1. How long have you been a graphic designer?
I would say that I’ve been dabbling in design since 1997 when I made one of my first websites with flaming text and geocities (ohhhh those were the days!). I went to school for graphic design and graduated in 2007. So I’m not sure how many years I’ve been an ‘official’ designer. :)

2. What inspires your work?
I just moved to Boston, USA so lately I’ve been inspired by the city itself. Everything is old and has a great historical story behind it. Other than that I love Veer’s stockphoto and font publications - they come up with some pretty cool and crazy themed print pieces.

3. What media do you work in and why?
My work spans both web and print. However, my day job is mostly web based. My educational background is in print design and I have worked with print in the past at previous jobs. I enjoy working with the web because it a challenge both technically and design wise. It’s a great experience to use both sides of your brain on a daily basis.

4. How would you describe your style of design?
For the web I try to design clean and usable interfaces. I’m not sure I really have a print style, although I was definitely influenced by my schools bend towards swiss design.

5. Do you do any initial sketching or planning before starting on a new design project?
Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. With my personal projects I tend to do more sketching and ideation because I have an more time. Freelance and work projects don’t always have that luxury, however I would consider making a few quick mock ups in photoshop equivalent to sketching.

6. Which designers most inspires you?
Lately I’ve been inspired by non-graphic designers. I recently saw (and blogged about being Inspired by repetition , Tara Donovan show at the Boston Institute of Contemporary art. Her use of every day objects and repetition are amazing.

7. How do you deal with the business inside of being an graphic designer?
This is something I’m learning a great deal about right now. I just recently started getting my freelancing finances in order (still need to find an accountant) and have started using contracts and invoices. I also work full time for a small design firm so I see how they interact with clients on a daily basis - which is a great learning opportunity.

8. What words of advice would you give to any aspiring graphic designers out there?
I would say to immerse yourself in design. Read design blogs. Subscribe to design magazines. Give yourself crazy personal projects. Starting a design blog is also another thing to do. The feedback I get from my readers on my design blog (http://thedesignoblog) is amazing!

More of Nikki’s work can be seen at nikibrown.com or : thedesignoblog.com

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Dot Design have submitted a T Shirt design to Threadless.com to be voted on and hopefully printed!

The T Shirt is titled “Bird Watching” images of the graphic and tshirt above and below.

But we need your help its only going to be printed if you vote for it, so please case your votes and support our first Threadless T Shirt application. Thanks for your support!

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1. How long have you been a graphic artist?
It’s been almost 5 years since I started doing graphics. Before that I had had no experience with computers. I studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznan / Poland, where I majored in Drawing and Metal Techniques. But frankly speaking, ever since I was a small child, I have always devoted most of my time and energy to this particular area: even as a small boy, I just couldn’t stop drawing and always carried a crayon or a pencil in my hand…

2. What inspires your work?
In the beginning, it was man as such that was in the center of my interests: my diploma, entitled ‘mild deliria’, was all about being engrossed in man and the issue of what he really is - it was very dark, painful, gloomy, but in the end I guess I just wanted to see human body in my own way, that is, to lean towards its mortality and learn something from it. At present, I can easily say that almost everything inspires me! There are so many things around, all those movies, books and music - way to many to mention. And there’s the internet - you can just reach for something, whatever it is that you want, and take it, experiment with it, get influenced by it or just smash it into pieces. Let’s take ffffound for example - that’s total freedom right there! It’s huge.

3. What media do you work in and why?
I mostly use pencil and pen, but I cannot imagine my life without some computer tablet and the computer itself. Treating it as just another tool, I re-master the sketches and drawings by adding some type and other stuff, putting it all together with some fine textures and additional re-mastered photos. In the end, I hope I can create my works through different approaches trying not to linger over the same lane for too long. As it is for the future, I would definitely love to learn type one day and do some motion for a change, but time will show…

4. How would you describe your style of artwork?
Ever since, I finished my studies it has always been about mixing the traditional with the digital, experimenting with various techniques and styles. I don’t think I can describe it any other way than ‘freestyle’. Though one may say that hardly anybody knows what that term really means…

5. Do you do any initial sketching or planning before starting a new piece?
Yes, I got that from the Academy. But these preliminary sketches are usually very brief and more of a sample, intended rather to give me a certain feel of what’s to come. I simply can’t wait to finally start drawing or working on the Mac - that’s the real deal for me and that’s where true experiments are born…

6. Which artist most inspires you?
Francis Bacon, Anselm Kiefer, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Max Klinger - these were my idols when I studied at the Academy. Now, there are also Non-format, Build, Grand People, Von, James Jean, Mario Hugo and many, many others. They are all - so to say - my dearest friends, even if they don’t realize that, since they all make me want to push harder forward. Thanx guys.

7. How do you reconcile business with being an artist?
I think I’m still learning the business side of my profession, plus my wife is very helpful, when it comes to all this client talk and all that. Surely, it would be best not to think about selling any of the works, but life isn’t it like that. I guess that the most important thing is
to have the ability to say ‘no’ from time to time and be able to create something personal or just to relax and take a break for a second. It clears your perception and in the long run enables you to go on.

8. What words of advice would you give to any aspiring artists out there?
Nietzsche once said: ‘a Yes, a No, a Straight Line and the Goal’ - I entirely embrace this credo! What else? Be yourself. Work hard. Stay inspired. And don’t forget your beloved ones!

9. I’d also like to detail any forthcoming exhibitions/work that you may have?
No exhibitions in the nearest future for me, but I am working on a few quite cool projects, such as the new VW Scirocco website or a series of animal illustrations one of which was featured in the KDU’s Solstice Book. Right now, I’m also in the middle of a personal project for a PS3’s Burnout Paradise - a game that blows my head away each time I turn it on … I want it to be a sort of tribute to games in general and we’ll see how it turns out…

More of Krzysztof’s work can be seen at www.studiokxx.com

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Nameo remember that name, because is going to KILL the beloved business card, that opportunity to create a visual and real (in your hand) impact to your business contact, will be gone forever!

Ok its not quite that dramatic!

There is a new Apple iPhone Application called Nameo, Nameo is a virtual business card exchanger for the iPhone. Basically you hold your iphones together press a button and you have exchanged your details.

Only iPhones that both have Nameo can exchange details.

Ok, so initially I thought what a great idea, then I realised that its going to take away the livelihood of the business card! The business card is going to be jobless!

I personally think we will always need the impact that a well designed and printed business card gives.

But what do you think, is this the death of the beloved business card?

Is it really a threat or will this be like the “paperless office” we are all supposed to have!

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I does look like a great product, far more environmentally friendly, faster, lighter, thinner.

In terms of the environment it has:

Highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure

Mercury-free LED-backlit display

Arsenic-free glass

BFR-free internal components

PVC-free internal cables

Meets ENERGY STAR requirements

EPEAT Gold rating

It has some of the following features:

Precision aluminium unibody enclosure.
From one solid piece of aluminium comes a MacBook Pro that’s thin and light, beautifully streamlined, and durable.

Ultrathin 15-inch LED-backlit display.
Seamless glass and instant full screen brightness make everything you see flat-out spectacular. Including the display itself.

High-performance NVIDIA graphics.
The GeForce 9600M GT delivers faster discrete graphics performance to high-end 3D games and pro applications.

All-new, smooth glass Multi-Touch trackpad.
It’s redesigned with even more room for even more gestures. Now the entire glass trackpad is also the button, so it’s clickable everywhere.
All great features I think you’ll agree

BUT

Its even more expensive and is it enough of an improvement?

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All graphic designers are inspired by other designers work, one design company that inspires me and I’ve admired for a few years now is Non Format.

They continue to be innovative, fresh, daring and cutting edge with their work. Their design work seems very contemporary but also timeless at the same time.

Non-Format is a London-based design studio the creative team is Kjell Ekhorn (Norwegian) andJon Forss (British). They have an international client base with exceptional graphic design and illustrations that are strikingly innovative and fresh yet have a timelessness that goes beyond current style trends.

Their work from ranges from drawings for music album covers to advertisements for Coke and Nike,
also graphic design for UK music magazine The Wire.

You can find out more about their work and design process

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The logo cost £600,000 which was part of an overall £1.5m identity makeover.

According to the designers, the new Barclaycard identity aims to convey a calm, confident exterior while being warm and vibrant on the inside… and that the globe motif represents a “chip” being released from the constraints of the plastic card and welcomed in by new, exciting methods of payment.

There is currently much a debate going on over at the Creative Review Blog about this new Barclaycard identity about whether this identity is an improvement on the previous and what it is actually trying to communicate?

In my opinion its an interesting marque which suggests protection of some sort as well as communicating technology on some level.

BUT

Does it say banking or credit card use, does it need to?

More importantly is this worth £600,000?

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So its been just over a month since I asked the question “Can Twitter Be for Business” and I think I can safely say - yes it can be used for business!

Since starting make use of it I have talked to alot of people (only virtually obviously) that I wouldn’t have previously met from all corners of the world. I have been asked to quote on a number of design projects that potentially I wouldn’t have even heard anything about about if I hadn’t been using Twitter. I have also had alot of useful websites and information brought to my attention that otherwise might not have.

So what have I been using Twitter for?

I have found the following uses for the microblogging site:

• Giving the Dot Design brand more online exposure.

• Notifying Dot Design ‘Followers’ when I have a new post on my blog and briefly what it is about, bringing more people interested in graphic design to my site and blog.

• Telling those that are following Dot Design about what I’m currently working on.

• I’ve used it to brainstorm with other designers on word usage for a new project

• Receiving “Tweets” from those that I’m following about anything from interesting websites to marketing ideas, new applications, design news and more depending on their area of expertise.

• Dot Design was profiled by Rebecca Caroe at creative agency secrets thanks Rebecca!

• Discovered Illustrator Kim White via Twitter

• Receiving recommendations for alsorts of things.

• Answering questions, design related or other.

• Asking questions, design related or other.

I have been using ‘Twirl’ as a desktop client so I can keep an eye on whats happening rather than having to keep logging into the Twitter website and I’d recommend it to anyone using Twitter.

I’d be interested to know about other peoples experiences of Twitter and how they have used it to promote their business.

If you’d like to know more about how Twitter can be used these following articles should be of help to you:

Business on Twitter

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