What led you into design?
The first time I ever did in design was when I tried to make a skate video for my friends. I had to come up with a cool logo and a nice montage. It was then when I had a couple of really interesting ideas in my head, although I did not know how to implement them. I started to look for some programmes which would have been able to help me. I did find two, Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects. After checking out some tutorials I realized how awesome that was! Later, I started to deal with all the videos for our local skate shop. I got an offer to work as a web designer in a web agency and, to be honest, I had not really been excited about it until I checked out a couple of websites on Awwwards. I was greatly impressed!
What does a typical day look like?
I do not think there is anything special in my usual day. As a full-time freelance designer, I do work as every other person. The only difference is that I do not need to drive to the office. I do have to make a couple of steps to my desk instead. I wake up, have a cup of coffee/tea, check out emails or any other updates, pay attention to the news. I do go swimming after work and go somewhere with my beloved wife.
What’s your setup?
For the last half year I've been traveling a lot, so I don't really have my regular workspace. I always take with me my MacBook 15” and I feel really comfortable to work on it.
Where do you go to get inspired?
My main source of inspiration is God. Architecture and Travel also inspire me. Speaking of my work, I should say a big “thank you” to print design, fashion industry, skateboarding and motion design.
What product have you recently seen that made you think this is great design?
The first product doesn't have a great design, but this product gives to all designers great tool for creating a great stuff without code. Keyshape, is a 2D vector graphics and animation software. One can create CSS Animation Icon or JavaScript Animated Graphics.
Second app is (link: Opera Neon. It may look like a concept from Dribbble, but it is a currently working app. It is a fresh view design on Browser. I think this product may be interesting to every designer.
What pieces of work are you most proud of?
New things that I am usually working on. As I have just joined Fantasy Interactive, I cannot really say anything. There is a lot of things though that I have done at my previous job or during my freelance projects. One of my favourite projects is a BigDropInc website re-design from 2015. I have been working on this project for around 6 months. The thing to mention is that I have learned a lot of new interesting things.
The second project is a website re-design for an upcoming Hillsong conference:
The third project is another website re-design. Because of the NDA, I cannot really say a lot, although I have been allowed to add this one to my portfolio:
What music do you listen to while designing?
Any advice for ambitious designers?
There are 5 things that I may advice:
- Draw a lot! That is the best practice.
- Try to make more, than you can.
- Always put the user first. Try to think of his needs.
- Remember, that you are not a painter, but a designer. You have to solve a problem, not just draw nicely looking interfaces.
- Take care of your health!
Anything you want to promote or plug?
I’ll just share my personal links here:
https://dribbble.com/RuslanSiiz
https://www.behance.net/RuslanSiiz
https://www.instagram.com/ruslansiiz/
https://twitter.com/RuslanSiiz
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