity, as a student, to have a large control over my own working and way of working, I would like to create work that reflects myself and my personality. If I were a colour, I would be yellow. -Why is illustration/design work important to you? Ever since I was small (around four or five) I’ve enjoyed drawing. Sure, I wasn’t very good but it’s always been a fun hobby. Throughout my time at school and my young teenage years I went through a phase of not being entirely sure of what I wanted to do. A teacher? An actress? A baker? A children’s book author? An abseil instructor? (Yes… really) I wanted to do it all. Although I was blessed with the option of being able to go on to college to potentially do a wide variety of subjects, I decided to focus on Art & Design. From the age of around fifteen, I started to rediscover the joy that drawing gave me, and something in me just clicked. It’s been a hard road to get to a level that I could feel comfortable with in terms of my ability, but now, I really just couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Whilst I may complain and whinge here and there about the lack of sleep or the pains of the job, I know, ultimately, it’s the best decision I ever made. -What are your future goals/plans? The future feels like both a daunting and exciting place right now! On one hand, I’m incredibly impatient and want to get in the “real world”, on the other, the comfort blanket of student life is pretty cosy! Next year (*gulp*) I will be graduating- hopefully having gained a little more experience in the industry by this time to then go on to work in freelance design. Although I’m still open to the idea of working as part of a design team, I feel quite independent and like the challenge of being in charge of my own destiny! Perhaps more importantly, I’d like to travel round Europe, live in a Georgian townhouse, and have a tortoise and a border collie… but all in good time. -What programs do you use and which is your favourite and why? I use and abuse Adobe! (Don’t we all?!) I use, primarily, Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesignIllustrator being my favourite. For the vector-based work I create, Illustrator is ideal. Recently, I’ve been learning how to use my Graphics tablet more affectively, and Illustrator accommodates the hand-rendered style and freedom that a tablet provides. -How do you develop ideas for designs and stay motivated? For me, there’s a real sense of satisfaction when you produce work that I personally am really proud of. One of the “curses” of the job is a constant self-doubt within your work, and not particularly feeling as if what you have produced is good enough. It might be a confidence matter, but I find it a lot with fellow Graphic Designers and Illustrators. Seeing so many fantastic designers around, available in the environment as well as online is a constant pressure in terms of comparing your work. But, at the end of the day, you have to remind yourself that everyone’s different, we learn different ways and have different experiences. If
everyone was the same, it’d be a very boring World. Having a tutor cracking a whip by your ankles certainly helps too! -What have you done to improve your Graphic design knowledge in the last year? It’s amazing how much you can learn in a short space of time! Of course, the majority of what I learn is through University. I have some great tutors and workshop sessions in which I learn some incredible things. A couple of months ago, I began using the Adobe After Effects software to create animation and motion graphics designs. Although my outcomes were quite primitive, I still learnt a phenomenal amount. From workshops and tutorials like these, as well as seeing beautiful, inventive and unique work in online and traditional publications, inspiration is quite organic- I love learning new design methods and techniques. -What makes this medium different than other meduims for you, such as photography? Personally, from my experience of working with other mediums, I feel that Graphic Design is perhaps the most subjective. As a form of visual communication, as opposed to more traditional art (the more expressionate, emotive mediums), people will either like what you’ve created or not- there’s no in between. Either it works, or it doesn’t. Because there’s so many fantastic conceptual designers and visual communicators working today, as with many mediums, the pressure to be creative and original, of course, always looms overhead. Whilst this can sometimes be a bit of a downer, it’s also an exciting challenge. To hear someone describe your design work as “fresh” or “original”, to me, feels like a great compliment. -What is the most challenging aspect of graphic design? The lack of sleep! Not only experienced because of the high workload from study and clients, but also the constant whirring that goes on in your mind; creating designs, challenging concepts, planning your next client meeting, calculating your business costs. Graphic Design, really, is not a subject- it’s a way of life. If you do Graphic Design, you do it for the love!