Isabel: Hello and welcome back to ED Going Digital, a leader in Social Media Marketing Australia. Today I am joined with one of our insanely talented Graphic Designers Tia. 

Tia: Hi!

Isabel: In your opinion what makes a great graphic designer?

Tia: I think it is someone who isn’t afraid to think outside the box, they challenge the design rules and are open to criticism. That way they can create their designs better. 

Isabel: Is that a lot of what you have experienced in your time being a graphic designer?

Tia: Yeah, definitely when I think too inside the box, the design is always boring and I get pushed more outside and get to do things differently to what I normally do. Criticism is one of those interesting ones where you can’t take it to heart. You have to understand that they’re not hating you or the design, it’s just certain aspects of the design and you need to work around it. 

Isabel: You liaise with other creative roles here at Englander Davis as well as our Project Managers how do you find the collaboration between roles?

Tia: Yeah really great I love collaborating with different areas of the business. It allows me to be more creative and think differently. At the moment I am working on thumbnails with Seth, which is not something that I am used to doing because he wants them to be like movie posters so it’s really good to have someone guide me and tell me what they want because that gives me more experience with design briefs. 

Isabel: And has that been really interesting too, the collaboration there?

Tia: Definitely because you can see how other people work and it lets me see everyone elses creative side, which is really cool because then it’s not just me doing everything I get to have a little bit of everyone in the designs, which brings the business together more. 

Isabel: Can you describe the creative process including the major steps you take to create your designs?

Tia: Yeah so when I start with the design I get the brief and then I research what I want to do. So if it’s for carpet cleaning I’ll look at different carpet cleaning ads and decide what I want to do. I do thumbnails, they’re really important. It gets everything in your brain, out of your head and onto paper. You pick your best thumbnails and then start designing through them. I normally play around with it on photoshop illustrator because i need to be able to visibly see it. Then I get feedback to help me finish it off. 

Isabel: Who are the inspirations for your work?

Tia: I look at tattoo artists, photographers, painters. Pretty much anyone who creates different styles of art I will have a look at.

Isabel: Do you have a favourite piece that you have worked on and could you describe it to us?

Tia: My favourite piece is probably one I did for a uni assignment, it was a big A2 piece of paper that I watercoloured in a traditional tattoo style. It was based on a Black Keys song Ten Cent Pistol and it had a lady that had the quote the laws of men don’t apply when blood gets in a woman’s eye around it. That quote always stood out to me so yeah I just painted a piece off that and I really liked it. 

Isabel: Wow from the quote you made a piece from a quote, that’s amazing isn’t it. It just shows the influence of quotes, music and different styles of art.

Tia: A lot of the time when I listen to music there will be a lyric that stands out to me and then I’ll think what art piece can be created from that. It’s really fun to see where art can be created from random things.

Isabel: What are some of the important considerations when designing ads not only for our clients and also for Englander Davis?

Tia: The big one is plagiarism. You need to make sure that the idea is actually yours. You need to look at the target market and how you can aim it to those people. I look at the brand and the brand’s voice. The ad should look like the business that it is for. 

Isabel: How do you make sure that your designs stand out against the competition?

Tia: Always learning about new design techniques. I look out at what is popular at the moment. I’m heavily into psychology including colour theory that is super important when creating designs. 

Isabel: Thank you so much for the insight into graphic design and what you do here at Englander Davis. It is definitely interesting to hear about all the elements and considerations that go into designing ads for clients and ourselves! You sure are very talented. Thank you again!

Tia: Awesome, thank you!