For this week's interview we have Max Spencer, a UK based freelance illustrator and graphic designer also member of the fantastic depthCORE art group. Max sent us a wallpaper for the wallpaper of the week #26, a few months ago, so now let's discover a bit of his secrets to create great designs.

Max has, also, updated his website and portfolio with some awesome designs. We highly recommend that you check it out at http://www.monostation.co.uk/.

First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to provide abduzeedo.com with this interview. Please tell us more about your art and design background?

The moment I realised I wanted to move in to art/design, was when I chose Product Design at my local school. I was lucky enough to have a great tutor; many lessons were learnt on that course, many of which still help me today. From then on I’ve been hooked. I followed the digital art scene for a while before I picked up my first copy of Photoshop. I started playing around, mimicking other designers, illustrators and artists I admired, finding out how to create these inspiring images. I wasn’t a big fan of tutorials, I see a lot of people doing tutorials and instead of building on the techniques they learn, they merely mimic the artists’ styles.

I moved on to study a National Diploma in Graphic Design at my local college. This is where I was introduced to mixing different media, whilst I was on this course I developed and started trying to create original illustrations that pushed my boundaries.

I became a member of the art group depthCORE which has and still does inspire me and push my technical and creative skills. I owe a lot of my progression to the artists there.

I currently study at Falmouth on a BA Graphic Design course.

2. Your work is full of creativity mixing vectors with photos but with a sort of vintage feeling. Where does your inspiration come from and could you describe a bit more about your style?

I trawl design blogs daily looking for inspiration, I analyse things I like from other people’s work and develop it or apply my own twist to it. I find natural organic objects a big inspiration as well; the way natural objects grow and the shapes they create are an endless inspiration. There is also a range of books above my computer which I continually dip in and out of; I would recommend getting ‘The Art of looking Sideways’ by Alan Fletcher. Books like this not only inspire my work, but make you look at things in a whole new light.

It’s the oldest cliché but a lot of objects and things that happen to me in day to day life can evoke a thought or inspire me.

3. Could you describe for us your typical 'start to finish' workflow when working on a design?

I use different processes depending on what I’m working on; I have a structured approach to my graphic design work. I start out reviewing the aim of the project, talk to the client, try and extract as much information as I can to give me as best grounding I can. Pen and paper is my next port of call; I sketch any initial ideas or thoughts I may have. I would normally have a scan through some of my books or a quick run around the design blogs for inspiration or any relevant information I can find. I would then start to develop ideas taking in to account, materials, context and the key aims the client has. Many cups of tea later and after talking to the client, I would start working up the final design on to the computer.

My approach to illustration is much more organic, although I still find sketching ideas out to start with and getting images from my head down on to paper the best way to begin.

4. What are your tools of the trade, both hardware and software?

Hardware: Pen & Paper, a fast PC (yes… I would love it to be a Mac, but that’s not going to happen any time soon), Canon 300D, Glue, Spray-paint, anything I can get my hands on.

Software: Photoshop, Illustrator, AfterEffects, InDesign.

5. What, for you personally are the pros and cons of being a designer?

Pros: You get to do something you love and get paid. The moment you get the ‘Idea’, there is nothing quite like it. The power you have to persuade/change people’s minds.

Cons: Impossible deadlines. It’s hard for people to take you seriously at a young age. Designers are, by many, underappreciated.

6. How does your job as an artist and designer influence your life? Do you feel that you see things around you differently for example?

I find myself admiring a nice bit of kerning from time to time, to which I’m normally referred to as a weirdo, when pointing it out to a friend. You take objects in that people ordinarily wouldn’t bat an eyelid at, which can be an interesting way of finding inspiration. I find myself analysing food packaging in the supermarket which considerably lengthens what should be a 5 minute shopping excursion. I do occasionally buy things I don’t want just because the packaging is nice.

All in all it completely changed the way I look at the world.

7. What are your favourite 5 websites, and why?

www.depthcore.com – Great source of inspiration and a great members’ community.

www.formfiftyfive.com – Everything inspires me here.

www.itsnicethat.com – The place I go for something different.

www.reformrevolution.com – Another place I check regularly

www.typeneu.com – Everything typographic.

8. What are your favourite 3 serif and 3 san serif fonts?

This is a hard one, I’m constantly changing my favourite fonts.

Serif: Didot, Alinea, Berling Italic

Sans Serif: Frutiger, Helvetica Neue Thin, Lubalin Graph (It’s a Slab serif, oh well)

9. Once again , thank you very much for the interview. As a final word, do you have any tips for upcoming artists and designers?

Find a way you find it easiest to learn and practice. Don’t try finding a style, as long as you experiment, a style will eventually find you. Once it’s found you, never stop developing it. The thing I fear most is becoming a one trick pony and it’s what a lot of people end up becoming for one reason or another, be it financial or the fact they are too scared to make something rubbish.

I’ve written too much, if you’ve made it this far, go eat some food.

Thank you for the interview!

Some Works

About the author

My name is Fabio Sasso, I'm a graphic/web designer from Porto Alegre, Brazil and I'm the founder of Abduzeedo. I hope we can share lots of information, tips, and ideas through Abduzeedo. Also you can follow me on Twitter or my personal site at http://fabiosasso.com.

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