Interview: 8 Tips for Design Success // Sixtysix Mag
I was recently interviewed by Sixty Six mag for the article Award-Winning Illustrator Shanti Sparrow’s 8 Tips for Design Success. Excerpt below…
Shanti Sparrow is a New York City–based designer and illustrator from Australia whose award-winning work is vibrant, geometric, and confident. She recently shared with us a little more about what it takes to find your niche and make a name for yourself in the competitive and ever-changing world of design.
1. Focus on craftsmanship.
I would question in the first place whether making your work stand out should really be the goal. What sets good design and great design apart is craft in the detail. Something big and bold and splashy might get initial attention, but I think that as creatives, we zoom into those tiny details. If we see craft, we recognize it.
2. Design like a child.
I saw an amazing speaker and illustrator, Sandra Dieckmann, and she talked about going back into your childhood and looking at all the things you had drawn and painted as a child—the content and the style. I did that, and I noticed lots of patterns, so I tried to figure out how to do them as an adult.
3. Learn from others.
I have a secret weapon, which is that I am a teacher at a design school. I have new students every three months who are not biased by any trends or jaded by the industry. When you are around people who are so motivated to try to get into the industry that you’re making a living in, it reminds you that you’re quite lucky to be doing what you’re doing.
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