My first interaction with Greg was on Brandstack [formerly Incspring]. Back then I only knew him as Veep, an excellent talented logo designer who had a friendly infectious charming manner and who knew what he was talking about. A little digging led me to his website "Oh, so this is Van Paul!" was my first thought, until I started reading about Greg Grigoriou on the About page. Confused? A tad? Greg explained how his studio Van Paul was named after his son on that page and everything was instantly crystal clear. One evening I was telling him how I was hitting a wall with a logo for a personal project, that I was just not getting the essence right. The next morning, he had the most perfect logo designed and sitting in my inbox. He had managed to capture exactly what I was trying to do but couldn’t. Needless to say, I was blown away by the depth of his understanding for a design, his passion to create things and his sheer speed in designing.

A very stong background in Illustration, makes Greg’s logos truly pop out. He is constantly trying new techniques and looks, always staying abreast of current trends and market needs. Some one once called him "The Lord Of The Logos" on Brandstack and I thoroughly agree with that moniker. Lord Of The Logos, the Fastest Logo Designer I have ever met, man of a million minds …. meet Greg Grigoriou.

Thank You For Doing This Interview Greg.

Who is Greg Grigoriou? Tell us about your personal and creative sides.
I’m an illustrator turned graphic designer with about 10 years experience to date. I have created over 200 identities. Today im mostly a logo designer. I am married with 1 son and I have another on the way in about 5 months. I lam very lucky to reside in San Diego, California quite possibly the most beautiful city in the world. Born and raised in a much more mediocre but equally important  Toronto Canada!

How did your brand Van Paul come into being? What is the story behind that?
My company used to be iseedots.com, but the 57^th time I had to explain how to spell iseedots.com over the phone, I realized that it was time for a new name. Around this time my son Van Paul Grigoriou was born. Almost everyone thought his name was cool, so I hijacked it and turned it into my design name. 20 years from now, when I am relaxing on a houseboat in Kauai he can have his name back.

Brandstack  has become your creative playground. How did you find out about it? What bound you to the website? How did “Veep” happen?
Logos run through my mind almost non stop. I should probably actually get medication for it, but in the meantime, brandstack has proved to be the perfect funnel for my creative visions. I used to take part in logo contests to funnel this extra creativity, (for about a 5 months stretch back in 2008) and when I entered my 100th contest, I basically snapped. Contests were making me angry. A lot of the customers at logo contest websites abuse the designers. Other designers were stealing my concepts.  I could go on and on now about how much I hate logo contests and everything they represent. No self respecting designer should enter a logo contest. This is not my opinion, this is advice from someone who entered and WON a lot of contests. Students and the very novice designers should be the only designers entering contests. Brandstack on the other hand is all about control. I can control the price, and the concept. I don’t know that it will make me a lot of money, but it has definitely made me a stronger and more peaceful logo designer. I think I found Brandstack through Bojan Stefanovic of logoholik.

What was the first logo you designed? Tell us a bit about your work before you started developing brands.
Wow, the first? you’re asking me to to relive my childhood here Sneh! I remember my first project.

My favorite local  burger joint asked me to create a logo that would go on the boards at a local hockey rink. It was for $150 and they didn’t pay me. I didn’t even get a free burger. I remember I was so scared to ask for my money. I actually started my career in illustration. I did a lot of illustrating while I was represented by Scott Hull Associates. I studied illustration extensively in college too. I actually still have an illustration section on my website. Even though I still love illustrating, I found the process daunting and financially unsustainable. As with most endeavors in the world of art, you have to be in the top 10 percent of your field to make a living at it.

No regrets leaving illustration behind though. Even now, I approach most of my branding designs as illustrations first. I think this is why I have never been accused of copying another designer. Illustration and drawing is probably the best foundation you can lay to become a strong original logo designer.

You are also a very “in the moment” brand creator. It is evident from your logos for Ashton Kutcher twittering, the swine flu and numerous others. How do you do it? What is your thinking behind the viability of a brand that is “now”?
I’m a big news man. Much to the annoyance of my wife and son who get sick of the talking heads on CNN 3 hours a day.  I like the good quality news like BBC and CNN. Fox News is almost as funny as John Stewart. I get a lot of comedy from the news. I think a lot of things in the news are comedy in its purest form. Besides the fact that I just like news, I think its very important for designers to know whats going on around them. We are helping to sell a product with our work to a market place that is very interested in whats next. If you dont know what the current mindset is out there, it is harder to make relevant work.

My style of design is fairly contemporary both in style and subject matter. When Obama was running I did an 08AMA bumber sticker campaign. I sold almost 3000 of them and even got invited  to meet Barack! There are selfish reasons for keeping things current too. When I designed the Swineflu logo or the Ashton logo, they didn’t make me much money, but they generated buzz and attention. I wonder if Susan Boyle needs a logo?

Can you share with us a little of your logo design process? Do you believe in following a process or being a creative free spirit?
My process is very fly-by-the-seat of my pants. I only sketch 20 percent of the time. I’m extremely in tune with adobe illustrator to the point that I can almost sketch with it now. I don’t want to make it sound like I am too cool for sketching, or too lazy too sketch. I studied painting and drawing in college and I have a very strong foundation so that I can actually draw on the computer with a good understanding of light and shadow. I still believe in sketching for at least a few minutes, but I get to the computer almost immediately.  I try not to draw too much inspiration from other logos or designer books. That is a sure fire way to guarantee that I will not be original. For example I recently did a successful logo of a bull called Toro, and I actually looked at a lot of sculpture when i made that one. I most definitely do not endorse a specific process.

What are some of the websites you visit for inspiration and research? And what softwares do you use?
I use illustrator CS4, and a small amount of Photoshop. I am looking for an easy 3d program that communicates with Illustrator. Do you know any? I love logopond, just to see what the trends are and cheer on my faves. It is a great site. Can you believe I only got on logopond 2 months ago?? Logopond and Google Images are a great resource to find out if you have copied someone too. One my my biggest pet peeves is designers who make uber simple marks without bothering to do the most rudimentary search to find out if it has been done! I like surf brands. Street and urban brands like Burton and Urban Outfitters are always on the cusp of what’s next.  Behance.net is out of this world for inspiration. Very unusual and unique designers. I also keep an eye on architecture. Architecture and fashion are the white hot center of graphic design for me even though they are seemingly unrelated! From a social media standpoint I can’t say enough about twitter. I think thats how its spelled. Have you heard of it? I think it might catch on! I also co-host a podcast , but I can’t say which one because I’ll alienate too many of you. Its like a Howard Stern type of thing and I just dont think you’d approve Sneh.

What is you favorite logo designed by another artist? Why do you love it?
Can it be 10 other artists? Because I think thats how many people Duffy Worldwide employed to design the Bahamas logo, my favorite of all time. I love brands that can be splashed across all media in so many ways, and this one has it in spades. It is a masterpiece of form and function. For my favorite logo designed by an individual designer like me, I’ll go with that damn fine designer Dalius Stuoka and his 5LOCKS logo. I owe him a plug anyway

What out of your own creations has made you really proud to be doing what you are doing?
JobAngels.org was a very rewarding experience. The founder Mark Stelzner and Charee Klimek asked me to help brand it, and I was more than happy to. JobAngels has a mission where its members help just 1 person find a job.  It was featured on CNN, and it has 9000 followers on Twitter.

Tell us the funniest source of inspiration for one of your designs?
Swineflu. I mean I wouldn’t have done a goof logo about it if I didn’t know for a fact that it was a total joke to start with. I’m sad that people died in Mexico.

Can you share with us a picture of your workplace/desk?
No. Im currently working out of my VW Golf. I kid. Here’s the exterior. I’d show you inside, but there are too many Hot Wheels cars and Stuffed Elephants in the way.

Besides you, who is your best critic? What is you mantra, your driving force?
My wife. I get mad too easily when she blows my work out of the water, but when she likes something I know its pure gold! She’s a very good graphic designer at Hayhouse Publishing.

What new creative marvels can we expect to see from you in the near future? Can you tell us a bit about upcoming projects that have you excited?
A new website for sure. I’m learning wordpress and hope to unveil something in the next 2 or 3 months. I want a more interactive social friendly site! I also have a new site im launching called Good Ambigrams where I’ll chronicle the best ambigrams. I have a couple of other things in the works, but mostly I’m just trying to keep my head above water now that I have a second child on the way!

Any parting words of wisdom for newbie designers?
Don’t copy me. I’ll find you or I’ll hire someone to find you! Enter a few logo contests, but once you have 20 quality designs in your folio, get your a$$ on logopond, get a proper website, and get your own work on your own terms. Logo Contests are for hacks suckers and newbies. Embrace social media. Learn how to draw, at least adequately.

Thanks Sneh!

And with that parting shot of wisdom, I want to Thank You once again Greg for sharing your thoughts with us today and letting us take a peek at your work process, your designs and your studio. It has beenfabulous having you on the blog. We wish you the very best with your work and the soon to be new addition to your family.

Greg Grigoriou’s amazing portfolio can be viewed on Van Paul. You can buy his brands for sale on Brandstack or check them out on Logopond. Greg also tweets as @Greg_Grigoriou on Twitter.