Hi Tom, and thank you for asking! I’m a 26 year young graphic designer from Indore India. I started drawing since my childhood, but never thought that I would choose it as my profession and my pencil would turn into a mouse. In 2003 was just a content developer and later got interested in design and took a basic design course for that. This was the turning point of my career and I started designing for my clients. Initially I also had created some horrible designs, but later improved my design sense with time. Now I’m good at my work and due to this, I have many satisfied clients across India & Europe. Fortunately this list is not going to end here.

Your portfolio really helps show your versatility as a designer, as it combines examples of web design, typography, logo design, illustrations and photo-manipulations. How important do you think it is to have a varied skill set?

I’m always being interested in the things which are new, interesting and never done by me before. The one reason for this is because I easily get bored by doing monotonous work and hence I always seek variety, uniqueness and freshness in my work. I work on various projects to learn something new, to enhance my skills and it’s very important for me to have different skills to make projects unique and amazing which require some extra skillsets. Another specific reason is the design problems that I encounter while designing which encourage me to learn new things to solve that problem and to shape my ideas in better ways. I usually spend a lot of time to learn new things, new techniques hunt for new ideas that make an art beautiful and all this gives a lot of experience for future projects and give more freedom to express your ideas in more creative and innovative way.

You’ve become quite well known in the design community for your great Photoshop tutorials. What do you feel is the best way for new designers to learn?

Yes of course tutorial are the best way to learn not only for new designers, but for experienced professionals too. I’ve learned a lot from tutorials and still I used to read tutorials to learn new techniques. I write tutorials because I love to share new ideas and new technique with others as well as it increases my communication with others. Sometime you can get some brilliant ideas for your projects during communication which boosts your creativity as well as enhance your skills.

I’ve noticed that you’re expanding your freelancing business. What advice would you give to aspiring/established freelancers?

Yes I’m working hard to expand my business and have many plans for future. I created my brand identity along with my personal website where I share my ideas with others, also I have already entered in the field of web design including development and learned HTML/CSS to get more control in coding as well as more freedom in the design process so that more brilliant ideas can see day light.

My only advice to aspiring and established freelancers is that; don’t get afraid of any idea’s stupidity, absurdness or simplicity because sometime it proves itself as a brilliant idea. Design is not a process, but an evolution in which an idea gets matured by time and efforts hence any idea which initially sounds stupid may become brilliant later when it gets matured. Several times I observe that one professional reject an idea by assuming that idea won’t work and then the same idea works perfectly and gets enormous success when someone else works on it.

I noticed that you started with 200 original concepts for your current logo, and put a lot of thought into your final design. Could you describe your meticulous workflow in a little more detail for us?

Yes that was the longest very challenging project for me. It always been very challenging when you want to develop your own logo because of a lot of expectations from our logo. I started to research for my logo in August 2010 and it took around one month to complete my research. During researching I studied about many established designer/professionals personal logos, their message, simplicity etc., after that I concluded that I want a logo, which is simple, unique, creative, modern and should have a fresh look. I wanted an identity which reflects my essence and which can deliver my message clearly to viewers.

After that, I started sketching and sketched all ideas which came in my mind without worrying about their absurdness. I sketched ideas and then evaluated them and then I left them for few days to find more ideas and to let them mature. This process I repeated several times and after that I decided to go beyond that two dimensional paper & sketch and started experiments with paper folds, cuts, etc., and finally I came to my idea that I liked.

When I got sufficient ideas, I just started designing them in Illustrator for more experiments and testing them in various perspectives. I experimented with shapes, positions, colors and orientations and finally got my brand identity. This whole process took three months roughly and the result was liked by everyone who saw it.

Of course this whole process took too long for developing a logo, but it paid when it won silver in “Mediabistro Logo Awards 2010″ in design category. This logo expresses several messages by its geometry, shape, folds, transparency, symmetry etc., I would recommend that you see a special post (http://www.narendrakeshkar.com/blog/2010/10/15/won-silver-award-in-mediabistro-logo-award-2010-for-my-personal-logo/) for this logo in my blog which express messages my logo want to deliver.

Where do you hope to be as a designer in 5 years time? How are you trying to develop, in terms of work processes, ideologies and styles?

As I have many plans for my business as well I’m working on some of them I hope to see myself as a well established and independent design professional in this design industry. My brand identity and my website is a first step for my plans because now I’m working on some new projects. I have my personal blog yet and based on its blogging experience I will launch my new blog based on creativity, research and design. I am also working on to establish my own design studio intending to provide effective design services to the clients across the world. Besides that I am learning Z-brush to enhance my 3D modeling skills so that I can give life to my ideas by raising a new 3D animation company. So I hope that I would have many golden moments in next five years.

For achieving success in my plans I am refining and modifying my design methodologies, work processes by acquiring new techniques & technology. I am defining an effective research process to go ahead as well as organizing my work schedule to minimize loss of time in unproductive work. In short I am working on my design strategy based on three words “Think, Act, Invent” which is my favorite quote too.

You can visit Narendra’s portfolio at NarendraKeshkar.com

1. First of all thank you for accepting this invitation to be interviewed by PSDFAN. Please, tell us about yourself.

My basic bio is: I’m a graphic designer from Melbourne Australia. I first started drawing when I was 6 and I still haven’t taken the pen out of my hand. Now I’ve transferred my skills to a digital platform, which I have been involved in for the past 5 years. I’m still picking up new skills along the way learning many different styles and trying to create my own, and my thirst for knowledge is one that never goes away no matter how much I take in. That is why i love doing collaborations with other talented people – to learn their take on design, learn from that foundation to create a major outcome, and to be remembered for what i have done. I come in this designers battle field armed with my sketch book in one hand and my camera I’m the other fighting to survive this colorful war. My inspirations comes from the works of fatoe and tksh and all the major designers of the KDU. They’re all talented people, and I have a lot of respect for all of them.

2. Are you working in the design field professionally, or simply as a hobby?

Well it started off as a hobby, then people wanted me to do say a flyer for them, then word of mouth spread like wild fire and I started doing all sort of print work. I liked the feeling of being in control, being my own boss so I came up with the name “bosslogic”, a name which i trade under in the design world this present day.

3. Please tell us about your art, how would you define your style?

These days I can only do design if it means something to me or the person viewing it. I started with the eye candy glow style, which i have come to see as a little soulless, so what I have done now is blend multiple styles together to achieve a higher outcome. Style is what divides us from other artists but I can’t do a piece anymore without incorporating it with story. My advice is that eye candy design is
great to look at but with a story behind it you’ll feel something which puts the work on a whole other level.

4.How do you maintain your creativity? Where do you get your inspiration from?

The whole world that stands before use is our inspiration, you see the homeless, you see the leafs in the wind, you hear a song, you watch a movie, you gain a family member, you lose a loved one this is all fuel to create art.

5. Could you describe your work process, the steps of an average piece’s construction?

As I always say Pen and paper for the win . I always start with my best friends the sketchbook and the pen. I basically draw out what I call blueprints, kind of like how movie makers do story boards. I then get the resources I can find online and bring out my Canon 5D MKII for the ones I can’t find.

6. Your work is absolutely amazing. I have some personal favourites so I wanted to pick one (trust me it was pretty hard to do so) so that you could talk about it a little bit more in depth. I chose “Silent Symphony”. What can you tell us about this piece, and how did you apply the steps you mentioned before in this design?

Silent Symphony is a piece that is loud but ever so silent, something you can look at and just imagine something else. I made it male and female so all viewers can appreciate it. I planned this piece in my head and moved straight in to photoshop I already had the right stocks and the right idea.

7. The majority of your work involves the cyan and magenta colours, why is
this?

As I said before style, I happen to love these colours, it’s the mood they let out.

8. We have been astonished by your work; Now tell us about the tools you use to get to this amazing pieces, what are the programs (software) or other tools (Cameras, sculpting clay) that you use the most? And if it is more than one how do you combine them?

Ok let’s see, I got a Pen, a Sketch Book, Photoshop cs3 at least till cs5 comes out , canon 5d mk II and Props.

9. What do you believe has been the most gratifying aspect, and what has been the most difficult part of being a designer?

To make people happy as an artist, you want the viewer to feel what you feel, if I portrait a photo of a mother that has passed I want the viewer to feel how I felt, if I can achieve this I have that case of enlightenment.

People that let down others when they tried so hard to achieve something, that’s the worst part.

10. Well, thank you once again for allowing PSDFAN to interview you. Now to conclude, do you have any suggestions for our readers, any tip, or any specific technique that you use, which could be shared with us?

What you need to do is build a powerful portfolio and go out in full force, you will make it, and trial and error is not a bad thing and remember, art is not what you see, it’s what you feel.

Other work by bosslogic:

Don’t forget to visit BossLogic’s portfolio: DaBossLogic and his DeviantArt page

Some designers and bloggers seem to have a habit of fading out of the public eye, and enjoying a very short-lived popularity. You’ve been regarded as an important figure in the design community for some time now. Could you share some insight into how you maintain your activity and ‘personal brand’ if you will, within the design community?

Thanks for having me back, Tom!

Whenever I offer advice on blogging I always recommend doing it out of passion, rather than purely for fame or fortune, as it’s the early days that are the hardest. There will be months of churning out topics and it seeming like no-one’s reading, there’s no revenue and it takes stacks of time! I think this is a big reason as to why some blogs fade away, as the owners might lose faith or interest. I’ve basically maintained my activity because I have the same interest in all things design as I did on day one of setting up my blog. I’m still reading the same old feeds (with a good selection of new ones!) and still being inspired by the work of others. I think personal branding just tags along for the ride; if you’re posting out design topics or design tweets, it’s only natural that you’ll be associated with the subject.

Since the last interview I’ve had the pleasure of seeing my site more than double in RSS subscribers to over 27,000, so this is a great incentive to keep it up. I also moved more into blogging as it started bringing in a revenue alongside client work, which is when I started Line25 (which we talk about later!).

2. Could you give us a sneak peek into an average day for you?

An average day usually starts with me struggling to wake up and get out of bed. I love getting up early, but it never works out! Lately I’ve been getting into my home office for 9:30 after the short commute upstairs. I’ll then check out a bunch of my sites and online profiles for new comments and updates, these include Blog.SpoonGraphics, Line25, ChrisSpooner.com, Twitter, YouTube, and DailyBooth. Depending on my work load I’ll either continue on with some client work, or start work on an upcoming blog post. Either way I’ll usually have a hand-written to-do list controlling my daily activities. After my first job I’ll usually brave my email inbox and clear out a few messages, although sometimes this is a scary scene and I’ll immediately close it to deal with later! The workflow tip from Tim Ferriss (I think?) of only checking email once a day has been an awesome productivity boost for the year or so I’ve been employing it.

I’ll work through jobs on my to-do list throughout the day, combined with random tweets and getting sidetracked by following interesting links or intriguing YouTube videos. I’ll usually work into the evening before leaving for food, after which Laura and I either watch some TV, head out to the Cinema or do a session at the Gym.

That pretty much sums up an average day, although with myself and Laura having the freedom of being self-employed we often make last minute decisions and take the day off to go to the theme park.

3. Your blog, attached to your portfolio Spoon Graphics continues to publish quality, unique content month after month. Could you give some advice for people wanting to maintain high standards in blogging and design?

Thanks for the kind comments! It’s always hard creating new content, especially with tutorials. I think I’ve almost given away everything I know! Not sure how many ideas I’ve got left! It has become easier over time in a way, as it’s just part of my weekly routine to create a few blogs posts, so I’ll be constantly thinking of new topics. If I spot something on or offline that could be worked into a tutorial or article, I’ll note it down.

I suppose the best advice to maintaining high standards in blogging is to always try to post something that people are going to find useful or interesting. That way you’re more likely to get a better return on the time you’ve invested because people enjoy sharing what they find online. A consistent schedule of interesting posts is more enticing to subscribers. The higher traffic levels you’re getting, and the higher revenue, the more time you can and want to put into it. This also tends to help me out with my design skillset, as I’ll use blogging to experiment in new areas or put ideas into practice that would otherwise go unused.

4. Not too long ago you redesigned your portfolio Spoon Graphics. Firstly let me congratulate you on an excellent job, I certainly know how much work can be involved in a major redesign! You mention in your blog that you wanted to give the site a more ‘personal’ feel. How did you work to achieve this, and what other goals did you have for the redesign?

With my blog continually growing, it’s become a far more superior source of clients and work than my portfolio. Plenty of past clients never knew about the spoongraphics.co.uk site! On the flip side the leads I was getting from my portfolio were of lower quality, usually people stumbling onto my site from a Google search for freelance designer. These were the typical clients with huge demands and low budgets!

The aim of the new spoongraphics site was to give more of a personal touch that gave more info on my background and my interest in blogging, rather than promote myself as a freelance designer. To do this I typed out the whole content as if I was saying it aloud, which loses the whole ‘professional’ image, but has helped tailor the types of clients I enjoy working with. Now I receive emails like: “Hey Chris, love your work, how do you fancy designing our site” rather than: “For the attention of Mr. Spooner. Proceed to sign the enclosed NDA. Upon completion you shall provide design concepts for our website”.

It was also about time I gave the design and code a refresh, after time we all learn new things we’re looking to put into practice, and discover more streamlined ways of working.

5. I couldn’t publish this interview without of course mentioning your newest blog ‘Line25′. Despite only being a few months old I’ve seen plenty of great content published there. Could you tell us a little bit about the blog, and your experiences running it so far?

Line25 has been awesome to grow over the past few months, it has been great going back to square one and establishing a new blog, although I did have a head start with the already established userbase on Blog.SpoonGraphics. Still, there were slow times in the beginning, but it seems to have picked up nicely and recently surpassed 13,000 subscribers in the 7 months it has been live. It has also been nice to have a standalone site, unlike Blog.SpoonGraphics which is attached to my portfolio. This has given me a little more freedom creating some types of posts that just didn’t feel right on my portfolio-blog. Although saying that I’m now ditching the whole ‘Oh, I can’t post that on my ‘business’ site mentality’ and looking at posting whatever I fancy on there.

I’m looking forward to developing the content on Line25 and kick up the traffic stats to the next level. I’m also considering opening up the site to more guest posts, both to ease off my workload and to offer another platform for people wanting to get their name out there alongside their content.

6. Do you have any more projects lined up for the near future?

I’m currently working off a few client projects with an aim to take a little break and concentrate on refreshing my blog designs. They’re both due a few little tweaks here and there. I’m also considering taking a direction with Blog.SpoonGraphics that’s similar to a couple of other big design blogs and offering a membership scheme. Here source files would be supplied, exclusive content would be posted and a range of discounts from some top companies would be offered. I don’t have any plans set in stone as yet, but it would
be cool to gather some initial opinions – What do the PSDFAN readers think?!

Otherwise, I’ve been enjoying experimenting on the video blogging side of life over at ChrisSpooner.com. This has been a great way of developing myself personally by building confidence in uncomfortable situations. Anyone who’s tried to talk to themselves while holding a camera to their face will know the feeling! Now video content feels natural, I’m considering creating a video version of my Blog.SpoonGraphics weekly favs. Video content seems to be the hottest thing on the web, so I’m up for jumping onto the bandwagon!

Hi Tom, thank you so much for asking. I’m Angie Bowen a 31 year old freelance web designer and co-owner and creator of the Arbenting Design Blog, Dead Wings Designs and the Social Media Directory for Designers. Arbenting is our design blog which has a large focus on web design and wordpress as well as freelancing. Dead Wings started as a print design blog but is about to get a redesign and will be turned into a place to get premium vectors and other design elements. The directory was an idea we had a while back that would allow designers to easily find each other among the vast sea of social media sites and design blogs.

Is design something that you’ve always been interested in? How did you get into the field?

Actually it’s not, I just became interested in design a few years ago. I’ve been an artist for years then a while ago decided to start learning html & css. That was my first introduction into the design community and I quickly became fascinated with it. So I spent a few years on the sidelines, studying and learning. I’m completely self taught (which a lot of people may find obvious lol) and have learned so much from the online design community that I wanted to give back. That’s when I decided to start Arbenting.

Your gallery shows some very diverse work. Do you have a favorite type of design?

Web design would have to be my favorite because I love to build as much as I love to design. There’s a logic to it that I’m a huge fan of, combining usability and aesthetics is like solving a problem. I’ve recently also gotten into snowboard design which I’m having a lot of fun with. It’s getting me back to the open, no-rules art that I started with which has been a nice change.

What does creativity mean for you?

Creativity means never having to say you’re sorry. No, wait. That’s love. For me, creativity is like air, it’s a life force that some people require for survival and I’m one of those people. I find it impossible not to create, it’s something that just comes naturally to me.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

So many places. I subscribe to about 250 design blogs which provide endless amounts of inspiration every day. I also live in what I think is one of the most beautiful places in the world (Manitou Springs, CO). I’ve never taken a walk here and not come out with new ideas. I also frequently visit local art galleries and online galleries such as deviant art, behance, css galleries, etc.

Do you have any favorite designers or websites that you follow?

Wow, this is an extremely hard question to answer. I love design blogs and have so many that I find helpful. If I had to pick a couple that excite me most to see updated they would be Janko at Warp Speed which is a wonderful web development blog that I’ve learned so much from and Just Creative Design where Jacob Cass offers his great perspective on graphic design.

Could you let us know about your future plans online?

I just got back from a 2 month hiatus and have a lot of plans. My number one priority right now is getting Arbenting back on a regular schedule. I’m also working on a redesign of the Social Media Directory for Designers as well as adding some features to make the site easier to use. I think it still has tons of untapped potential. And as I mentioned above, Dead Wings is about to undergo a huge transformation, but it’s still a ways down the road.

Thanks again for doing this interview, is there any closing advice that you’d give to aspiring designers?

Don’t let anyone discourage you. There are so many people, especially that you will run across online, that will do everything they can to quash your potential. Learn to listen to constructive critisism and accept it gracefully while tuning the negative people out.

Hi, my name is Jacob Cass and I am the founder of 3 websites of which you will find short descriptions below….

Just Creative Design
On this website you will find my personal graphic design portfolio, as well as a blog on the main subject of graphic design which provides free graphic design tips, articles & resources on all subjects of design, ranging from, but not limited to; print design, logo design, web design, branding, typography, advertising & more.

Logo Of The Day
Logo Of The Day is a high-profile logo design award scheme that rewards the best professional logos and trademarks designed throughout the world. All suggested logos are screened by myself & Jeff Fisher to ensure this. Logo Of The Day is also a place to come for logo design inspiration… daily! It is also a place to discuss, share & rate logo design!

Logo Designer Blog
Logo Designer Blog is a blog focused purely on branding, logo & identity design. It is a place for logo design discussion, inspiration, tips and resources (and then some) provided by myself and the many contributors to the site. Please feel free to submit an article to the site.

Is design something that you’ve always been interested in? How did you get into the field?

I’ve always loved art, it was one of my favourite subjects at school however it was only when I first started studying “graphic design” in high school that I got a firm interest in “graphic design”. From there, I started putting photos from parties up on the web for my friends (this was before MySpace or Facebook) and from that people realized I did web design and from there I got my first job (at 16) and I suppose the rest is history as they say.

Your portfolio shows some very inspirational logo, print and web design work. Could you give us some insight into your design process?

I have written many articles about my design process… Feel free to check them out here: http://justcreativedesign.com/featured-articles/

Do you find it hard to keep a balance between your design work and blogging?

I would say they go hand in hand. Blogging is in broad terms, a form of marketing so I see it as essential part of the business but in saying that, keeping balance is getting harder these days, especially with the launch of my two new blogs… and studying full time.

You seem to have a real passion for typography. How important do you feel typography is in the world of design?

To visually communicate a message, you need either words or pictures and for this reason I would have to say that typography is a vital aspect of design & communication in general.

Do you have any favorite designers or websites that you follow?

I have no favourite designers or role models that I “follow” so to speak however I do take inspiration from a number of sources, I read numerous blogs, magazines, books and articles so this does keep me up to date with what is happening in the design. I’ve recently enjoyed reading the book How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer which interviews some of the greats – a worthy read.

Could you let us know about your future plans online?

I am focusing on my three blogs at present so I can set myself up for when I finish studying. After I finish studying I will probably travel, then work in a studio and freelance on the side. I can see my blogs slowing down considerably over this year as I focus on my studies.

Thanks again for doing this interview, is there any closing advice that you’d give to aspiring designers?

As I said in my article, Advice For Design Students, the biggest piece of advice that I would give an upcoming designer comes in a ‘package’ based from the little things that I have learned over my short career as a designer; Don’t undervalue your work. Seek criticism, not praise. Always keep learning & don’t be a static learner… do this by reading books, magazines, blogs and by practising. Collect & share things. Teach others. Never give up. Keep practising. Again, keep practising.

Tom, thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself to your readers! My name is Grant Friedman and I’m a graphic and web designer from Louisville, Kentucky USA. In college, I studied a variety of topics from political science, to computer science; from web design, to advertising. Some people call it the “7 year plan”, I would say that it wasn’t much of a plan, more like a reality TV version of Van Wilder but without all the parties and interesting dialogue. After all that time, I finally settled on a degree in telecommunications, graduated and went looking for a job.

After a bit of searching, I accepted a position working in the Kentucky Governor’s Office. I worked as the Governor’s graphic and web design guy. Essentially, I was responsible for managing several state websites under the Governor’s Office’s control as well as the design of any materials such as newsletters, brochures, invitations, or anything else my coworkers could think up. I really enjoyed that job! I had a corner office in the Capitol Building with a giant window overlooking the main entrance to the building. It felt great to serve the people in that way but since I was a political appointee, my job was tied to the Governor and unfortunately he was not re-elected. That meant that after 2 years I was back on the job hunt.

It’s been a little over a year since I left government and I still haven’t found a full-time position. To pay the bills, I’ve been freelancing, blogging and enjoying the perks of working from home although I am looking for full-time positions again. If anyone is looking, *ahem* I’m available!

Is design something that you’ve always been interested in? How did you get into the field?

My interest in design started during college when I purchased my first computer. At the time, email was still a relatively new phenomenon and everyone wanted to be online, even though most people didn’t seem to know why. It was at this time, an organization I was involved with decided that they too wanted to start using the Internet to communicate so I volunteered to figure out how to send emails to multiple recipients and start sending out a weekly newsletter to our members. Not long after that I decided that I wanted to make my emails look better. That’s when I discovered design and after that, I was hooked.

It didn’t take long for me to take an interest in web and then graphic design. I actually learned graphic design on Macromedia Fireworks; a great program that I still use for web design.

Today, I consider myself a design enthusiast. I love all things design related and am interested in it all, even though at times I wonder how the heck people do some of the work that they do.

At Colorburned you seem to display a lost of interest in Photoshop brushes, patterns and textures. Are these things that you really love creating?

I really do love creating design resources. Creating patterns, brushes and textures can be challenging and a lot of work; so it’s really important that you actually love creating them. Otherwise, you’d go crazy.

What are the major inspirations for your work?

I’m inspired by a lot of things. You can find a lot of inspiration online but I’ve found that the best inspiration can be found in daily life either watching television, walking the dog or by browsing department stores. I’ve learned to bring a camera with me or a pad of paper to write down or take pictures of items that inspire me.

How much would you say that you’ve improved as a designer? What has spurred this improvement?

While I loved my job in government, it wasn’t your typical design job and the Capitol Building wasn’t exactly an ideal setting for spurring creativity. I really started to improve as a designer after I left my position in government and started following design blogs.

Do you have any favorite designers or websites that you follow?

Some of my favorite sites to follow are PSDTUTS, VECTORTUTS, Smashing Magazine, Bittbox, DesignM.ag, and Go Media. There are really tons of great design sites out there but I tend to check with those sites the most.

You’re pretty popular on social networks such as Twitter. Do you think that these sites have become an integral part of designer’s lives?

Thanks Tom! I appreciate that! I’ve found Twitter to be an amazing resource. In fact, it’s the best networking tool that I’ve ever used. I’ve really enjoyed connecting to other designers and learning more about my site’s visitors. When you freelance and work from home, it can be tough because you rarely make contact with other people. Twitter makes it a bit easier.

Could you let us know about your future plans online?

It’s funny that you ask that. I have some really big plans for Colorburned. In the near future I am planning to launch a re-design as well as to expand the site to include other authors. I am also in the process of writing a book on retro style graphics. The book should be published some time later this year.

Thanks again for doing this interview, is there any closing advice that you’d give to aspiring designers?

The best advice that I can give isn’t necessarily design related but it could also be applied. Never under value yourself. In life, the difference between successful and unsuccessful people can often be the way in which those people value their time and ideas. The most successful people put a high value on their time and ideas. So make sure that you present yourself as a competent and valuable resource, if you do, others will take notice.

More from Grant

You can check out more of Grant’s work at his awesome blog, ColorBurned.com

Today’s interview is with Jacob Gube, one of my all time favorite bloggers/designers. Enjoy!

1. Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Would you mind just introducing yourself to our readers by giving a quick summary of your experience and websites?

I’m Jacob Gube, a web developer/designer based in the U.S. I’m the founder of Six Revisions, a weblog that shares useful information for web developers and designers. I’ve been a web professional for roughly 8 years, starting out as a freelance graphic designer and eventually moving into web development/design.

2. You’ve built up an amazing following online. How did this come about? How does it feel to know that you inspire so many in the industry?

How did this come about? A lot of hard work and caffeine. Seriously though, I don’t focus on popularity, instead, I focus on publishing useful information that readers find valuable and educational.  I always listen to what the readers want to see, either via the comments, Twitter, or email.
How does it feel? I’m humbled to be considered as an “influencer” in the industry, but I also feel that it ups my responsibility in terms of the quality and type of content I publish. I try to be as unbiased as possible, but if you lurk in the comments, you’ll eventually see where I personally stand with certain issues and debates.
 

3. What is the greatest thing about the design industry?

The community is the greatest thing about the industry. Instead of working against each other, we help each other. One example: designers giving away freebies: texture files, PS brushes, patterns, etc. We support one another, and it’s something that is uncommon in other industries.

4. If you had to prescribe 3 do’s and 3 don’ts of web design, what would you recommend?

DO be aware of web standards. A good web designer always puts web standards and cross-browser compatibility at the forefront of the design process.

DO learn about the audience you’re trying to reach. Learn what appeals to them and design with intent.

DO put usability before aesthetics. Designing for the web isn’t the same as painting a picture where you have more of a creative license to do whatever you want; usability is important, and you should never sacrifice usability for the sake of beauty.

DON’T underestimate the importance of accessibility. Many designers feel that the return of investment in creating an accessible site is poor, I beg to differ. We’re at a time when users are viewing web pages in non-traditional means like mobile devices and screen readers. Having an accessible site not only allows you to reach a wider audience, but it has many other benefits such as search engine optimization and more semantic markup. Even simple things, such as meaningful title attributes for links, add a significant value to a site.

DON’T always stick to what you know. Try something different, expand your repertoire, do something outside of your design comfort zone.

DON’T stop learning. I guarantee you that many things you learned two years ago, are different today. Keep up with best practices and emerging technologies and try to stay ahead of the curve.
 

5. What is the meaning behind the name ‘Six Revisions’?

As a designer, you often have multiple revision rounds on a particular project. That’s where I got the inspiration from.

Why Six? No particular reason other than it sounded great at the time when I was picking a site name.

6. How do you see the design industry changing in the future?

I see the design industry diversifying. At the start, we didn’t have UI designers, UX designers, web designers – we had one thing, graphic designers. As we learn more and more about designing for the web, we’ll see even more highly-specific fields of design, as well as designers being an expert in a particular component of a site, like say, navigation design. 

7. Do you have any future projects planned that you would like to share with us?

Yes, I have a new web project that will be launching fairly soon, slated for the first quarter of this year. My partners and I are really excited about it and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, but never had the means to pursue (until now). I can’t share any more information about it at this moment, but if you’d like to find out more about the project, follow me on Twitter where we’ll be sharing information about the project, and where we’ll eventually announce the launch date.

I will say this: this project is where I’ve been investing most of my time in and the whole team is passionate about the endeavor!

8. Thanks again for this interview. Do you have any final words of wisdom for aspiring designers?

Look for inspiration outside of your field. If you’re a web designer – study architecture, photography, print design. Find inspiration in places where you’d least expect it.

Thanks again for this interview Jacob, I really enjoyed getting to know you a little better. All the best for your future endeavors.

If you would like to learn more about Jacob you can visit him at his blog or catch up with him on Twitter.

Thanks Tom, it’s a pleasure! I’m Chris Spooner, a graphic and website designer from Sheffield, UK. I’m also the guy behind tutorial, freebie and design article related site; Blog.SpoonGraphics.

In terms of my background, I’ve always seemed to enjoy being creative, and found Art was my best subject throughout education. I followed this right up to university where I graduated in Art & Design. Since then I’ve worked as a designer at two local studios before heading out as a freelance designer earlier this year.

2. Tell us a little about your blog SpoonGraphics. What inspired you to start it, and how did you get it to the point that it’s at today?

Blog.SpoonGraphics is my little corner of the web, it started as an experimental add-on to my portfolio. At the time it seemed every designer was setting up a blog, so I decided to give it a go myself! I started out posting the odd tutorial and free giveaway, soon some of the posts gained decent exposure and traffic and the site has grown from there! I’m now proud to see over 10k subscribers and increased exposure for myself as a designer.

3. What first got you into design and what do you think makes design so special?

I love how design can manipulate the sub-conscious thoughts of people, just like in traditional art that forms different emotions, design is used in the real world often to generate sales and promote products. I’ve seen many examples where design has resulted in the success of a product or service while competitors without a polished brand or any professional design material haven’t had as much success. Obviously more factors are involved in whether something takes off, but I think design is one of the important aspects of success.

4. Your portfolio is home to some pretty amazing work. Where do you get your ideas from?

Thanks! I do enjoy experimenting in many different areas of design, browsing the web often generates some inspiration from checking out the work of other designers. I also find it useful to read through tutorials, even if the outcome is something I could already create myself, I regularly discover new methods and techniques which can then be applied in new areas.

5. What is your favorite aspect of designing? For instance, do you prefer web design, logo design or photo manipulation?

I like to work on a wide variety of projects including logo design, print design, illustration, character design and web design to mix up my day. The underlying elements of design are the same throughout, but the application is usually different, for example putting together a design for print is a little different to coding up a website, but techniques from both areas can be mixed up and used for different purposes. Right now I’m quite intrigued at learning the basics of 3D modelling tool Blender to see if I can reproduce some characters in three dimensions or maybe use some 3D elements in my illustrations, this kind of project I’ll look into in my spare time but I’m sure the new techniques will come in handy for mainstream projects.

6. What do you predict will be the next big design trend and why?

I’m really looking forward to wider support for CSS3 in the world of web. Such features of multiple background images, border images and @font-face styling are going to open up some wicked opportunities for unique website designs, making it much easier to create that out of the ordinary style without the extra markup often associated with crazy designs! I think the rough and ready style with hand drawn elements and snippets of paper is going strong and gaining wider popularity, a contrast to the shiny effects of the whole web 2.0 malarky!

7. What are your favorite design websites to visit?

I enjoy visiting a wide range of sites through my feed reader, ones I tend to find exceptional content through are sites such as Design Float and Designm.ag that compile links to hundreds of articles across the design community. Other favourites in my collection are CSS-Tricks, Vandelay Design Blog and GoMediazine, all of which have interesting tutorials, roundups and sources of inspiration.

8. Thanks very much for this interview. Do you have any closing words of advice for aspiring designers out there?

Thankyou for the opportunity! I’d advise new designers to keep up your work, experiment with different techniques and applications as well as jumping off the computer and creating some hand-made resources for use in your digital designs. Anything to mix it up and add diversity to your work!

Ee Venn Soh is a young graphic designer from Malaysia. You can view his design work here. He is hugely talented, having written tutorials for sites such as PSDTUTS, and having his work featured in huge publications such as Computer Arts and Digital Arts. Anyway, I’ll let you be the judge of his talent when you read his thoughts and check out his work…

1. Thankyou for doing this interview. Could you please tell our readers a little about yourself and your design background?

I am the person behind the creative identity of EIII. I work completely on my own,
without any formal training. The only training will be late night experiments and
tutorials. Currently I am studying computer science in University of Auckland, New
Zealand. Now, I am under an international student exchange program with Nanyang
Technological University of Singapore. I’ve had a passion for arts ever since I was
young. It just comes naturally. However I don’t believe in studying formally.
Designing is part of my life and I enjoy every moment of it.

2. What motivates you to design? What do you think makes design so special?

It all started when I was young. I love things that are unique, catchy and original. I
am constantly inspired by things around me. Things I see, hear and feel. It is just
always part of me. Designing creates possibilities. I enjoy the limitless imagination
and creativeness that we can achieve.

3. What is your average day like?

I wake up around 9am. Take a bath. Check my mails and read some interesting stuff
around the internet. Pack my stuffs and go to school. Study the entire day
and when I really need time to relax I will just head back to my room and surf the
internet for designing related stuffs. Chat around with friends on msn and sleep at
2am.

4. What is your workflow like for creating your images?

I would normally get an idea in my mind first. I do all the mapping in my head
without drafting or draw it out. I will start collecting resources and inspirations
that suit the piece. First of all, I will work on the overall composition,
background and montage. Soon after i will add all visual effects to the piece. A
touch of final colorization to the overall piece.

5. What are your current favorite design websites?

I use RSS nowadays so basically I visit more than 40 websites each day. To list out
those I personally like will be FFFFound.com, FormFiftyFive.com, TypeNeu.com,
blog.ISO50.com, Ibelieveinadv.com, behance.net.

6. What is your favorite piece of design? It can be by any designer, created at any time, for any purpose.

Emmm… favourite piece of all time. It is very hard to decide as my style is
constantly changing and evolving. However, I am a big fan of Peter Jaworowski works
(Hejz). I got into designing seriously after inspired by some pieces from him. Such
as his Nike commercial pieces. http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Nike-Air-Lab/40072 &
http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Nike-City-Motion/55604 back 1 or 2 years ago. Those are
also the pieces that made him a big hit.

7. What is the best way to create truly interesting work?

Designers have to be resourceful. Constant updating and keep tracking with the
latest happenings in the industry is a must. Failing to do so will keep you off.
Even though you are a digital photo artist you should also check out various genres
of works. I check out works from as old in the 50′s daily. It serves as daily
inspiration intake to me.

8. Which basic Photoshop techniques do you find yourself using time and time again in your work?

The brush tool, dodge & burn tool, smudge tool, color adjustment settings and
sharpen filter. You don’t need any fancy filters plug-ins to create some awesome
pieces. It is all about attention to details using tools so simple you cant imagine.

9. Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview. Do you have any closing words of motivation to aspiring young designers?

Be original, be hardworking and love what you are doing. Be a trendsetter rather
than a follower. Don’t get blinded with the vague promise of being a designer. Start
off as a hobby or interest rather than a tool to make money.

Thanks for the interview.

Todays interview is really a dream come true for me. Fabio Sasso is widely regarded as one of the best Photoshop designers in the world, having written countless articles for PSDTUTS, and for his own hugely popular blog Abduzeedo. When I started this website a few months ago it was people like Fabio that motivated me to push myself in my own designs. To be perfectly honest when PSDFAN first started out I never thought that I’d be interviewing the heavy-weights of the design industry. But anyway, enough about all that, I expect that you’ll want to check out the interview…

1. Firstly I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this interview. You’re considered a very well known figure within the design community, but many people may only know you through one of your ventures, rather than seeing the whole picture. Would you mind giving a little personal background information about yourself and your websites for our readers?

Thanks a lot for the opportunity to do this interview as well. Well, I’m a graphic and web designer from Brazil, and before the blog I was working only on web design projects for Zee,a company I found with a great friend of mine, Fabiano Meneghetti. Then in the end of 2006 I started Abduzeedo.

2. What motivates you to design? What do you think makes design so special?

I think design is really important and what motivates me is that we are designing things that will be part of some people’s lives. That involves lots of variables and there are always new things to learn and discover.

3. What is your average day like? Could you perhaps explain your work flow?

It’s kind of crazy to be honest, I usually wake up pretty early, 6-6:20 AM then I read my Feeds having coffee, the first coffee. That takes like 1-2 hours. Then it’s time to blog, however I tend to have an idea of what I will blog about the day before, so I have just write and organize the post. My work day starts 9Am, then I work until 5, for CSNGlobal. After that I’m back to abduzeedo where I work on other things like new features, the new design and stuff like that. Close to midnight some times later than that I go to bed.

4. As designers we will all inevitably have periods where we lack our usual creativity. What do you do when you have a creative dry patch?

I like to practice exercises, go to the GYM or running for 1 hour. That always help me to get new ideas. Even though sometimes not even that helps. So it’s time leave that project aside and work on different projects for one day, then go back.

5. In your opinion, what sets a great designer apart from a good designer?

Well I think it’s the capacity to understand the target audience needs and expectations for project that the designer is working on, and deliver the best solution for that. Sometimes we tend to be very critical when seeing another designer’s work and we forget the context of that design and why it was done that way.

6. Which websites do you visit on a daily basis?

Oh there are so many, my google reader is full of feeds, I like Designyoutrust, ffffound, flickr (several groups), cpluv, smashinmagazine, lifehacker, readwriteweb, signalnoise, signal vs noise, psdtuts… and many more. You can see some of the articles I share visiting my personal site that is a friendfeed mashup, the url is fabiosasso.com

7. What’s the most enjoyable project that you’ve ever worked on and why?

I think it’s the new abduzeedo site, it’s been really cool and I’m working with my brother, also with Fabiano, Paulo, and Aloa. The best thing is that I can look back what I did in the past and try to make it simpler and better.

8. Where do you see the design industry heading in the future?

I think the design industry will be very powerful, because we see some companies like apple showing how important the design is for a product, and of course more companies will start doing the same. As the “user experience” becomes the goal, the design industry will grow and also look for new ways to make some processes simpler and easier.

9. Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview. Do you have any closing advice for up and coming designers?

My advice is keep always learning and trying to improve your skills. Try different things and enjoy the design process, that will really help you when you need to restart projects from scratch. Ah, and of course, have fun.

/Interview

I really hope that you enjoyed this interview, as I know I certainly did. If you liked it then I’d always appreciate a Digg or Stumble. Until next time!