INTERVIEW ARTICLE

• INTERVIEW ARTICLE •

The Designer Himself.

Tyler is a 22 year old Graphic Designer, based in Hoxton East London, with the goals of diving head first into the design industry after his studies. Tyler is currently studying at Ravensbourne University which will grant him a Degree in Graphic Design and the skills learnt to build his portfolio to a high standard. Tyler believes strongly in a good work ethic, living by the mantra of “hard work pays off”, his drive allows him to achieve his goals and create work that he can be truly proud of.

Being born and raised in London, Tyler has a great knowledge and love of the Capital and understands its thriving potential for his future career. His older brother, Ashley Hickson-Lovence, has always been a great inspiration for how Tyler views work due to Ashley’s many academic and career achievements throughout his life. Tyler is a very ‘hands on’ creative, he loves to learn new skills and experiment with different mediums. It has always been important for Tyler to push himself to stand out among the heavily saturated industry and try to discover brand new ways to present his ideas. He has experimented with: Typography, Poster Design, Printing, Wood Work, Font Design, Animation, and much more!

Tyler’s current project is all based on AR (Augmented Reality). Yet again, it is pushing him out of his comfort zone as it is a new discovery in his creative journey. Tyler is implementing AR into the real world by applying his work to instagram filters. Doing this allows any average user to see his work and interact with it first hand.

In this interview you will have a first hand scoop into the life of a budding Graphic Designer. This is an opportunity to see what it really takes to get your foot in the door and live from the work that you love.

Photography by Vided Magazine

The Interview.

How do you approach a new project? Can you walk me through your creative process from concept to completion?

It starts right from when I get the brief. While they are explaining the brief to me, I’m instantly picturing the the outcome in my head. So I’m thinking “Ah I can do this!” And “Oh that would be cool”. So I do that initially, but to actually get my thoughts down… mind-map. Mind-maps are my literal saviour, I use them all of the time. I start with the topic/brief in the middle and think to myself “Okay what is on the first line?” (You know how a mind map works). Then more times I will move onto the testing phase, like trying out all the different things I have come up with. I kind of do 3 Routes because that is what they will normally ask for. You will explain to them I am doing this first route because of “x,y,z” then this route because of “x,y,z” ect. Once I establish the direction of the project and have a clear plan, I guess it would be time to start making. I should stop to take screenshots, which I do sometimes, if I make something that I am happy about I will take screenshots. From there when I make changes throughout the project I will stop to take more screenshots just to record the process. Then it’s done, the final product.

Can you share a specific project where you faced a creative block? How did you overcome it, and what did you learn from the experience?

Oh f*ck, yeah 100%! There was a project where I had to make three books using the same text. I felt like I kind of limited myself because you could chose the text yourself, and I chose a conversation between me and my Mum. So basically, me and my Mum’s WhatsApp conversations. The only problem is, it’s dialogue which is hard to put into a book format. The first idea was a script, so it goes “Tyler:” “Mum:” ect. Then the second idea was to have one side of the book as Me and the other side my Mum. But the third one, I actually had no idea what to do, I was so stuck! I was maybe going to make a Zine but it had to be a certain amount of pages and a Zine you can probably only get about 8-16, which is really short. So I actually just left it, I was so stressed at the time I left it, I thought “Let me just submit 2 really good books” instead of 2 great ones and one that I thought was sh*t. To be honest, I didn’t really overcome it. I kind of let it get to me and I thought “Do you know what? This is going to be the first ever project where I don’t complete the brief.” But, surprisingly I did well in it. Even though I only did half of the project. I’m not sure how, so I'm happy about that, but unfortunately I didn’t really overcome the block. It did teach me not to be too picky, I had an idea but then thought “Maybe not, I don’t think it will be good.” I think to myself now, maybe I should’ve just done it. I’m quite critical of my work, I’m a perfectionist anyways, so it has to be perfect for me.

Photography by Vided Magazine

What design trends do you find most exciting or challenging to work with currently?

One thing I do like seeing is that brands are doing this thing where they get a 3D designer, right? I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen it, but it could be a video of The Big Ben and for example ‘Sundays’ did this, they got their beanie and put it on top of the Big Ben in the 3D space. That type of work is cool to me. I’m seeing a lot of perspective text, not sure how well I can explain it but for example you could be looking at a certain piece of text on a wall which makes a word, but If you literally take two steps to the left or right, it will make a completely different image.

How do you balance personal input and creativity, with meeting the client's specific requirements and expectations?

With Graphic Design, which is kind of the annoying part, you’re not working for yourself . You are doing a service for someone else. To be fair, no matter what… you want to please the client because they will then want to come back, word of mouth, they may recommend you. Obviously, they came to you for a reason because they do what you as a client wants, but they control exactly what happens. Yeah, you could add your own twist on it, but they can easily turn around and ask you to change it. All you have to do is accept it, at the end of the day you can’t fight it because it is their product. You could recommend something and say, “You do you, but I don’t think this is going to work or bring the most out of this project”, but in the end it is their decision.

Source: @tylerlovence.design (Instagram)

Can you describe a situation where you had to navigate conflicting feedback from a client, and how did you handle it?

I’m going to flip this, it’s not actually a client but as a part of my Uni course when doing a project I have to give a run down of what I am doing 3 weeks in. So this was to my tutor, basically a client but not exactly. So I explained my idea, and instantly because they had a chat with someone else who had pretty much the same idea, she said “No” almost straight away. At first I was kind of shocked like “Oh, okay sure” but once I was able to explain why I am doing it and how it is going to be achieved, she said to me “Do you know what? There is substance there”. When tutors tell you not to do something, it's hard to listen to them but also hard not to. Obviously, they are your tutor and have been in the game for years, they know what they’re doing and have that ‘eye’ in Graphic Design. However, it is all subjective and a personal opinion, I believe there is no Right or Wrong in Graphic Design. I had to almost stand up for myself and say, “I know you said no, but this is why I’m doing it” and explained myself well.

What tools and software do you find is the best, and are there any emerging technologies you're excited about incorporating into your work?

It’s not new at all, but I’ve been looking into it recently. Yes you have AI, but I’m now using AR in my most recent project. So AR, as in Augmented Reality, but in Instagram Filters. So essentially, you can have something 3D show up in “your world” through the eyes of your phone camera. To me, this process has been sick! I’ve been 3D scanning myself recently. Yes I look stupid doing it because I’m just standing in a spot spinning around while someone is taking pictures of me, people walking by find it funny but I just love it. Definitely 3D modelling / AR is big for me and my work right now. It’s not new to everyone, but it’s new to me and I’ve been loving learning it.

Source: @tylerlovence.design (Instagram)

In your opinion, how important is it for a graphic designer to stay updated on the latest industry trends, and how do you stay informed?

To be honest, I don’t think it’s too important to stay “up to date” with trends. Obviously, if you want that traction as a freelancer for example and you make TikTok’s on what you have made at that time, then yes I guess it is vital to make things on trend. But at the same time, there are so many graphic designers which means if you are doing it then everyone is doing it. You have to try to do something that nobody is doing, it could be a style from the past or something completely new, so if you want to “be big” or if you want to be seen… do something that nobody has seen. That could be very hard and I get that, the world reuses sh*t all of the time. You just have to be the one who does it differently.

Are there any people or types of projects that you find particularly inspiring or enjoyable to work on, and why?

There’s one guy actually, a couple of months ago I was really obsessed with watching this guy called: ‘elliotisacoolguy’. He’s an Aussie Graphic Designer, it’s hella simple what he does, it’s mainly Type focused (and I love type), so he makes these cards essentially on Photoshop which are just funny/very real sentences. I did a post actually which was inspired by him on my instagram account. I just love how simple and funny it can be, which is nice because Graphic Design is all about communicating a message with everything you make. So yeah for sure, he is up there for me. “Funny Type” is a cool concept, nobody wants to just see type on a screen without it meaning anything because then it’s kind of forgettable.

Photography by Vided Magazine

Simply, why graphic design?

Wow, I actually got asked this 2 days ago to be fair. It’s difficult to say, I’ve always found myself doing it. Back in the YouTube days I was making my own Thumbnails, Profile pictures, and Banners. I also used to dabble with Blender back then to make Minecraft Skin Renders, that was just what the content was when we were younger. But the funny thing is, I didn’t know it was called Graphic Design then. I went into college and studied IT, which is what my background is, and there was a unit where we had to make a website involving coding and design. From then, I just fell in love with design and thought to myself “this is what I want to do”. After that, I got my qualification there and left to move onto Graphic Design at uni. I just love it, you can make something so simple, as my style is quite minimal, but I’ve been trying to go more out there recently. I just think that small but effective feeling suits me so much better. Also, it’s massively because of the mediums. The reason I chose the Graphic Design Course was because it is so broad, it can be print, digital, art, VR/AR, it can be whatever you want. At the end of the day, What is Graphic Design?

If you could say one sentence that everyone in the world could hear at the same time, what would you want to say?

Love Yourself <3

Photography by Vided Magazine