Like a lot of you, I saw "Wizemark" on all the logo haunts that logo designers have on the interwebs in early 2009. And that is how I knew him. Then he did something extraordinary in early 2010 that changed my life. He started the 365 Logo Project. He along with Melanie Matthews, who started her own 365 Cartoon project, inspired me to take a plunge and set sail on my own 365 Vector Character project. But you’ve heard that a million times before, so I’ll get back to the man of the hour, Srdjan Kirtic aka Wizemark. It was his 365 Logo Project that made me sit up and notice his work and I was blown away. Creativity is inherent and not something that you learn at school. Srdjan is a fine example of that very fact. 

Srdjan is not just a logo designer. He is a master storyteller. Because that his what his logos do. They speak and they weave a story. His work has an unbelievable amount of depth. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and take a look at some really fine logos he has designed that are showcased on this page. The amount of detail, flow, rythm, character and tone in such a tiny little graphic is very hard to find. I think this quality of infinitism in his artwork is what makes him truly unique. I had the good fortune of snagging a great interview with Srdjan and I am happy to share it with all of you today. Srdjan takes us into his mind and his brilliance, he chats quite frankly about logo design and how it has affected and evolved him.  Please join me in welcoming him to the LBOI blog.

Thanks Srdjan for taking the time out to answer a few very interesting questions for us!

1. Who is Srdjan Kirtic? Tell us something about yourself.

I am a 26 years old, self-taught graphic designer, currently living in Novi Sad, Serbia. A guy who loves everything in the world of logo design. Photography enthusiast, coffee lover, dreamer, a guy who would spend everything on traveling only and a guy who is planning to move and stay for good on some sunny coast.

2. Can you tell us a bit about the designer in you? What have you studied? What do you do? What are your skills?

As I said, I’m self-taught and self-started, so unfortunately I didn’t have the opportunity to actually study design and to go through all those beautiful basics. And that’s something that I’m kind of missing now. I discovered quite late what I really loved and wanted to do for a living. But at that time, I was graduating from some completely design-unrelated schools. So I ended up being someone who had to do something with electricity, as my diploma said. A complete waste. I was involved in psychology as well for some time.

Aside from my freelance business, I work as a contractor with several agencies on branding projects, everything from a logo design, stationery, brochures, etc,  but I enjoy creating identities the most. I’m not so much into print design, type setting, book covers, etc. Even though Illustrator has been my main tool from the get go, I’m familiar with Corel and the rest of the Adobe package as well.

3. Your own brand is called Wizemark. What is the story behind that? How did you develop the logo for it?

I started under the alias Wize Lizard. It was a direct connection with the mentioned sunny coasts where you can see those prehistoric smart looking creatures laying down a whole day doing nothing except enjoying in the sun. I could live like that easily. However, at one point that name seemed not personal enough for me and there were also some other people using it, so I felt that I should change it to something more meaningful and unique. After a lot of brainstorming I ended up with two names. One was Logovski and the other was Wizemark. Logovski sounded in the end perhaps a bit too literal, restrained and Slavic, so to speak, and since my target clientele was more western and since the name needed to be easily understood and pronounced correctly, I decided to go with Wizemark. It is a combination of  two words where the first one describes another, but I also wanted that to sound almost like a name, or the surname, hence the capital W.

As far as the logo design goes, well, I knew that I wanted and needed something extremely simple. Avant Garde typeface was always attractive to me (maybe adidas has to do something with it) and it was almost perfect so there were only few custom tweaks. Regarding the symbol itself, crown was in the mix from the start as I believed it portrayed an appropriate picture and voiced strongly how I felt about what I was doing and what I was trying to create and achieve with every project – strong, smart and distinctive designs that last long.

4. When and how did you start designing logos? What was the first logo you created?

In January 2007 I learnt the difference between raster and vector while on my first unplanned job in some local print house. I can’t say that I was in charge of anything there really, since I was still learning, but I was supposed to be a print assistant. We had a lot of different people coming into the studio ordering all kinds of print jobs and all of them were bringing along their files and designs they were using. I was literally shocked with the terrible logos, brochures, calendars, tees, business cards, etc. That really made me pay more attention to the local newspapers, magazine ads and the printed stuff around me.

An idea about having something designed simply to show that it can be done better, was kind of natural after that. I was anxious about learning Illustrator and Photoshop asap. I quickly discovered that "designed" material for most people was perfect, but of course they had no intention or interest to pay for it because "That logo will not help me sell more machines." Surprisingly for me, people from the print house also didn’t show much of an interest because they said that they weren’t designers. Once I realized that, I started looking around for some graphic design jobs and quickly found some local guy that was running a successful freelance business and was in a need of some young designer that could help him out with some overload of his work. That’s how everything started for me.

5. What do you find the most exciting part of being a logo designer?

A few important things that make me love my job. Every project is for itself. It is unique, it is fun, it is different and it’s a challenge. Well, almost every one. The fitness related projects - I honestly hate them. Second important thing is that I can brainstorm and sketch whenever I want and wherever I may be at that time when the inspiration strikes, and not being necessarily glued to the chair as is the case with web or brochure design for example. And the last, but not least is the process of simplifying things.. getting rid of the extra stuff. The process of capturing the essence and saying a lot with only simple shapes, symbols, lines.. Getting to that point can be quite long, but an extremely exciting process.

6. You do amazing Photographs! Did that start out as a hobby? What has been the most challenging and most fun photo you have ever taken?
  

Thanks. Yes, a hobby. I really love photography, love being outside and love the post production and unique treatment. I find shooting hi-end fashion, weddings and all those commercial sides of the photography  extremely boring, and since I’m doing something else for a living I’m sure I’ll keep it in that “artistic” direction, for myself, so to speak, even though I do some interesting projects from time to time.

The most challenging photo was definitely shooting a snake in its natural environment. I’ve found one near some river and was shooting it around an hour chasing it over some bushes, etc. I didn’t have an appropriate lense, so I really had to come as close as possible to get that one perfect shot. After an hour I was covered in cold sweat, but I got that one shot. I don’t feel very comfortable in their presence, so that was definitely the most challenging photo so far. The most fun photo.. well probably any photo that asks for a crawling in the public places … bugs, patterns, tiny stuff.

7. Tell us a bit about your logo design process from start to finish. The pre-design, design and post-design.

Well, first I require 50% of upfront payment. Once thats done I collect all the info that clients provide via conversation and/or questionnaire. After that, I print all that out, make some coffee, find a nice, sunny spot somewhere out, go carefully through all of that info, outline the most important stuff, make some mapping and while finishing the coffee think about some rough directions, ideas and eventual styles. The next thing I do is finding more about the competition, target audience, provided references, links, inspiration stuff, etc aka back to the lab. Once I have all that sorted and printed out and laid down in front of me I’m ready to start sketching and actually brainstorming. I’ve made myself dot grid based sketchbook that I always use. Its not fancy as the one over at Behance, but it works for me. Anyway, once I try out enough of  different ideas and directions I start up Illustrator to test and polish some of them out. When I finally have a design that I can put on a white background and just observe and stare at it for hours, I know I have a golden one that I can show to the client.

Same goes for the rest of the concepts, depends on the total amount that has been purchased. I then work on presentation, and usually send them as a separate huge jpg file including lots of different versions to help the client visualize the possibility of a design (high res, smaller version, b&w, grayscale, inverted, icon on its own, favicon, grids, patterns, some shots of the printed stuff, etc) along with my comments about the each concept explaining my thoughts and ideas, although I’d love to send it to them without the explanation as I think that logo really should speak for itself if it’s good enough. Once they have been reviewed, I get the initial feedback and we agree on the final direction, I switch onto the color exploration and the revisions where and if needed. After the final design has been approved I invoice the client for the second time for the rest of the payment and work on the preparation of the final files. I usually send ai, eps, pdf and a hi-res jpg and png for the main logo, both rgb & cmyk, b&w, grayscale and inverted versions along with the used fonts. And finally after that we either proceed with the stationary set or just simply thank each other (thank you, come again). I’ve always been against the ridiculous idea of asking for referrals, but  I’m thinking to include a testimonial request for this last stage. I guess thats the least the client can do if the project goes well.

  
8. When designing for a client, what do you think is the most important thing to keep in mind?
  
The most important thing is probably that you re sure that you are totally up for the project. Meaning that you are ready to give your maximum and full attention to the everything thats been said and written. You have to learn to listen, ask right questions and actually understand the tissue of the problem that you are hired to solve in a first place.

9. What is your favorite logo of all time, designed by another designer?

There are literally tons of  outstanding logos out there. Its hard to pick only one, but what first comes to mind is probably Paradox. I really like the simplicity of it and the strong and clear message that it sends.

 
10. If you were asked to re-do the London 2012 Olympic logo, what would you change about it and how would you style it better?

For such a serious event and for that budget of 400k  I’d make a team of 5, 10, 20 exceptional, probably younger and not so much famous designers to work on the project. Out of such a strong, creative, young and powerful force,  I’m sure the outcome would be quite different. And most likely the comments across the web won’t be so  “mixed” about it.

11. 5 most unusual places you have found inspiration for your logos?
 

There are actually only 4 that I can think off and being sort of unusual, while the 4th one is more of a state, than a place, but I guess it depends on how you look at it.  A toilet – great and sacred place where the inspiration really strikes quite often, thats why I always bring pen & paper with me. A car – the cheaper, slower and uglier car the less you think of how others are admiring you while you are passing by so you can focus more on the creative thoughts and your projects instead. A plane – even though I don’t fly that often, every time I do, the landscapes or clouds create some unusual shapes that I can make some interesting ideas from.Then parties/festivals – really not sure what’s with that and why crazy ideas are happening there. And a bed in a state of hypnagogic and hypnopompic reveries – falling asleep and waking up moments. I really think that we all could benefit from some sort of the camera that can record or just take snaps of our dreams and the mornins hallucinations.

12. What are your favorite websites to visit daily?
 
Logopond, Dribbble, Behance and Facebook. Sometimes even hourly.

13. If you couldn’t be a designer, what would you be?

Definitely a photographer. Animal Planet and National Geographic are the few concepts I really like a lot and would be thrilled if I could travel around the globe and take shots for them. Although thats not really what I  thought that I would be when I was in the 6th grade. I was filling out some lexicon (yeah, I know, but it was popular back then) and under the desirable profession I said a porn star. That answer got me into some trouble after the lexicon got into the teacher’s hands even though the teacher was a female. After that, my own dad called me a "star" for some period of time which was quite weird.

14. What lies in the near future for you career-wise? Give us a sneak peak at something you are working on at the moment?
 

I really wouldn’t know. But I do feel something interesting and exciting. I do believe in mental attraction so I often imagine how some small design studio located in Bali, Seychelles, Maldives or one of those sweet destinations is inviting me to come over and work with them (Australia is an option as well ). I have been working on my own website for quite some time now and I think I’m almost there. Not being a web designer, kinda slows me down, but I know that I have to do it myself instead of giving it to someone else no matter how good that someone is.

15. What words of wisdom would you share with someone reading this interview?

I’d share two quotations that I felt in love with. First one comes from Redman (yeah) and it goes like "Fuck knockin’, kick the door." And the second one comes from Thomas Paine – "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." This might sound harsh or rude, but if you think more about it, its really not. It is the only way to make something happen and make it done right and as quick as possible. In other words, be honest with yourself about what you do. If you are positive about it, step in and push hard. Be courageous and audacious. Be strong and persistent, learn constantly and upgrade yourself, and you’ll get there. If you’re not so sure, try to find someone to follow and learn along the way. But be careful of who you are following as well, because, if the vision is clear, you shouldn’t waste any time.

Thanks!

And once again, I thank you for shedding some light on your amazing work process. Will keep an eye out for all the interesting stuff you keep coming up with. Good luck!

For more on Srdjan Kirtic, follow these links to his presence on various sites on the internet.
Wizemark
Wizemark on Logopond
Wizemark on Dribbble
Twitter @wizemark
Wizemark on Behance
Srdjan Kirtic on Facebook
 

I was recently asked to be a part of a design community interview by Matt Ward on his blog Echo Enduring. Matt was aiming to round up 7 designers and ask them each the same 7 questions. He has published the entire community interview over a period of 7 days. It was a fantastic experience for me, touching base with some design issues that I hadn’t given a thought to earlier and others that I never spoke about. It was also very enlightening to read what designers from different disciplines of design had to say on the same topics. The other 6 designers in the group interview were Jeff Finley of Go Media, Mike Smith of Made By Guerrilla, Grace Smith of Postscript5, Chris Spooner of Spoon Graphics, Nick La of N-Design Studio and Brad Colbow. Here are the links to the entire interview which delves into topics like "Most Valuable Advice or Learning Experience", "Tools Of The Trade", "The Evolution And Future Of Blogging", "The Positives and Negatives of the Design Industry".

7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 1

7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 2

7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 3

7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 4

7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 5

7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 6

7 Questions, 7 Designers – Day 7

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing logo designer Tabitha Kristen. I came to know Tabitha a year ago via Twitter and then later on Brandstack where I have seen here grow and evolve as an artist. In a year, she has become Brandstack’s top selling logo designer and knows what the market needs. She is a fast learner, a mum and a keen business person. Head over to Brandstack to see what she has to say about being their number one seller, about her marketing tricks and her goals for the future.

Having met Leighton on Twitter a few months ago, I was at first intimidated by him. How can you not be, when the designer has over 20 years of brilliant experience under his belt, has won numerous awards, is talked about and is well respected in the design community? With increasing correspondence on and off in the online world of social media, I realized that not only was Leighton a great designer, but a lovely person who treated everyone with respect and was helpful and forthcoming when other designers needed an opinion. I have been following his work for a while and that is another reason why I decided to interview him. I love Leighton’s style of logo and branding. It is unique in the fact that it is versatile and everchanging. I browsed a few of his logos reflecting his style and then a few of his other logos shed a whole new perspective on his creativity and talent. Illustration plays a very vital role in all his designs whether it is character development, icon creation or logo development. He is celebrated, he is published and today Leighton Hubbell from the one-man design army Hubbell Design Works shares his passion for the work he does and generously relives his process and method. "Design With Teeth", he proclaims on his website, yes, the man has a funny side too!

Welcome to the blog Leighton. I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. I hope our readers enjoy it as much as I did and take away something meaningful and useful from your wise words.

1. Tell us a bit about you. Where you are from, what do you do and the personal and professional sides of your personality.
Well, here goes. My name is Leighton Hubbell. I’m a self-described illustrative designer and art director, currently residing in Southern California. I was born in California, but I’ve lived and worked in several other regions of the United States over the years.

I started out over 20+ years ago and have worked in several capacities in the communication arts industry including employment at various design firms, ad agencies and promotional branding agencies.

For the last eight years, I’ve had my own small studio focusing primarily on logo design, icon design, identity, branding and illustration. Although I’ve worked with many large brands, a significant portion of my business is working with small to mid-sized companies on their marketing and design efforts.

One facet of my personality that sometimes comes through in my work is my sense of humor. I love to laugh and make fun of things. If you haven’t found out already, you can’t take this business too seriously.

2. What drew you to the whole world of logo design and branding?
I ended up in logo design kind of by accident. One of the ad agencies I worked for had a very small design group that the company used to contract unique design projects for its clients. I was selected to participate on different jobs with a few of my colleagues. I had done a good handful of logo designs before then, but didn’t realize I might have a knack for it. Working with that group, I was able to put together some pretty nice logos. Only one or two got used, but they were pretty high profile at the time.

From there, l would get various assignments on my own and would slowly get the opportunity to build my portfolio. When I went into advertising, it was always hard to pitch ads for someone’s business if I thought they had an awful logo.

A lot of times, it was hard to sell someone on doing an ad campaign. You end up giving away the farm to get in the door. Depending on their success, they might not want any more ads for maybe a year. And since you’re ‘the ad guy’, they usually assume you can’t or don’t do logos or collateral design. Not so good for expansion or repeat business.

Eventually, my strategy evolved into a more design-based freelance business. As the projects came through, they became larger and more extensive. Getting the logo project would lead to the stationery design, which would lead to collateral design and so on. Several successful launches later, the referrals came in and before you knew it, I became a branding guy.

3. Illustrations and logos go hand in hand. How important do you think the art of illustrating is to a logo designer?
Being able to draw is of paramount importance to creating effective visual concepts for both logo design and illustration. It is especially important for a logo designer if you are trying to show any sort of range to your work. What’s kept me busy is the fact that I have a good variety of styles I can use to execute an effective logo concept.

Granted, there are some logos that are more illustrative than others. Some work on the very fringe of being useful. There has been many a discussion on what type of usage of illustration is suitable for logo design. There are various illustration studios that have created an entire style of logos that work in only the most intricate way. They are cool to look at, but not what I would call easy to work with.

I think what has stood the test of time thus far is clean vector art. That has of course, evolved with everything else in the design industry and will continue to do so. The more timeless and versatile ones have simple, clean design. This is not a hard and fast rule, and I have not followed that to a ‘T’ myself–all of the time.

A designer who draws well, communicates better.

4. What kind of logos do you enjoy working on the most? Do you have favorites from your portfolio?
Believe it or not, I do enjoy being a little forced out of my comfort zone. There are quite a few logos I’ve designed that are for categories or subjects I had never had the opportunity to work on before.

Recently, I got an assignment to do some logo mascots for San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas. This particular college has three campuses and each campus has its own mascot. I had not done logos of that type before and was excited at the challenge. This was a very thorough assignment with a lot of individuals to pass it through. In the end, it worked out pretty well and I am proud of the work.

Other favorites are the logo for Maverick’s Custom Trousers for its simplicity and Campsite Wizard for its sense of humor and fun, included in these samples.

5. Can you share with us your approach to the process of logo design? How different is it from any other discipline of design like web-design, illustrations, print-design etc?
My first phase is going through the information that the client shared in our meeting. I then take that knowledge and put together an estimate. My typical procedure is getting a signed estimate, a purchase order and a deposit before any work starts. If they are really serious, the deposit requirement usually gets things moving right away.

After the contract is approved and the deposit is received, I start working out thumbnail sketches in my sketchbook or any scrap paper I can find. Usually my brain is working concepts out during our first meeting. So, by the time I start to formally work out sketches, my brain has been processing the designs for awhile. I fully believe that your brain is working on problems in the background while your doing other things. Sort of a brain simmer. Nothing interesting comes from staring at the paper and beating it out of yourself.

If needed, I do additional research to find out more about the client’s company history, present design and any related subjects. I may go to the bookstore, talk to consumers, tour their manufacturing plant, visit a retail store or whatever venue that seems appropriate to glean more background on the project.

During the sketch phase, I decide what kind of styles might be appropriate for the logo. Is it geometric, clean, rustic, hand-tooled or illustrative, etc? I work in about 15-20 minute stretches and stop for a bit. I come back to it periodically until I think I have enough concepts to start on the computer. Some projects come to me right away and some take more time to process.

If I am doing an illustrative logo, I will show sketches at this point. I used to do that with all my logo projects, but clients aren’t as visual as they used to be. When you show a sketch these days, people get scared or concerned over things they probably wouldn’t notice in a completed vector concept. It’s too bad, but that’s what everyone is used to.

For the more geometric designs, I can usually create them from looking at my sketch. I also have an archive or ‘parts bin’ of elements I may use from past jobs that may be faster than redrawing the whole thing. The more illustrative pieces are traced from a scanned-in sketch and fine-tuned from there.

At some time during the process I may have inspiration for an appropriate typeface. Some logos are driven by the font and some are matched up upon completion of the mark. I have no set process for that.

While I am assembling the concepts, I am thinking about color. What kind of palette would work here? How many colors? Muted or bold? Vivid or conservative? I have many color books that I reference, including tear sheets of work I like in my sketchbook. Sometimes I try to match those color selections.

There are a lot of basic similarities to each of the creative disciplines you mentioned. After a well thought out creative brief, there needs to be a concept. Otherwise, there is no reason for the logo, print or web design to live. What is its purpose? Who is it talking to? Why is it here? What does it need to communicate? If there aren’t basic answers to those questions, than the work is just decoration for the sake of decoration–and that is the difference between art and commercial art.

The key to being a good logo designer is being able to distill a basic idea into something someone can look at and understand right away. Whether you use type or an icon or even a color, you need to be able to work with the most basic of tools to get your message across effectively. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of discipline to do it well.

6. Do you ever recall being absolutely stumped on a project? What was the challenge and how did you overcome it?
It has happened a few times actually. Usually that stems from not getting enough information from the client or agency. I often say, ‘If I don’t understand it, I can’t communicate that to the target audience. That’s not the situation all the time, but I have been known to be uninspired by a project.

A couple of years ago, I was just deluged with logo work. I believe I had over 50 logo assignments to design that year. In situations like that, you are just cranking out the work week after week and often get in what I call ‘survival mode’. We all want lots of work right? Be careful what you ask for!

Anyway, the trouble with being a one-man show is that people are coming to you for your take on things–your thinking, your style. It’s difficult, if not impossible to hire someone to help you because they don’t have the same sensibilities and it will show in the work.

The risk is that the work starts to fall short and clients will get disappointed and leave. Or, you turn away work because you’re overbooked. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Sadly, I was running dry on fresh ideas and struggling to get the work out and to an acceptable level.

So what do you do? Take a break. Do something else to take your mind off of it. Which is exactly what I did.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, I started riding my mountain bike and hiking more often–about 3-4 times a week. Even though most people would have been working until all hours of the day and night, I took about 2 hours in the morning to get some exercise and some fresh air.

This ended up reducing the stress enough to get my mind clear and my thoughts fresh. So, when I was in the studio I was more productive and more creative. Getting balance in your life always helps the work. No balance, and the work falls off.

   
7. What are the three most important things you have learned by working for yourself?
Looking back on it, I have been self-employed for more years than I have worked for someone else. I would have to say the first one is self-discipline. If you don’t have that, you won’t get the work out the door in a timely manner. When most people find out I have a home studio, they always comment on how they would never get anything done. They would be too distracted to do any work.

I always tell them if I don’t get the work done, I don’t get paid. It’s as simple as that.

The second one would have to be balance. It’s very easy to get completely wrapped up in your work and forget to eat, sleep, socialize or other important human functions. If your life is too lopsided, the work easily suffers. Working in a vacuum (without outside contact), is never effective for good creative work.

Thirdly, treat people exactly how you would like to be treated. Having a good working experience with someone will always encourage clients to come back. I have several clients and business associates I have worked with for many years. As they move on to new companies or ventures, they are always looking for reliable help. Nurturing those relationships keeps your business growing.

   
8. How do you keep things interesting? Can you share with us your process of breaking out of styles and stereotypes?
One of my secrets to keeping fresh is I keep a sketchbook/journal. You see something you think is cool or different or funny–whatever, it goes in the sketchbook. You can write it, sketch it, cut it out and paste it in. The point of it all is sort of a quick reference for design ideas.

Your brain can’t possibly hold in and recall all of the inspiring things you encounter every day. The sketchbook gives it a rest. It’s somewhere to reference later when you’re stumped and need some help.

I also try and experience things I wouldn’t normally go to on my own. My kids have been great for that. I have two daughters that are into things and hobbies that I would probably never encounter had I had boys. Taking them to different places and events to show and teach them different things also rekindles long forgotten memories, concepts and information. You never know where the inspiration may come from and it’s always nice to learn something new.

A good example of working with different styles to create something new is music. It’s amazing to me how the merging of two seemingly unrelated influences can be married into a beautiful new harmony. Music is constantly evolving from these mergers. Country Rock. Jazz fusion. House.

We can’t help but be influenced by the work being done around us. I’m always looking at what has been done by others to try and find a way of merging otherwise common imagery to create something fresh. Of course, I put my own spin on it. The fact of the matter is, there is always going to be a thread of the common image–that’s what makes it recognizable and communicates. It’s how you render or illustrate or style it that makes it your own.

It has always been my nature to want to tinker with things. I’ve created literally thousands of logos over the course of my career. As with any body of work, there will be some timeless pieces of design in the group and some that were of the moment. You can definitely see a thread of my style in the work and where my current work comes from.

If you’re not evolving the work, it will eventually start to appear dated. You have to stay current with contemporary styles and sensibilities to keep up with the ever-evolving design world.

9. You have been working in this field for a very long time. What advance in technology do you appreciate the most over the years? And what do you feel needed to not evolve and still stay old-school?
In a lot of ways, technology has made things better. Before computers, creating a printed page took an entire crew of people to make happen. An art director had to rely on designers, typographers, color separators, strippers, production artists, photographers, illustrators and others to bring a concept to life. Now, with the amazing tools at the designer’s disposal, they can create some truly amazing, quality work in a much shorter time frame.

One thing I think is going away is a good old-fashioned portfolio. You know, the kind that you actually SHOW to someone. Don’t get me wrong, I love the immediacy and convenience of the website, but a nice portfolio presentation is getting to be few and far between these days. Perhaps that will change. Everything goes in cycles. Look at letterpress.

10. What is in store for you and your business in the coming months? What have you been working on?
I just launched my redesigned portfolio site which evolved from primarily HTML into a CSS style of site design. That will continue to be something I can build on for awhile. The whole idea with changing that over was to make it easier to update and make more searchable content for potential clients to find. There are quite a few projects I have yet to include in that site.

In the works is a personal portfolio site that I will be devoting to just my logos and logo design. The fact of the matter is, I have quite a few categories of logos that I have not yet been able to showcase. This new site will help me achieve that.

Other than that, I have some projects that are finally completing in the next month or so. I hope to have some nice work to show.

   
11. What do you hope to have achieved and experienced in the next 5 years both personally and professionally?
That’s a tough one. I’ve never been one to plan things too far into the future. Our field has changed so much in recent years, it’s hard to be too concrete.

I would like to feel like I am still contributing quality work in the logo and graphic design field. Expanding more into the illustration world would be a desirable goal for me, as well.

Personally, I hope to keep the balance and provide well for my family–both as a good parent and a fulfilled creative person.

 12. In 3 words or less, say the first thing that comes to mind.
Blog Need an article.
Logo design is fun.
Red is always faster.
Typeface Emoticon.
Work makes Jack dull.
Movie Good. Bad. Ugly.
Breakfast Yogurt, berries, granola.
Hype Don’t believe it.
Design something cool.
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Thanks Sneh!

Thanks Leighton. We wish you the very best in your design journey and personal aspirations in the years to come.

Connect With Leighton.
Portfolio: Leightonhubbell.com
Writings: Leighton’s Blog
Studio: Hubbell Design Works
Twitter: @leightonhubbell
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I first met "Tass" on Logopond, I quickly came to know his name was Alex and other than the customary "Hey, great Logo!" and "Thanks, very much!", we didn’t correspond much. Long before I came across Alex on Logopond, I had admired and loved the Brand Events Logo. So it was a big deal for me who was just starting out to receive an invite on Behance from the creator of that logo. We exchanged a few niceties on Behance and I decided to interview the very talented duo of Nocturn from Bucharest, Romania. I am very excited to be presenting Alex Tass and Paul Cosmin’s interview to you guys today, because they are the first duo of designers to be interviewed on the blog and they have a brilliant vision and are magicians of color. I have never before seen such immaculate use and execution of colors in design before, it is almost like a rainbow exploding in front of you. Alex and Paul do everything from brand creation to print works to flash to website design and layouts. Their portfolio is spectacular, the Trinidad & Tobago Energy Conference 2010 logo, one of its stellar features. These guys are going places and I am glad they took some time out today to answer some fun questions for LBOI.

Welcome to the blog Alex and Paul. Thanks for doing this interview.

1. Tell us a bit about you. About your personal sides and your professional facet.
A: Well I’m 24 and I have been playing with colors for about 5 years now, 3 of them at a bit more professional level. I am very passionate about electronic music and the whole contemporary design movement.
P: 24 and feeling a bit tired. Cybernetics drop-out. Been in the sex industry for 6 years, both offline and online. I used to love design but lost inspiration and switched to other things. I love wine, cooking, cats, turquoise waters, money and electronic music. And I’m still on the pursuit of happiness.

2. How did you meet? How was Nocturn born? What is the story behind that?
A: We met sometime in 2004, when a common friend introduced us for our common taste in an Italian music artist. Nocturn was born in the first quarter of 2009 when we considered gathering our portfolios and placing them together. We had some other previous projects, but I think the birth of Nocturn came as a result of something logical and became a necessity since we had been collaborating in one way or another for a few years. A story? Well I’m a bit of a night bird, during weeks working mostly at night, weekends clubbing when possible, so the name came as a fact, describing me and sometimes our schedule. (Nocturn is the Romanian word for nocturnal).

3. What do each of you contribute to the team? Tell us a bit about your working relationship.
A: Haha, I am the grumpy part of the team. When we work together I can’t stop from stressing Paul with tiny little details, which I consider extremely important. So I am the annoying guy of the team. Besides that, I am more into design (graphic and identity) and Paul does (calmly) mostly the web/programming part, so I guess we complete each other (both as character and services).

4. Alex, what aspect of creativity and design excites you the most? Why did you gravitate towards brand creation?
A: I think the freedom of expression attracts me the most; having so many tools in my hands to communicate so many similar or different messages is very exciting. I think brand creation stands in the center of commercial design, everything that is done after an identity is built, is based on that, and I like starting with the elementary identity needed for any kind of project.

5. Yours have been some truly fantastic logos I have seen that utilize color for effect. Most logo designers shirk away from vibrant and too many colors. How do you design logos with colors? What is your thought process behind it and how do you come up with such amazing palettes?
A: Well i take that as a compliment, I have to thank you. I think it is an instinctive choice in many of my projects, in others I go on logical (even clichéd) choices, depends very much on the project. I consider too that a logo should look good and unique even in one color, or in black and white, but that’s not a reason for not having a very colored result.

6. Alex, what is your modus operandi for designing something creative, it can be a logo, a flyer, a poster or a piece of illustration. Share with us your process from start to finish.
A: There are many different steps depending of the type of the project. For a poster I start by digging into some info about the artist, listening to his songs, checking out his latest gigs. That gives me a bit of the background of the event. For a logo there’s a different, and much more complex process (a poster lives until the event and maybe in the artist’s fan’s memories after, but, a logo must stand up for years, maybe even a lifetime), starting with placing it on the market, searching for its competitors, sketching up ideas and finally mixing all the results with the client brief.

7. Paul, when faced with a web development project, what are the key issues you like to address in the designing of the system?
P: First thing I do is try to discourage the client from going on with the project, so I can skip work. Kidding But I make a habit of presenting the client with all the risks and problems he might face in his new business. Of course, if it’s new. And they often happen to radically change their plans based on my suggestions. I’ve been around for 10 years in this industry, since the internet penetration rate in Romania was 1% in 1999 right until now when it’s over 60%. I’ve seen it grow and I can say it hasn’t reached maturity yet, nor have the clients. So, the first part of the process can be called “Educating the client”. The rest is routine.

8. Can you share a funny client story? [you can omit names for privacy reasons if you wish]
A: Well, having some clubs in our portfolio, we happen to have some arguments during the week based on differences in opinions about the graphics we do for various events. But weekends are usually peaceful with good drinks and good music. Quite a fun thing to do. The funny part is that it has happened that on some Mondays some of us actually forget that we’ve partied and drunk and can’t remember what happened during the weekends and ask each other why we never met up?

9. What inspires you? What is the single most important thing you have learnt in this business?
A: Inspiration? For me is everyday life and music. There isn’t one important thing, it’s difficult to choose one. Patience, maybe. I had some, I lost some, but I think it’s still something I am trying to learn to have and live with.

10. What kind of project is the most fun for you? Why?
A: In my case, doing posters. The research is always fun as it includes lots of music, especially electronic. I’d like at some point of my life to start doing posters for the movie industry, and I think the research will be fun in there too.

11. Can you give us a sneak peek at some future and upcoming works/projects?
A: At this moment I’m very excited that very soon I’ll start doing some experimental pieces. I look forward to that as there have been some years since I’ve had no time or patience for these kind of non-commercial projects. Besides that in the long term I’d like to start cooking, to take some serious classes on French or Nordic cuisine and become a chef. Food is a passion that Paul and me, we share alike.

12. Name 5 websites that you couldn’t live without.
A: Nocturn, haha, well I guess there will be Google, hmmm Google again ,  Behance and Logopond. I think my life would go on even if these websites would stop existing, but I think it would be a bit more empty, or a bit more difficult to find interesting, useful things.
P: Living without websites is what I always wanted.:) Besides, I would love to do farming one day. And a vineyard I think.

13. Quick 5 [answer in a single or few words, the first thing that comes to mind]
A 

    – Social Media – time consumer
    – Yellow – "In the summertime when the weather is high…" (Mungo Jerry)
    – Ketchup – hot dogs?
    – Apple – trendy, stable, glooosy
    – Ferrari – wruuuuuuuuum with class

P 

    – Social media – buzz
    – Yellow – sun, sand, summer
    – Ketchup – Aserejé, jadejedejebetudejebe
    – Apple – a [green] apple
    – Ferarri -  largest breasts in the world

Thanks Sneh!

Thanks once again Alex and Paul. We wish you the very best in all your future projects and endeavors.