5 bits of advice (5x5 publication)

5X5 advice

Be more aware of contemporary design

I think that as a student/ new designer, it is really important to keep up to date with contemporary

design and current design trends; I suppose you have to be on the ball with what is trending in order to take inspiration and differentiate yourself from other designers. Look on places such as Its Nice That.

Produce work by hand more

As a designer I feel like you have to produce some work by hand in order to get a feel for 

what you are actually designing; it can help you consider what your final outcomes will turn out like 

and push you to consider physical attributes when designing digitally. I really like 

the clay work by illustrator Aga Geicko as it really brings her characters to life.

Make sure the work you make is organic and personal

In an email interview with Seapunch, he said to make sure your work is organic and personal,

and not to just design to other peoples' tastes. This resonated with me as I don't want to be a designer 

that just works for others; I want people to buy into my style. A project that I applied

this attitude to was the 401 Garfield Minus Garfield project, as it was something 

I personally wanted to do, and the project explored this personal sense within

publications and zines.

Take inspiration from everywhere 

I love taking inspiration from little accounts for visuals on instagram; it helps you look at interesting

colour palettes such as the Simpsons, or nostalgic design in retro fruit stickers.

An account that I really like is accidental collage, as it embraces the idea of intentional mistakes,

which I like to experiment with in my own work.

Collaborate more

I really want to start to push myself to collaborate more, as I feel like bouncing off other peoples'

styles and ideas can help develop your experience in adapting, and in general 

can just be fun. I've worked with a few mates before on a small publication, and its 

something I'd love to do more. A designer that collaborates a lot is this guy called Leisure on instagram. His work is super interesting and combines painting with solid blocks of colour and 

illustrations; he often works with other painters and creates some really 

cool pieces like this one above.