I had the opportunity to chat with and get permission from Calvin Lee to post some information about him and his work. He is a very successful web designer from Southern CA. I follow him on twitter and consider him a web guru! Read him, know him, follow him, and ask him if you want the best in web design! Here is the interview by Dave Harfield, with permission from Calvin.
Five Questions with Calvin Lee of Mayhem Studios
So who’s Calvin Lee? If you’re a designer who’s into social media then you really ought to know…
He’s Principal & Creative Director of Mayhem Studios, an award-winning design firm located in Los Angeles, California, developing identity and brand recognition for the business sector across the United States. He also serves on the Creative Latitude Management Team and boasts a twitter following currently pushing the 20K mark. If that’s not enough then Mr Lee also features in the new book by Steve Gordon jnr titled 100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers: Insider Secrets for Working Smart & Staying Creative.
Calvin recently took time out from creating identity and branded collateral pieces, annual reports, brochures, logo design, advertising and interactive web sites to share his thoughts and experience with Web Designer magazine. Thanks Calvin.
Links
http://www.mayhemstudios.com/
http://twitter.com/mayhemstudios
http://www.mayhemstudios.com/blog
Creative Latitude Management Team
100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers: Insider Secrets for Working Smart & Staying Creative
Describe yourself in five words?
Spiky haired designer with Twitter addiction
Which design tool makes the biggest contribution to your creative output and why?
Photoshop is the most used in my creative process. The reason: I’m able to quickly and easily layout a design in a rather short amount of time. The tools within Photoshop are incredible. The ability to restack the layer order, non-destructive filters and effects. Photoshop also has the ability to drop in vector graphics without losing quality. Making changes are a breeze, really speeds up my process.
Tell us what you consider to be the most useful technique in the design/development process?
I always start any project with research, more information the better. Then sketch out small quick thumbnails of my ideas with pen and paper. This really helps me with developing the concepts and layout. I use a pen, so I can’t erase. The point is to explore, as many ideas as possible and not having to worry about how it looks. Once I have the concept nailed down. I jump on the computer.
Web creatives love designer fonts. What’s your favourite and why?
Avant Garde has been my favorite font since I was in college. It has remained my favorite to this day. Avant Garde is elegant, classic and clean. I also like how it’s a bit wider then most fonts, it gives you a much better readability.
What is the one tip that you would give to anyone trying to get into the industry?
Networking is one of the most important tools in finding work, clients and projects. Get the word out to friends, family and anyone you know. Let them know what you do and you’re looking for work. Most times, someone has a connection that will get your foot in the door.
Also sign up for social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Bizik and portfolio sites. From my experience, Twitter is the best way to network and connect with potential clients.
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