Interview with Adam Woodhouse: Inside Scoop for New Designers

The other day Adam Woodhouse kindly took time out from his busy day to answered some questions for us. He works for an agency in London and is an accomplished designer; so for us and you, it’s a peek into a professional designers world.

The Interview

• How did you get into design, Adam? Was it something you’d always wanted to do or just stumbled upon.

I have always been keen to draw, create and experiment. Ever since I can remember I have always been interested in design, and at the age of about 12 I decided I wanted to be a graphic designer. I have always known that I’d end up in an art / IT career, so it was just taking the necessary steps to accomplish my goal.

• Have you taken any courses in design or otherwise? If you have, do you think they helped / would you recommend new designers give them a go.

I am fully self taught other than taking art at school. I think that that being self taught has enabled me to design exactly as I see fit instead, and not knowing the boundaries of others has helped me explore my own. I love to see how far I can push things, commercially and personally, and it’s great to see something being appreciated that I’ve learnt myself.
I think that my education has come from reading others works, and having a lot of arty friends!

• Your designs are brilliant and very inspiring… but the question is; how do you get inspired?

Thanks, I glad I’ve inspired people! That’s a really hard question to answer to be honest, I get a lot of my inspiration from fantastic friends and music! I don’t plan anything I do really, it just comes from the soul – so its really hard to pinpoint where it exactly comes from, but when I turn up the good tunes and feel all energetic it’s a great time to design.

I just kind of let my mind be free, and try and ignore all the boundaries and see where a design comes out! I never think of a blank canvas as a scary thing, rather something I can create on with unlimited possibilities.

• What Programs do you use to create your designs?

This totally depends on what I am doing… Photoshop CS3, Cinema 4d and Flash are my weapons of choice, Photoshop for abstract 2d images, Cinema 4d for the 3d stuff and flash to add any vector effects. I do use illustrator every now and then, but I just feel a lot more comfortable in flash for some reason!

• How do you work with your clients?

I am currently working for an agency in London, so it’s a very structured approach compared to freelance. I think when it comes to commercial design, the customer is always right, but it’s always good to push the boundaries and try new exciting things! The worst thing the client can say is  “We don’t want this” - but then you have another piece for the portfolio.

• What is your advice to new designers?

I’m a great believer in “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” – if it comes from the heart that you want to be a designer, do everything you can to become that. Don’t let subjective criticism bring you down and keep trying!

• Do you have any websites, forums, designers you find inspiring and helpful?

I’m quite an active member of Deviant Art under the name of Ardcor, and I’m a member of a few forums but I (without sounding arrogant) don’t really have the time to check out a lot of other peoples work. I work pretty long days so if I see somebody’s work, it’s usually via recommendation.

I’ve just signed up to this new site – http://www.ucreative.com – which I’m showcasing some of my work on. Check it out!

I work closely with 3 fantastic designers, and have worked with some majorly impressive people in the past – which has allowed me to learn so much about design and the industry.

I think with most people, if you email a designer asking a question, they’ll be more than willing to take the time out and help if they can. I try and respond to all the mails I get, even if it sometimes takes a few hours at the end of the week. All knowledge is useful, gain as much as you can!

• Athletes aim for the Olympics as their biggest goal, highest mountain to climb. What’s your biggest mountain?

I think being taken seriously as a commercial designer, without people freaking out if I produce something on the end of the scale. I try and push people’s thoughts on design, and it’s sometimes hard for me to accept when they just want some same old stuff. I keep my professionalism to a high standard, but remember it never hurts to make suggestions.

Design is not just for designers, which is a hard to accept sometimes, but also lets you develop your work from an outsider’s point of view.

• What is the most challenging thing for you in your design area?

Getting up at 5am! ☺ Ha ha. Sorry, seriously, I think it’s the variation of work to be honest, it’s always nice to have it, but it’s sometimes hard when you have 4 briefs to finish off, and you’re switching from one to another. In an ideal world I’d love to have as much time as I need on a project, but hey, we all live in a world where deadlines and guidelines need to be met.

• What has been your biggest learning curve?

I really don’t know. That’s such a hard question…. I guess it’s been dealing with projects which I have found undesirable, and making the best of it. It’s taken me a long time but I think it’s just trying to learn how to expand your mind and think abstractly but within keeping in a brief.

Cheers for the interview!

Adam ☺

http://www.adamwoodhouse.co.uk
http://ardcor.deviantart.com

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