A lot of people in our industry had similar experiences like mine, they discovered the web at an early age and looked for a way to make it their own. When we first started dabbling in web design and web development, it was out of curiosity and passion. We made stuff because we enjoyed it and because it made us a part of something bigger. We loved seeing others enjoying our creations, despite how bad and amateurish those creations seem now. I still experience this today of course when someone compliments me on my website or likes one of my dribbble shots, it feels good that someone enjoys my work.

However, a while ago I started feeling that designing and creating has become more distant and more about the acknowledgement these days. In the past I would just make a DragonBall Z or a Prison Break website because I enjoyed it. Of course I knew thousands of others did as well and that someone would appreciate what I made, but the beginnings of those projects where always about my passion for it. And when you make something just to express your passion, it will be perceived as a product of passion as well. It becomes more real to others, more relatable, and you will attract people (and in some of those cases even an entire community) almost automatically. Whenever I see a website or startup where it’s obvious that it came from the passion of the creator, I feel very inspired. Even when I can’t relate to the product, I can always relate to the creator and how he or she feels about it.

We are in such a unique position to create accessible products and it will probably be something we will do for the rest of our lives. This makes it so much more important to regain or hold onto that joy and satisfying feeling of creating with passion. If you’re not doing it right now, start creating stuff again because you love it. If you have a full-time job, try making time for a sideproject for yourself, something you’re passionate about.

Don’t think about ‘what’s in it for me’, but rather create because you want to and the rewards will come. If they won’t, that’s okay too. We will enjoy creating and learning from these experiences, which is plenty reward in itself and once we recognize and embrace that, this passion will once again become a part of us and we will be able to bring it with us into our daily work. Not only does this make your job more enjoyable, it makes your work that much better as well.

Of course, this kid was me, and I can still picture and feel that moment as if it was yesterday. Never in my life was I this excited about something, I mean watch this similar promo and try to put yourself in my shoes as a kid.
I remember not even wanting to go on vacation anymore and wishing that the show would start immediately. I also remember worrying about missing it when it was going to start. ‘This summer’ they said..well it was already summer, would they start before I got back from our summer vacation? No, they wouldn’t dare.

When we finally got back a few weeks later, I did not forget about this show. And while watching Cartoon Network a new promo came on and they announced it would start next week, it was on the Monday school would start again and it would start just half an hour after school was out. It was just perfect, I couldn’t wait! Dragon Ball Z had such a huge impact on me. Not only was it (and still is, to me) the most amazing show ever to exist, it had great character development, beautifully choreographed action, hilarious jokes in the midst of battles, terrifying evil, heartbreaking drama and sacrifices. It became a part of my schooldays instantly, always something to look forward to. I even watched all the reruns in the weekend.

You’re probably wondering why I am telling you about all this. Well, I loved this show and it’s characters so much, that this is where I really started drawing seriously. I was always drawing these characters until I could just do it without an image or frame of an episode as a reference. I drew them at school as well, and when the kids from my little sisters class saw one of these drawings she had with her, they all wanted one. I started getting requests from these kids and I would draw them with thicker lines because they would copy them and colour them. It was amazing seeing others enjoying my work and being recognised for a skill I just started to really be decent at.

I was also really lucky to have internet at home at an early age, so when this was all happening I was on the internet all the time on DragonBall Z forums and websites. Soon I discovered a service called Homestead, it looked easier to work with than Geocities so I used it to make and publish my very first DragonBall Z site, it was called Relax Dragon Ball Z(very creative, I know).

At first it was just a couple of images with some text, but when I showed it to friends they were all impressed. Soon I was looking for templates that I could customize to look more like the better DragonBall Z sites around. I even used a url shortener to mask that I was using the amateuristic Homestead service. After a while I was getting a pretty decent amount of visitors and other sites wanted to exchange links and banners. The site got pretty well known and another DBZ site wanted to join forces with me, we called it ‘fusing’, and we created a new website. We added stuff about other anime tv shows as well, such as Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Rurouni Kenshin, Pokemon etc. and called it Anime Spirit. A website with image galleries, info pages, even online episodes!

This became a huge success, and we fused with another big anime website and created an even more successful anime site called Tenko-XL, with our own link exchange network, Topsites board and Forums. It was amazing to be a part of something awesome like this. Sadly, after a while the hype around these animes kinda died down and we closed the site. A bit later I tried to make my own DragonBall Z site again because I just couldn’t let go, and I created Namekian Gods, with a much better designed site using php and offering online episodes which people still loved. It wasn’t as sweet anymore though because the real love people had for this show was disappearing.

This was when I decided to stop with the site and realised I could make some money by designing websites, logo’s, banners etc. You could say I got more serious about it. A while later, during high school, along with a classmate who was a decent coder, I started a site about another popular TV Show that we were really into: Prison Break. The site was called FoxRiver, after the prison in the show, and the dutch domain was available so we went for it. We had a pretty well visited website, a lively discussion forum. We decided to expand to more tv shows, changed the name to MySeries and added Heroes and Lost, which were very popular as well. We provided people with online episodes before they were even showed on Dutch television and the site was very popular.

That success was short-lived though, because soon we received a letter of one of the big Dutch television networks that we had to remove these episodes from our site or we were to face legal actions. As you can imagine that’s a pretty frightening threat for a couple of 15 year-olds. So of course we obliged and we saw the traffic drop immediately along with our motivation to keep updating the site. When we got an offer of a couple hundred euro’s for the site we hastily accepted it and moved on with our lives. I started making logo’s on crowdsourcing sites (terrible I know..) and started designing to someday be able to make a living off of it.

After high school, I went to college to study Communication & Multimedia Design, and during college I did some small logo and web design jobs here and there and eventually started to do freelance projects officially and focused more on my career and establishing myself.

To this day, I still believe that summer afternoon 13 years ago changed my life and was the cause for me becoming a (web)designer.

I will be writing another blog post on this from another perspective soon that will be less of a rant about history and nostalgia and more about the present. If you’d like to share how you became a designer or developer, I’d love to hear about it.

This act of not shipping stuff because it’s never finished is just one example of the nonsense that keeps me from doing the things I should. I’m kind of tired of that, so I’m trying to ignore those urges to not do something, and instead just dive in. So aside from launching my site, I also recently started some development courses over at Treehouse. It’s a great site to get to know new programming languages and become skilled in them, eventually.

So if you see yourself not doing things more than actually doing things you think about doing. Try for one week to just say no more of that nonsense and just start doing, make time.

And yeah, I’m for hire now. I’m currently freelancing and working on side projects and learning new skills, but eventually I’d love to join a company full-time and help them make a better product and become a better designer myself. If you’re interested, just hit that fancy green button on the left.

Recently something new has been starting to develop itself in my head. You could call it an idea, a new goal, fresh ambition. Where a year ago I would be pleased with my work quite quickly, today this is no longer the case. It takes a long time (if ever) for me to actually be pleased with a design I create. This got me thinking: Maybe this means that I’m not as good of a designer that I think I am, or maybe if I can see that there is room for improvement in a design, it means that I have the potential to be the designer that my inner self wants to see, and be.

Just a couple of months ago I was still in school, doing freelance design on the side and trying to improve myself. I was searching for something bigger, and I wasn’t sure what it was. Now that I have graduated college, and finally have that degree I have been working for, I have the feeling that I can finally move on to real things and finally get that noticeable improvement. To be honest, I always had the feeling school was slowing me down in my development and improvement of my skills. On the other hand, at that time I was also able to use school as an excuse, which abled me to not improve myself too fast and blame it on being busy with schoolwork.

Not anymore. No more excuses. Right now I feel that If I don’t make myself the designer I want to be now, then it won’t happen, because now I am no longer constrained by a system or a format that I didn’t feel to be growing in. I am free now. I am a designer with one responsibility. To work harder, learn more, improve faster, and become better.

Today I have for you an interview with the great logo designer and great person altogether, Sean Farrell. His designs are pretty well known in the design community. He has a way of making a logo say exactly what it needs while making it look beautiful.

Check out the interview to see what he has to say about himself and his profession. Enjoy!

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Hello Sean, thank you for participating in this interview. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am a 25 year old follower of Christ, husband, and designer… in that order.  I love to create and design and am so thankful that I get to do it for a living, but I’d trade that in anytime for family time.  I like ice cream and owned a franchise of an ice cream company at the age of 19.  I only started designing about two and half years ago, and the first logo I ever sold was $20.  I have a dog that I consider to be my daughter.  Lastly, I am really good at Tiny Wings on the iPhone so if you ever want to get smoked, just add me.

I’ve seen you around a couple of years ago on 99designs and lots of logo sites. You’ve come a long way since then, would you like to tell us something about your journey, how you got started and how you got where you are today.
Yeah I used to design for 99designs, crowdspring, logotournament, the whole lot of them.  A lot of people look down on spec work, but truthfully, it’s because of those sites that I got better so quickly.  On average, I would usually be involved in around 30 contests a week.  The thing is though, you go through the motions, you don’t really care about the project, you’re just trying to get paid and move on.  I wouldn’t recommend it to new designers… I remember reading an article on David Airey’s site listing some alternatives for designers to break into the field.  I.e: design for yourself, do personal projects, design for non-profits, charities, churches, etc, or do work for friends and family.

The key here is to connect with other designers though.  You need honest feedback and from people who you respect in the field.  I am always available to chat and love talking with designers, just connect with me on dribbble, skype, gtalk etc…

What do you think is the most important when designing a logo?
Some people would have you believe that it’s scalability but I think that is just one piece of the pie.  Some others would say colors/gradients.  In my honest opinion, it’s about making something that will appeal to the company’s potential audience.  A lot of designers get so caught up trying to create something that will appeal to other designers…

Where do you get your inspiration and motivation? Is there something that really helps you design better?
I would say that my creative abilities come from the lord… There is no other explanation.  He created me and gave me a crazy imagination!   So yeah I blame God for my wacky out of the box ideas.

Did/do you go to college studying something design-related or are you a self-taught designer?
I am a self taught designer.  I downloaded a free trial of photoshop a couple years ago and just fell in love.  It was something I became interested in very quickly and did every tutorial I could find online.  I still would like to go to school for design one day, but just haven’t found the time.

Are you a full-time freelancer or do you work at an agency part-time as well? And how are you liking you current work-situation?
I am a full time freelancer.  I work for a number of agencies, the most prominent being Fixel, which I am so thankful to be a part of.  Those guys rock and we all get better because we push each other.

What is your main source of client projects right now? And do you do anything to stimulate this?
My main source of client projects still come through brandclay, but that’s slowly fading towards fixel projects.  Right now its about 75/25.  I have been blessed enough to not have to find work for quite a while.  The only thing I do is post shots to dribbble, and get quite a few requests from there.  I still would submit to logolounge or logopond but just don’t have the time!

Do you have a standard process for the logo’s you create? Tell us a bit about your process.
Yeah my process is a very very important part of the way my designs come out.  It always starts off with coming up with a list of adjectives that describes important info about the company.  I get most of these words from the questionnaire that I provide them and then use the thesaurus to get a bit more descriptive.  After that, I start sketching and just sketch on and off for 5-7 days.  After that I scan them into illustrator or photoshop and start messing around in there for a couple days of exploration.  Then finally, I pick some of my favorites and present them to the client.

What is your personal favorite of all the logo’s you have created?
I don’t know if I’m allowed to say but seriously, ever designer has to have a favorite piece of work.  My favorite would be my ZAO logo, hands down.

In our line of work we spend a lot of time on a computer and it is very easy to get distracted. How do you handle this procrastination?

Me and procrastination are pretty good friends, in fact we spent quite a bit of time right before I got to these interview questions

Nah but seriously, I think it’s just the day and age we live in.  If you seriously want to bury your head, open only photoshop/illustrator and plug away, nothing else, no music, no twitter, no phone.. ok that’s getting crazy but sometimes it has to be done.

You’ve been around the design community for quite some time now. What do you think about the current state of the design community in comparison with the past, and what do you think will become of it in the (near) future?
That is a pretty deep question…  I think the design community continuously is getting stronger because its one of the only industries I’ve ever seen where people are constantly helping and lifting each other up…  There are so many good designers out there and I’m just thankful each and everyday that I get to be a part of this awesome community.

Thanks a lot for the interview, Sean! Do you have any final tips for the readers?
The biggest advice that was ever given to me was to stay true to your design self, don’t get caught up in trends, design the way you want to and people will respect that.

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Be sure to check out more of Sean’s work at his website www.brandclay.com and his Dribbble page and if you enjoyed the interview, be sure to share it!

Today I have for you an interview with Tyler Galpin, another young and talented designer who is pretty well known in the design community.

This Interview will be a bit different than the previous one, for this interview you can listen to the conversation I had with Tyler. Below the audio player you’ll see the written answers to most of the questions. Enjoy!

You can listen to the interview via the audio player below. Just give it a bit of time to buffer and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

[audio:http://www.yassinebentaieb.com/interviewfiles/TylerGalpin.mp3]

Below you will find the written summary of the interview. To get the full effect of the interview and Tyler’s experiences, I recommend you to also listen to the interview audio above.

Introduction
I’m an almost 22 years old web and UI designer from Toronto. I’m moving to New York or San Francisco soon. I have been designing professionally for almost  3 years now, unprofessionally about 7 years, just as a hobby.

How did you get into design? Any elaborate story? (Twitter question from @nicolefdesigns)
At our school we were required to have a laptop, and as a kid you really want yours to stand out and we would go on sites like Deviantart and try and find awesome wallpapers to style our computers. I wanted to learn and make some wallpapers for myself, thats how I really got started with design. My first website I had to make for a media arts class in grade eleven at the age of 15 or 16, and we had to build in in Frontpage. I’ll have to see if I can find it again, but I would never put that in my portfolio right now.

The first serious project I got was about three years ago, I did some freelance work for people I knew when still going to university. I was doing websites pro-bono for conferences and charities etc. to get my name out there and up my skills a little bit. I was designing and also building the websites in WordPress, which I don’t do anymore.

You seem to be a jack of all trades, you design websites, logo’s and lately even amazing t-shirts and typefaces! Did you intentionally choose not to specialize yourself in one field or did it just happen?
Yeah it was just random chance, the projects just started coming up. Also, I was getting a bit bored always staring at the website project I was doing. So I wanted to dabble in different fields, t-shirt, logo’s, mobile interfaces. The whole typeface thing was very recent. My first real typeface was Highlands, where I really sat down and originally created a typeface. I would still not consider myself a typographer but it’s really nice to practice. Even if just one person appreciate my work or typeface, that’s enough for me. I’m not looking to compete with other big typographers.

Where do you get your inspiration and motivation? Is there something that really helps you design better?
I wish I could say that there was, but honestly I just try to expose myself to as many different things as possible. Wether that is looking at architecture, or going on walks and not think about things for a while and take in the nature. Of course I also look at other webdesigns and go on Dribbble, but a lot of is just trying not to actively think about design all the time and then you will soak in everything naturally and you’ll end up with fresh ideas.

For every single project I’ll create a moodboard for myself and gather everything from the web in a single browser with like 30 or 40 tabs with a lot of different sites elements and styles.

When you are working on a project, do you get easily distracted? How do you deal with that?
Yeah I procrastinate a lot and it takes a lot for me to get focused and get back on track. The best way for me to get back on track is to accept that you will procrastinate and put things off and deal with that before the project. I also like to work in the very last hours before a deadline, the pressure just brings out the ideas I need.

I also listen to a lot of music, during working I mostly try to listen to music without any vocals, and usually shut down my IM so I don’t get distracted, and sometimes I shut down Twitter, but I really love Twitter so most of the time I can’t.

Another twitter question, by @Jeijisan: How do you choose the correct typeface to match your logo’s or designs?
I mostly look at other websites a lot where I see the typefaces work with the designs and then learn from that. A big part of it is just teaching yourself and understanding typefaces, and what sort of feelings and emotions they evoke. And then when a client want a professional website, I’ll know what kind of typeface I’m looking for, for example a serif, and then just look at my Font Book and look at only serif fonts. I takes quite some time, mostly about an hour per project. [Tip: Listen to the audio for a lot more type talk!]

Make sure to check out the Lost Type Co-op by Tyler Galpin and Riley Cran.  It’s a very designer-centric with a select number of typefaces, on a pay-what-you-want model.

How many clients did you have before you made the leap to fulltime freelancing?
It wasn’t really a specific number of clients, it was more knowing that you’ll have a regular stream of projects. You should try to think ahead before going fulltime freelancing. I like to book my about 2 months in advance, I like to not be tied down too much so I have the option to do something else after that, for example if I feel like suddenly going to travel the world. It’s also useful to have a backup plan in case you have no projects coming  in, like personal projects, creating and selling themes, or an app you’re working on.

What do you think about the current state of the design community in comparison with the past, and what do you think will become of it in the future?
I’ve told this to many people who have come to me for advice on how to get started in web design and design in general, and every single time I tell them: There is nog better time to be a designer than right now. The community is so open right now, there are a lot of startups right now looking for design work. It’s a great time to be a designer right now, because you can do pretty much anything you want on the web. If you work hard enough you could be the best web designer in your area. As long as you have a design eye and you know what looks  like crap and what doesn’t, and you work really hard, that’s the pretty much the only formula you need to be successful.

Do you have any tips for our readers and listeners on design or freelancing?
Always see yourself as the underdog, there’s always somebody better than you, and if you sit on yuour butt for even 2 seconds you’re gonna be playing catchup. So always drive yourself forward and never be content with where you are, always keep pushing forward, especially in your artistic abilities, always try new styles.

Also karma is very important. That kid who’s asking you for your advice now, might be the biggest thing in design to hit the community in 5 years. So respond to that kid, treat him or her with respect, and if you don’t have time, just let them know. If you’re nice to people and put in the time and be kind, it will come back to you.

Very good advice. Could you tell a bit about your process when designing?
For me, sketching is a big part of what I do. I could start in Photoshop, but it’s very different if you’re not constrained by Photoshop tools. With sketching, you come up with a lot of ideas in a lot less time. Another thing I like to do is do a big word brainstorm, I go through all the client e-mails, I pick out keywords about styles etc. and just write them down. And then I just take those sketches and words and try to translate them into a design. If you start out correctly and you just let you mind go and take your time with it, without trying to force anything, you pretty much can’t go wrong.

So, do you have any favorite designers? People who inspire you?
One of them would be one of my good friends, Jay Schaul, he has to be one of my favorite designers right now. Another one would be Tim Boelaars, the previous interviewee, he’s got some really awesome work. His motorcycle illustration is probably my favorite. And also Brandon Oxendine, he’s doing awesome stuff right now, he’s got some really cool hand drawn stuff. You should definitely check those guys out!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk Tyler, and I’m sure everyone can learn something by reading or listening to this interview. Very enlightening!

I hope you all enjoyed it as well! Be sure to check out Tyler’s website and dribbble page, and his Lost Type Co-op is also definitely worth a browse! Also make sure to follow Tyler on Twitter.

To share this interesting interview with others, just use one of the sharing links below or above the post or just share the link. Thanks!

Read on to get to know him, how he got started and how he thinks about his occupation and the design community.

Hello Tim, thank you for participating in this interview. Could you start by telling us a little about yourself?
My name is Tim Boelaars, Iʼm twenty-one years old. I live and work in Amsterdam.

How did you get started as a designer/illustrator? Did you draw a lot as a kid?
Yes, I used to draw a lot when I was a child, like any other kid I guess. When I was about six years old I used to visit my grandpa. My grandpa made beautiful illustrations and paintings, but was always very shy about his work. When he was younger he worked at a bank, which was a choice made out of safety rather than pleasure. Surrounded by books on art, sitting at his immense desk, he told me stories about pioneers like Goya, Michelangelo, M.C. Escher and Picasso. He taught me how to sketch, paint and find joy in the act of creating. These lessons went on for a few years until he was too damaged by a stroke that took away most of his capabilities. This somehow, feels like a key-moment. My grandpa never got to see my current work, but his influence is one of my biggest motivations to keep on creating.

When I was a teenager I felt like rebelling and started doing graffiti. I was intrigued by the secrecy of this movement and started buying spray-paint and markers. The most striking aspects of graffiti to me were the dynamics, colors and the play with letterforms. I never thought about the damage done, it just felt good. Soon enough I stopped doing this because of the risks involved.

All this time, from when I was young up until now, Iʼve never stopped drawing. It was mostly an act of fun or boredom, rather than knowing I could make a living out of it. More and more I started to notice progression in my work. This progression easily became one of my biggest drives to continue. By looking at – and learning more about – design I knew it wouldnʼt be a passing thing. I mainly taught myself, and Iʼm getting better at it. Iʼd like to just continue to be able to express myself as best as I can.

What do you think is the most important when illustrating and/or designing a logo?
Iʼm not sure, I think everyone has to do what feels best. To me the most important part about designing is to create something that feels authentic and carries the right harmony, the right message. Next to that, I push myself to make better work. This I think is a natural process which often goes unnoticed. To me it feels good sometimes to stop and look back at older work. The fact that my old work is starting to look like shit, must mean I am getting better at it.

Where do you get your inspiration and motivation? Is there something that really helps you design better?
Most of my inspiration comes from looking at old work, both art and graphic-design focused books. Next to that I get inspired by everything around me, which sounds cliche, but I think most inspiration comes through subconsciously. With that understanding Iʼm never really actively looking for inspiration, but try to let it come to me as the days go by. My strongest motivation would be the satisfaction of finishing a piece of work.

Are you a full-time freelancer or do you work at an agency part-time as well? And how are you liking you current work-situation?
Iʼm currently full-time freelancing and am working towards partnering up with a friend of mine to create a more interesting environment. I enjoy freelancing, but canʼt imagine doing it the rest of my life. Iʼd like to be able to work on projects with other people as soon as I can. Doing so will help me create more curious and interesting results.

Your illustrations really have a recognizable and unique style. How did you come to this style and are you aware of the uniqueness of it?
Iʼm not sure if I would describe my own work as unique or recognizable. On the other hand I have heard this more often, so I guess it must be true. To be honest I donʼt really think about it that often because Iʼve grown in to it. I think itʼs most enjoyable when Iʼm able to push this ʻstyleʼ in a new direction, or do something completely different, without losing my signature.

Do you have a process for the amazing illustrations you create? Could you tell us something about it?
Most of the time I start by sketching ideas onto a piece of paper. After that I have a more solid idea of where itʼs headed. Finally I use Adobe to digitize this idea.

Thereʼs no real procedure, protocol or plan I follow, I just love to fight with shapes, sometimes I win.

In our line of work, we spend a lot of time on a computer, making it very tempting to procrastinate. How do you deal with procrastination?
Sometimes I turn off the internet to avoid any distractions, which can be great at times. When itʼs on I frequently check on twitter and have chats on IM. Which is, I think, is not that big of a problem as these distractions can help me wander off so I can get back to work with a fresh view. I also try to plan ahead, and take my time for projects, this way Iʼm able to make something good instead of rushing it. Then again, rush- jobs can be great, as it pushes me to think and act quickly.

Youʼve been around the design community for quite some time now. What do you think about the current state of the design community in comparison with the past, and what do you think will become of it in the (near) future?
I think the community is fantastic and one of the coolest things in our industry. There are so many talented and friendly people out there that are willing to have a chat or help out. This is unique I think, because at the same time we are all competitors, but this is never reflected in our conversation.

The community has created the solution and is constantly sustaining itself by helping one another. Through the years Iʼve come to meet – online as well as face-to-face – some amazing people. From drawing stuff up in my room, Iʼm now able to get my work out there for everyone to see. The feedback and support has been fantastic so far, and Iʼm continually amazed by the warmth within this great community.

What the future may hold, I donʼt know, I just hope that it will continue to grow and stay or become even more amazing as it is nowadays. But the one thing Iʼm sure of, the future will be amazing.

Thanks a lot for this insightful interview, Tim! Really appreciate you taking the time. Do you have any final tips for the readers?
Strive for progression rather than perfection.

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An amazing interview! Not only is Tim an extremely talented designer, he is also a very smart young man who knows what he’s talking about.

Be sure to check out his portfolio to see more of his work, and check out his Dribbble profile to see what he’s working on now.

Tim Boelaars’ portfolio site.
Tim Boelaars’ Dribbble page.

If you’ve enjoyed the interview, do share it with your friends and peers!

In the coming weeks the ‘Interview with a Designer’ series will be continued with more awesome interviews with talented designers. So stay tuned!