Designer – Gordon Reid
Website – middleboop.com
Blog – middleboop.blogspot.com
Twitter – @MiddleBoop

1. How much time do you dedicate to learning design every day?
I count myself very lucky to be able to work on exciting and challenging briefs all the time and I often find that with every new project I learn new techniques and shortcuts that I wouldn’t have known before so I guess you could say I learn as I go. On top of that I do dedicate time to go through tutorials and often find helpful hints and ideas there, time wise I do this whenever I get an hour or so.

2. What other designers do you have contact with on a regular basis?
Thankfully through running the Middle Boop blog whereby we interview and feature a lot of designers I am in contact with some of the best designers from around the world. I also hook up with a lot of very talented individuals including Radim Malinic (Brand Nu,) Seb Lester, Rob at Sawdust, Norm at Waste and Neil Bunn as well as having worked on on projects with Simon Wild and Mike Harrison.

3. Who are the top 2-3 designers that you respect and why?
I really love the works of Hvass & Hannibal because they just create these amazing worlds within their design full of colour, shape and form. There really is no one else like them and what’s great is that they have been able to work for a lot of great clients without seemingly having to compromise their work.

I also really admire the work of Kate Gibb whose love for Screenprinting and collage and amazing work for bands such as Chemical Brothers and more recently Kate Nash has always inspired me to keep doing what I love doing. Oh and she’s also lovely to chat to and a self confessed lover of the Middle Boop blog which makes me happy.

Last but by no means least, I have always been heavily inspired by the works of practitioners at the Bauhaus and modernist/ post modernist designers such as Paul Rand and Lester Beall. Without these guys the whole industry would be a very different place.

4. What’s your favorite website or design you ever made and why?
Wow this is a tough question, I’m not sure I have one particular favourite piece but I am very happy and proud of my Digital Arts cover this was quite a big step for me in terms of more commercial design, it was a really great brief and had a fantastic response. I am also very proud of the work I did for the band Deerhunter this was exhibited in the world famous Rough Trade stores and was cited by a lot of people as one of the best gig posters they’ve ever seen, so that was really great and opened a lot of doors for me.

5. Have you ever been published in a book or magazine? What books or magazines?
I have had the great fortune of being published in many books and magazines all over the world, here is a list of the publications that have recently featured my work or interviewed me

IDN
Digital Arts
Digital Artist
Advanced Photoshop
Computer Arts
Maxim
Chew Magazine
Blanket
I also have some of my T-shirt designs featured in the book Torso and have contributed a new illustration for charity for the Memories Project book.

I also have articles and interviews in the upcoming Digital Artist and a tutorial in the next Advanced Photoshop both due out next month as well as an interview on tips for freelancing in this months Computer Arts.
When I was a student I would have never have imagined that one day I would be featured by so many publications that I have read so it really is a privilege to have so much interest from these people.

6. What’s your favorite color in hexadecimal? How often do you find yourself leaning towards it with design projects?
I guess recently I’ve been using a lot of golds and reds, normally with my work I like to combine bright, odd colour palettes early on to really make the piece of work stand out, so something like 996 600 and FF3 333 or thereabouts will be seen in a few pieces.
I try to keep everything as fresh as possible with my work but certainly these two colours if used well can really make a piece look vibrant and exciting.

7. What’s your most recent project we can look at?
The most recent piece that I can release is the piece I’ve just contributed for Steve Rack’s group exhibition called Toe Fluff, where each designer is asked to customise a character in which you can do anything as ling as it stays within the size and shape of the ball of fluff in the centre of the image. All of the proceeds from the show are going to charity and I’m very happy to be a part of it.

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Designer – Craig A. Bower
Website – designthatrocks.com
Blog – designthatrocks.tumblr.com/
Twitter – @designthatrocks

1. How much time do you dedicate to learning design every day?
I only wish I could dedicate time each day specifically for expanding my design knowledge! For me, ongoing development of my design skills is not something that I can set time aside to do…its something that happens throughout the hours of every day. Recognizing it and being able to utilize what I see and experience feeds my creativity and inspiration.

2. What other designers do you have contact with on a regular basis?
Locally, I have professional associates as well as friends who are designers/creatives that I communicate with regularly. Beyond that, social media has really opened the doors in terms of meeting other creatives from literally around the world. I have been fortunate to meet many fellow creatives via twitter, facebook, etc. that I now call friends. Whether it’s sharing creative inspiration, asking for feedback on current works-in-progress, or simply talking about music or the topic of the hour, regular contact with fellow creatives is a vital part of who I am and what I do. (And not just people in the creative fields, but everyone else as well)

3. Who are the top 2-3 designers that you respect and why?
I was exposed to Primo Angeli’s work early in my educational years (heavy emphasis on package design – which is actually what my degree is in). Angeli showed us all that we need to not only understand design, but understand how important the client relationship and their understanding is to the process. I have respected and been guided by that thinking throughout my career. Milton Glaser, Saul Bass, Paul Rand also set the standards…and how can I not respect those who paved the way? There are certainly contemporary designers that I respect as well…some well known, but many not :)

4. What’s your favorite website or design you ever made and why?

designthatrocks.com/Online_Environmental_Vehicle_Portfolio_of_Design_That_Rocks.html

One of my favorite projects was the design of a 53′ semi-trailer full wrap for the Peter Piper Pickles brand. What made this particular project so enjoyable was the total creative freedom I was given throughout the project and the level of involvement that I had. I became involved in the initial client meeting, through concept development, presentation and final design approval. As production began, I directed product photography, worked on photo editing/retouch, and created all of the final production photoshop files used for printing. I supervised and approved steps throughout the printing and final installation while bringing the project to completion. Client was very happy and I walked away from the whole experience with such a sense of accomplishment in what I had created-literally start to finish.

5. Have you ever been published in a book or magazine? What books or magazines?
I’ve had three articles published in FLEXO magazine (trade mag for the packaging/label industry) titled “Simple Designer Rules for Preventing Prepress Problems”, “Helper Applications for Prepress”, and “A Proactive Approach to Preflight”.

6. What’s your favorite color in hexadecimal? How often do you find yourself leaning towards it with design projects?
White – although coming from a print background, I prefer to think of it as C-0%, M-0%, Y-0%, K-0% rather than #ffffff. I am a big proponent of white space, and utilizing white space to provide balance and clarity throughout the visual language. I’m a firm believer that ‘less is more’, and often find effective solutions through use of #ffffff.

7. What’s your most recent project we can look at?
priceteamracing.com
mircorp.com/worldrace

I’m currently working with Price Team Racing on their branding and marketing efforts surrounding their entry in The World Race 2011.

In addition to designing their logo, website and marketing collateral, my involvement has led to a working relationship with the organizers of The World Race 2011 on the national race website as well as additional currently developing facets. Keep an eye open for the national media launch coming September 2010.

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Designer – Herbert Loureiro
Website – cargocollective.com/herbertloureiro
Website 2 – Estudioalba.com
Twitter – @herbieeeee

1. How much time do you dedicate to learning design every day?
A lot of time. I have a studio called Alba along with two friends of mine – Daniel Hogrefe and David Pacheco. We do several different things that that find it path in creativity. My formal education is on Journalism, so I still have to learn a lot of things (even some basics) from my everyday work with my co-workers – which are designer designer in fact haha.

But i guess no one could ever learn it all, so we all try to find the beauty in everything we do. To me this is learn, not only about design but your whole logic and emotional process that is put onto your designing.

2. What other designers do you have contact with on a regular basis?
I have daily contact with my friends at the studio. And well i’m always in touch online with several different people, with the most diverse backgrounds, not only designers, but mainly artsy people – and i guess it can count, right?! ;)

3. Who are the top 2-3 designers that you respect and why?
I love to keep and eye on the work on several people, specially if i can get in touch with them. I absolutely love the work of Raul Luna, which is to me the epitome of self-expression. You look at his work and you know where it came from. Other one i have passion for his work is João Noberto and his minimal and typographical work. He’s so chic and sophisticated. We are currently working on a personal project and he’s always bringing me slaps in the face with his magic over the stuff we’re creating. And i have to say Mooz is top top top. There’s nothing else i could say about their work. Super fantastic.

4. What’s your favorite website or design you ever made and why?
Ah, the one i’m working right now. I’m a newbie on webdesign, so it’s my first experience doing the whole design myself. Most of the time it’s like shared work with my friends here at work. So i’m working on the identity of a contemporary music festival called Lab. I loved it because i was free to do what the hell i would like to. So i did this little things i had in my mind for some time, like creating and working with balloon animals, and creating images the way i felt it could merge with the event.

The site is not done yet, but it is nearly! So, depending when you post this, i can send you the link of it, ok? =]

5. Have you ever been published in a book or magazine? What books or magazines?
I’ve been published in Zupi two times, on local newspapers and on some sites a few times, like in IM//UR being artist of the month and Lilian Pacce portfolio area, with my fashion related design works.

6. What’s your favorite color in hexadecimal? How often do you find yourself leaning towards it with design projects?
Kill me but i love #ADFF2F. I have this tendency to make my work really colorful and loud. I’m not afraid of mixing several different and shocking colors on a palette. I guess it’s just my personality screaming who i am. And well, i’m pretty secure when i can do that or not. But colors are amazing. I love them.

7. What’s your most recent project we can look at?
My most recent project is this illustration called The Furious Attack of international models. I love the cliche images of fashion, so i tried to work with that. I’m trying to develop this to a series, cause it’s such a prolific theme and there’s a whole set of ironic images to work with. So that’s what i’m trying to do! my latest work

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There are many different ways to make a Twitter background, but I’m going to show you two of my favorites.

This first image is from the @BoxedinDesign Twitter account and it has an extra tab over on the right hand side which is only seen if you have a higher resolution set or a large screen. I made it so you could see it with a 22″ monitor of bigger. Image screen print was on my 24″ monitor.

The first way I’m going to tell you how about: is by making an image 2048px wide or wider. I actually made mine 2150px wide just to ensure that the image covers both ends of a 24″ monitor. Make your image and take into account that the image might be huge in upload size. Keep it below 200-250K and you should be able to allow everyone to have a fast enough download of your image. For my larger Twitter background with the tab I made myself a template. The template allowed me to use one background that would appear to change based on the different sizes each monitor might be. Actually I made it with 3 different sizes and it seemed to work great!

Another easier way is to make a smaller image with the same background color that you set in the design area of Twitter. Posting that image with a left alignment and the same background color will give you a fluid, blended look. Keep your image under 250px wide and it should look good on every size monitor and some smart phones. This style of Twitter background is good for people who just want to show their business information or a picture of them on the background.

Another good version of the image aligned left and having the same color as the background. This image is much wider though but with the correct amount of overlapping layers you can create a Twitter background that looks seamless.

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It’s not the easiest to see video especially on this smaller size I have available for my blog. See what you think, you can also click on the link and go to YouTube and watch it full screen if that’s what you like. This video is a good way to get a quick understanding of how to use Flash for your site development. I don’t personally use Flash anymore, but it’s because I got lost when AS3 came out. lol

Have fun with this tutorial and check out the other parts if you like the way this guy teaches.

Note: All my posts aren’t going to be videos. I’m waiting on some designers to send back their interview questions. :)

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Thanks for hanging in there designers. I had my laptop stolen and was without for a sort period. Got a new one, upgraded to WordPress 3.0, spammed a bunch of posts and now ready to continue where we left off. I will do 1-2 post this weekend to make up for the long spell between posts.

It’s nice to see through my Google Analytics that my friends didn’t leave me. Thanks for still visiting my blog and seeing what I’m up to and using the other resources or reading the great interviews. You guys are the best!

If you run a blog of your own, make sure to update to WordPress 3.0 today. I think that it helps kill off that nasty virus I got from (should I say shared servers)? I guess I will never know where it came from, but it only killed my CSS pages so I had to work off the server when updating the backend.

I’m in the process of making some of my own videos now too. Got myself a video camera (Flip) and a green screen ($12 at Goodwill).

If anyone here would like to have their design work featured in my video, please post a message in the comments below with “Pick me, pick me!” or a link to your design work so the whole community can check it out.

Thanks!

*Update – I just noticed that the new version of the theme did an overwrite of all my custom PHP work. Sweet! (add in bad language here).

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