10 questions to a graphic designer

At the end of 2018, we asked our clients, business partners, and other entrepreneurial friends what they had always wanted to know about us as a design agency. We received many interesting questions, some of which we answer on this page.

# 1: “How do you manage to be so creative?”

"I believe creativity has a lot to do with curiosity. I'm generally a very curious and inquisitive person, always have been; I'm interested in many things. And – what has always helped me a lot: I have quite an open-minded approach to things and people. I always try to see the bigger picture and free myself from any barriers or mental limitations. Where others see limitations or borders, my thoughts are already somewhere completely different and have a broader horizon.

I'm also a solution-oriented person. There are rarely problems for which I can't find a solution. I'm a very quick thinker. My creativity also has a lot to do with the fact that I'm rarely satisfied with something. There always has to be something better. There's always room for improvement. I often question things, and my thoughts wander in different directions, but I never lose sight of the goal.

Conclusion: Curiosity and the search for new paths are my personal key to creativity. And traveling is also very important to me; it broadens my horizon."

#2: "How do ideas come? Do the best and most creative ideas really come at night?"

"I actually get great ideas all the time in my dreams at night. Luckily, I usually wake up and record a voice memo on my phone, then email it to myself so the idea doesn't get lost. Good ideas also come to me while taking a shower after an intense workout at the gym. My mind is completely clear, I'm exhausted from the workout, and then suddenly a great idea comes to my mind.

During the day, while working in front of the computer, I use classic creativity techniques like brainstorming. This works very well for me; it helps me come up with lots of great ideas. It's important to let your thoughts flow completely freely and to see possibilities rather than limitations.

# 3: “Do you never run out of ideas?”

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"Well, I do occasionally have creative blocks, too. Thankfully, they're rare, but unfortunately, they still happen. Fortunately, they're always short-lived. To resolve them, I step away from the project I'm currently working on for a few hours and continue working on another one. Or I exercise, the more intense the exercise, the better. It's always good for me to clear my head, to free my mind. That only works with regular time away from the project. But when I get back to work, I manage to concentrate and avoid distractions. So, I'm someone who works with concentration and focus, but also clears my mind every now and then, because that's simply important."

#4: “How ‘crazy’ can my logo be?”

"As crazy as your target audience is or would like to be! Personally, I always think it's good to be a little crazy – probably because I am sometimes crazy myself :-) It makes you stand out from the crowd. A logo should make your company stand out from the crowd. Maybe the question sometimes isn't 'how crazy a logo can be,' but 'how crazy a logo should be?'."

# 5: “What are the most important basic ideas for a perfect corporate design?”

"I would say:

• Who exactly is the target group?

• What problem does the target group have?

• What is the product (or service) and how exactly does it work?

• What makes this product unique? What differentiates it from competing products on the market (keyword: "USP")?

• In which price segment do you operate?

• What is the company's history? Does it even matter?

• Do you want to reach new target groups or new markets?

• What does the target group currently think about the product and the company?

• What should they think of the product and the company in the future?

• Where does the company stand today?

• Where should the company be in, for example, 10 years and in 20 years?

• Which sales channels are used?

• What marketing activities are planned?

• What values does the company strive to convey? Are they lived in practice?

• How should the target group feel when they see the product (first gut feeling)?

These are questions for a briefing, a detailed discussion with the client before I begin to work."

# 6: “How much does it cost to develop a font?”

"I'm not a type designer myself, but I attended a fantastic two-day workshop with the Typejockeys from Vienna, where I developed a font myself – only partially, of course. Unfortunately, as a non-type designer, I can't put an exact figure on how much it costs to develop a font. I can highly recommend the Typejockeys from Vienna; they do a fantastic job and can certainly provide valuable information."

# 7: “Do moving or animated graphics make sense?”

"Animated graphics are useful when you want to attract attention or when the animation supports the topic. An animation that just blinks quickly looks cheap.

An example: I use Mailtastic for my email signature. I placed a gif-animated banner there to draw attention to my newsletter. A line of text saying "subscribe to our newsletter now" and a blinking mouse cursor next to it – not too fast and not too intrusive – draws attention to my newsletter in every email I send. Studies show that people are more likely to click on an animated banner ad than on a static one.

Another example is the logo for cubile monitoring health, which I designed in the summer of 2018. This is a medical device that measures the slightest movements of patients in their hospital bed and, if values are outside the norm, sends an alert to an app on the doctor's phone. The topic of movement plays a crucial role here. That's why part of the logo is animated as a GIF to incorporate the theme of movement into the logo.

Conclusion: An animation should fit the topic and be used discreetly, then it can be useful."

# 8: “Which is the ‘right’ white?”

"There are different shades of white. By adding minimal colors to pure white, subtle moods can be created. Depending on the mood you want to create, you can leave the white pure white or add a little color."

# 9: “Is there a converter for RAL/NCS/RGB etc.?”

"RAL and NCS are separate color systems, like Pantone, for example. I generally don't recommend converting or switching between different color systems, such as from RAL to NCS to Pantone. I recommend sticking with the same color system, either RAL or NCS or Pantone, or simply CMYK or RGB. For example, if I'm working with Pantone colors and I design a website, I need the corresponding RGB or HEX values for my Pantone colors. For this purpose, Pantone has special Bridge color fans. These contain the exact color codes, including for web applications. The color fan shows the exact CMYK value, which is how the color actually looks in print, and next to it are the RGB and HEX values, which make the color appear as it should on a screen. This ensures color consistency across all media.

As far as I know, there are also special online tools for RAL and NCS from the paint companies themselves to obtain the color-correct RGB values from RAL or NCS. Conclusion: You should always use the tools from a paint company.

# 10: “What is an infographic?”

"An infographic is a set of numbers or a fact illustrated as an image or graphic with as little text as possible. An infographic explains a topic more clearly than plain text and is read on average 30 times more often than plain text."