Tina
Touli

What led you into design?

I always loved communicating and expressing myself through any form of art. Since I was little I was keen on dancing, draw­ing, play­ing music, and others. A friend of my parents had a piano and whenever we were vis­it­ing I was always trying to play some kind of melody. After I im­plored my parents for a while, they signed me up for piano lessons, which lead me to study on a music sec­ondary and high school. It was not only about music but also about art, acting, draw­ing, etc.

Soon, I realized I en­joyed playing the piano and the violin just for me, to express myself, it was not really my dream to become a mu­si­cian. I was more think­ing of becoming a mathe­mati­cian, a physicist, or an ar­chi­tect, till a friend told me about design, a field that would allow me to combine every­thing that I was pas­sion­ate about – audio, motion, vi­suals, etc. I got into a Graphic Design course and really soon I fall in love with design and creativity.

What does a typical day look like?

My day consists of around 8 cups of tea and jumping back and forth between 2-3 different projects. I really enjoy work­ing on various projects at the same time, so when I am stuck, tired or not in a mood to work fur­ther on one project, I can jump on another one. I often work late hours since I find them really cre­ative. When there are no more emails, mes­sages, etc and everyone else is asleep, it is the perfect time to con­cen­trate and get as effi­cient as possible. Loud music playing at the studio the whole day is a must for me. Exer­cis­ing for a break is also really im­por­tant, just to clear my mind before going back to work.

What's your workstation setup?

Where do you go to get inspired?

Nowadays more and more creatives tend to follow the same processes, starting and finishing their projects on their computer, ignoring all the inspiration from our immediate surroundings. Anything around us that can stimulate any of our senses can be inspirational and an “object” for investigation. A hole on a t-shirt, a wrong print, the foil paper that we wrap our food in, even the notebook that we sketch as an object itself. There is so much inspiration in the physical world that we tend to ignore and could implement in our work.

What product have you recently seen that made you think this is great design?

I recently got very excited about smart lights, especially about the function that recognizes when you are close by your house and turns them on for you just before you step in.

What pieces of work are you most proud of?

Some of the projects that I am most proud of are the double ampersand paper sculpture artwork created for the &pizza restaurant in New York, the limited edition Skullcandy campaign with the “Blissfull” theme and the “Create Anything, Anywhere, Anytime” campaign for Z by HP.

&pizza Restaurant Artwork

A paper sculpture of two ampersands, the brand’s symbol, connected has been created, photographed and edited digitally in order to shape the packaging of &pizza for the Christmas 2019 period. The packaging has been inspired by the ribbons used on the Christmas presents along with the concept of connection and communication that represents the brand. Stand together and lift each other.

More can be found at the link below:

https://tinatouli.com/and-pizza-christmas-2019

Skullcandy “Blissfull” Campaign

During the time of the pandemic things felt a bit tough, and everyone could use some positivity. In whatever small way Skullcandy could, they wanted to help inspire some good vibes. That’s why the Mood Boost: a campaign with a mission to boost mental health, one uplifting mood at a time, has been launched. For the month of April 2020, Skullcandy approached me to help bring the Blissful mood to life. I have been provided with a specific mood and colour palette (green earth tones with red secondary colours) and the freedom to define my own interpretation of Blissful while creating a digital toolkit for the campaign. A print of the hero artwork was bundled with a limited-edition earbuds. Re-interpreted Skullcandy “skulls” have been designed using the Blissful mood and its’ colour palette as a theme. Skullcandy’s internal design team moved those elements into production, creating environment design graphics for short-form music video performances and interview content, where the artists share stories and thoughts on the mood of the month.

More can be found at the link below:

https://tinatouli.com/skullcandy

“Create Anything, Anywhere, Anytime” Z by HP Campaign

As designers we don’t want to think of any technical issues and limitations while creating. We want to have an uninterrupted creative experience and freedom to Create Anything, Anywhere and Anytime. The Z by HP collection provides limitless possibilities, breaking any boundaries between creativity and technology. It provides with devices that become an extension of us and our creativity. One of the most common questions that I have been asked, is where do I seek inspiration from? Creating a campaign showcasing new techniques and ideas that will hopefully be a reference and inspiration for other creatives was the aim of this ad. The key messages of Create Anything, Anywhere and Anytime have been designed using various techniques, from physical experimentations, to 3D visuals and sketchy graphics, reflecting the concept of a device created by a group of creatives for all types of creatives!

More can be found at the link below:

https://tinatouli.com/z-by-hp

What design challenges do you face at your company?

My goal is always to make every single project that I am working on unique, different from what I have done before (I really don’t appreciate repeating myself) and the best project that I ever created. So I guess the biggest challenge is to “satisfy” myself.

What music do you listen to while designing?

Any advice for ambitious designers?

Some­times the strongest designs come from a simple con­cept and by trying things out. Don’t wait for perfection. Even if you don't know how to make it happen, get started with what you've got, and you will figure it out on your way. All you need is to love, appreciate and get satis­fac­tion from every little thing that you create.

Anything you want to promote or plug?

Currently working on a very exciting self initiated project about mental health, that I cannot wait to share more about it hopefully soon. It is a series of artworks/material explorations conveying different feelings, emotions, moments, allowing you to stop for a moment what you are doing and monitor them, get lost within them, take a moment to relax and care for our mind. Like a little meditation moment.

Travelling between reality and imagination through the colourful universe inside us. “Colours” of emotions, subjective states of mind. Feelings of joy and sadness, the complexity of beauty. A journey of self discovery with emotions that colour our inner world but also the world around us, our cosmos.