Our team has decided to interview the most intrigue creators on good design and test their works with the Attention Insight platform. It predicts how user’s attention distributes in design. Hope, these short talks will inspire you and give some useful insights on catchy design. Enjoy!
This time we are talking with an inspiring Graphic Artist / Illustrator Siv Storøy from Norway. With her background in Illustration, painting and graphic design, she has done projects within visual identity & communication, logo design, embellishment, hand-drawn, and digital illustration for magazines, brochures, articles, books, adverts and a range of other areas.
Why have you decided to step into design field? What inspires you and why?
I have always been interested in the disciplines of drawing, painting and design, so it was the only natural choice for me when deciding what career path I should take. Born and raised in Northern Norway, I have been influenced and inspired by stories, myths and fairytales as long as I can remember. I think that my work reflects a sub-tone of otherworldly and mysterious illusion to them, and I constantly make up stories in my mind as the images emerge.
How do you measure the success of your design?
For me, there are two important things that can serve as a measurement.
- The first is the possibility to get up in the morning and actually get to work with what I love. To me that is freedom, and something I am extremely grateful for. I think it was Mark Twain who said: Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life. This is very true.
- Secondly, I do think that in order to feel successful in your field, you have to admit that sales are important. If you have done the hard work, found your own style and voice, and people find it interesting – they will (hopefully) want more, and you will have success. It means that you can carry on your work – and continue to feel like the luckiest person in the world.
What is your biggest challenge in design creation process?
I think it is to grasp the overall picture given in the design brief. Very often, you don’t know the client very well, and you have to read between the lines, try to get the feel of the project. If you get it wrong, many hours may be thrown away. I learned this the hard way, and now I have prepared myself through different questions that I ask. I rarely get nervous or stressed by deadlines anymore, because I know from experience that I will find the way to complete the task.
What principles do you follow when creating attention grabbing design?
I try to remember the importance of air and good readability. Does the image provide too much information, or does it feel soothing for the eyes to rest upon? Is the combination of colors contributing to the composition, or is it taking something away? I also try to remove unnecessary objects; anything that doesn’t absolutely have to be in the composition. That can be difficult, but sometimes it’s good to kill all the darlings.
Get inspired by Siv’s works: dribbble.com/storoy
Find out more about Siv Storøy: www.stroydeluxe.com
