The Bare Essentials

The poster describes the stereotypical ‘must haves’ from mind set and values to tools and appliances illustrated with pictograms.

Get a Print!

Prints are now available to buy from his site at www.gridlondon.com and you can follow Ashwin through twitter

Q: What inspired you to become a designer and what makes you want to remain a designer?

A. First of all I have to start by thanking you Chris for considering me for this interview, i am really honored by the idea and your enthusiasm. – Thanks mate

A. To be honest it was not an intentional start, as i don’t have specific studies. There were 2 moments in my life that started this designer episode. One is related to my personal life, after a failed relationship i’ve needed something to invest my time, dreams and ambitions, and i’ve started doodling in various softwares, and this helped me get over it much easily. I am not even sure where the bad feelings ended as i was already fascinated by the new toys that captured all my time and attention. The second moment is related to a well-known dj from Romania that needed a website. Since i was a big fan of his mixes and radio shows i proposed myself to help him. Without any previous experience i’ve managed to finish his website in about 1 year , but i think this helped me in many ways, and i am still thankful that he got that patience. And so it started, at an unofficial level. About 2 years later (in march 2007), i was called to design some flyers for a new club in Bucharest. It was a difficult start as i had no experience in this either, but in time i’ve managed to understand what it takes to mix graphics and music / nightlife / clubbing. So there are 3 years now since i am working daily at something, especially logos and flyer/posters for electronic events. What makes me want to remain a designer? In a way, the other people’s work, it’s very inspiring to see great designers works. Music. I don’t know why but i am still relating music with design and it really makes me do it. And maybe the most important reason, passion for shapes and colors.

Q: Where are you Working at the moment?

A. www.nocturn.ro, Bucharest, Romania. Mostly at home, remotely.

Q: Mac or PC (and why? )

A. PC. I have started with it, and i am too used/familiar with it to do the transfer for now.

Q: Can you show us some of your favorite work you created until now?

Q: Where can we find you on the web?

A. On Google. ) Joking, well my website would be the first place to start with www.nocturn.ro, and besides this on:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Behance
• Portfolios
• Flickr
• LogoPond
• DeviantArt
• Creattica
• LogoMoose

and many, many other logo design websites,

• Facebook

Q: Name a few of your favorite and most-visited websites of 2009/2010.

A. Well, that would be easy, www.nocturn.ro as i love to, www.google.com as i need to, the websites where i have profiles as again i need to, 11even.wordpress.com a friends (visual) blog because he always shares good stuffs, www.underconsideration.com/brandnew as it’s always interesting, www.marketing-alternatif.com one of my all time favorites websites, always fresh and always surprising, and i guess www.latartinegourmande.com a very nice food and life related blog.

Having lived in South Australia for most of his life, Aleks Ivic decided to make his move to New York City in 2005.  Due to his College background in Visual Arts and Multimedia, Aleks pursued his extreme interest in Graphic Design & Photography while he continued to juggle with his full-time career in the financial industry.

New York City has already been shot from every possible angle but taking the challenge upon himself, Aleks has attempted to give his interpretation of the world’s most distinguished city.

Follow Aleks on Twitter & check out more Photos on Flickr

The Other Side - © Aleks Ivic

After the Storm - © Aleks Ivic

The Lake - © Aleks Ivic

Passing By - © Aleks Ivic

The Approaching Holiday - © Aleks Ivic

Remembrance - © Aleks Ivic

The Icon - © Aleks Ivic

Individuality - © Aleks Ivic

Finding the Warmth - © Aleks Ivic

Liberty - © Aleks Ivic

Artificial Tranquility - © Aleks Ivic

We Don't Need No Education - © Aleks Ivic

Fire in the Sky - © Aleks Ivic

Into the City - © Aleks Ivic

Full of Contrast - © Aleks Ivic

Target Practice - © Aleks Ivic

Standing Tall - © Aleks Ivic

Deadwood - © Aleks Ivic

Through The Night - © Aleks Ivic

“Just Creative Design was launched in November 2007 as my design business and also as a graphic design blog. The blog focuses on all areas of design and creativity, ranging from but not limited to; graphic design, logo design, web design, advertising, branding, typography, designers, blogging, resources, my work, photography, colour, marketing, social media, user experience and more. Quite varied, however the underlying focus is design!”

What inspired you to become a designer and what makes you want to remain a designer?

It seemed like a natural progression for me, even if I didn’t know it at the time. Like many designers, I always had an interest in the graphic arts when growing up. Throughout my education, my favourite subjects were always the ones that were geared towards creativity and I guess this is how I evolved. Designing turned from a hobby into a profession and it went from there. As for remaining a designer, it’s because I love doing what I do!

What advice would you give to newcomers to the design industry?

I usually respond with the same paragraph each time I get asked this and my advice goes something like this:

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. These would be perfect for someone just starting out. 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 practicing. Collect & share things. Teach others. Never give up. Keep practicing. Again, keep practicing.

I also recently read this article: some really good advice which I recommend reading.

Which current designers do you have great respect for or look up to?

With the internet making the world such a smaller place, I find it hard to keep up with the talent that is emerging throughout the world. Every day I see more and more marvelous works and I truly do want to go through and research who and what the designer stands for but it’s just not feasible. Though in short, I respect all those who do not give up and try their best.

Name a few of your favourite and most-visited websites of 2009/2010.

The sites that I most often find myself on are smashingmag.com, webdesignerdepot.com, logodesignlove.com, brandnew and gmail though in saying that most of my time is spent elsewhere over a variety of websites. I use Twitter as my source of information.

Not only as a designer but as a user of the internet, what hardware and applications do you swear by in everyday life?

• Software: Tweetdeck, Firefox, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Cinema 4D, Cyberduck (FTP), iTunes, Lightroom, Textmate, Linotype Font Explorer X, Word, Gmail, WordPress.
• Hardware: Macbook Pro 17″ 3.06ghz with 4GB 1067 MHZ DDR3 memory and the Magic Mouse.

Are there any developments in your profession that you’re really excited about?

Although not directly related to my profession, I’ve recently have got into FourSquare, which is an emerging real life social media game / tip service. I think it’s going to be big this year. I also think this year is going to be filled with many more new apps for Smartphones. I also believe we will be seeing much more website / phone integration with social media driven platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.

What are you up to at the moment and where can we find you on the web?

I am working full time during the week at Carrot Creative, a new media marketing agency specialising in media strategy, design & development. At night and on the weekends I am freelancing under my own design business Just Creative Design. Currently I am working on a packaging design for a natural energy drink, an identity design for a fitness company, a logo design for an internet faxing company, a logo design for a high frequency sound device that saves animals lives and a truck wrap design for enviro-friendly air cleansing system.

You can find me all across the internet by I am most active on Twitter & Facebook and my own blogs.

• My Facebook Profile – I share lots of links here.
• My Facebook Group – You can promote your own stuff here.
• Facebook Fan Page – Keep up to date with new posts from JCD.
• Twitter – Where I share LOTS of design related links.
• LinkedIn – The business me.
• StumbleUpon – Things worthy of a thumbs up.
• Digg – Websites I find useful and great.
• Del.icio.us – My many bookmarks.
• Foursquare – Where I am in real life.
• I also have an agreegator of most of these services at http://jacobcass.com

My Blogs:

• Just Creative Design: Just Creative Design was launched in November 2007 as my design business and also as a graphic design blog. The blog focuses on all areas of design and creativity, ranging from but not limited to; graphic design, logo design, web design, advertising, branding, typography, designers, blogging, resources, my work, photography, colour, marketing, social media, user experience and more. Quite varied, however the underlying focus is design!
• 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.

“Thank you once again for this opportunity and all the best!”

About the Author

Luke Jones is a website designer from the United Kingdom. He has been working for himself for over a year and specialises in site usability and accessability standards. If you enjoyed this post, then you could follow him on Twitter (@traxor) or visit his website (Traxor Designs).

If you have any comments for the author, please use the contact page on this site and write ‘FAO Luke Jones’.