September 23rd, 2008

Interview with Top Designer Lucian Slatineanu

 

I have a great pleasure of having Lucian here with us. He is the owner of Emblematiq and he is among the top designers on the Internet.

First of all thank you for the opportunity of having you here. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself ?

LS: Thanks for having me. My name is Lucian Slatineanu, I am 27 years old, born in Iasi, and living in Chicago for the past 4 years. I started working as an interactive designer about 10 years ago and for the past 4 I’ve been running my own consultancy under the name Emblematiq, former badboy.media.design.

What do you do on a daily basis ? How do you start your day ?

LS: Work, work, study, play, and then work some more. Design really is a big part of my life. It’s not just work but more importantly a passion. That’s why most of my day revolves around it so you could say I truly am a workaholic.

My day usually starts with a big cup of coffee.

What made you to go to the US and why Chicago ?

LS: I guess it’s what made everyone else move to the US: the opportunities. Chicago? Well, it’s a really beautiful city, certainly big enough to get a taste of living in a metropolis, but not as crazy as some other big cities around here. Plus the weather is quite similar to what I’ve been used to back home.

How do you start a new project ? Do you inspire from books or research on the Internet first ?

LS: The beginning phase of a project can be quite boring actually as it involves lots of profilers, competitive analysis, planning, and so on. It’s only after establishing the roadmap and goals of the project that the fun begins. It’s the moment when inspiration comes into play and I tend to find it everywhere – books, internet, tv, outside.

Tell us the apps. you use when you design ?

LS: Whatever fits the bill for that particular project. Obviously, mostly used are Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver.

Mac or PC ?

LS: PC (I know, I know…). The Mac is mostly collecting dust in a corner of my desk.

What, for you are the pros and cons of being a web designer ?

LS: What do you mean cons? :)

A definite pro for me is the fact that I get to create things that will get used by millions of other people and help them one way or another. It helps that it pays the bills in the meantime too.

What are your top 5 favourite websites ?

LS: Strictly in terms of design there are plenty of awesome sites out there and I just don’t think there’s a way to properly arrange them in a certain order. But since you wanted some links, I’ll point you to 2 incredibly awesome designers that have been a great inspiration for me: Folkert Gorter and Scott Hansen.

In terms of functionality, I’m just your average guy so if I were to make a top of the sites I visit the most, you’ll definitely get Google or Wikipedia in there.

As a final question, do you have any tips for newbie web designers?

LS: Just work harder!

Once again thank you for the opportunity and continue to make impressive designs.
LS: Thank you! I’ll do that!

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