My name is Tal, I’m a 27 year old freelance motion designer based in Jerusalem, and a recent graduate of Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design.

Which design topics are you most passionate about?

I’m most passionate about motion design and animation, I’m always trying to adapt aesthetics and looks from the physical graphic design world.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Before I started studying design, I used to paint murals and do graffiti, which I really miss and hope to do more of when I have free time.

Share a project / exhibition / creative person / anything that you found recently and sparked your imagination.

I've been consistently inspired by the work of animation director Ariel Costa. What makes his style truly unique is his ability to infuse motion into the world of collage, seamlessly blending digital and analog elements.

What’s the hardest thing about being a designer?

The most daunting aspect of being a designer is the delicate balance between one's creative vision and meeting the specific needs and desires of clients. As designers, we function as service providers, and it can be challenging to maintain a professional approach while preserving our creative essence.

What’s the best thing about being a designer?

For me, the best aspect of being a designer is the opportunity to be part of a global community that shares a passion for creativity and design. It's not just a profession; it's a worldwide network of like-minded individuals.

What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?

One invaluable piece of advice I've received, which came from several friends who, like me, started in the graffiti scene and later became designers or artists, is to "trust the process." At times, it can be challenging to visualize the end goal or articulate your creative aspirations. However, it's crucial to remember that your unique journey and path are understood best by you alone. Trusting the process and maintaining unwavering dedication is key to achieving your creative goals.

What do you do when you feel stuck and uninspired?

I usually take a long walk in my neighborhood while listening to music.

Recommend a book / movie / TV series / podcast / playlist to our readers

I highly recommend "Mild Animals" on NTS radio, hosted by Phil Nesco and Free The Robots — one of my favorite musicians. The show offers a diverse and surprising selection of music from various genres and regions across the globe.

Thank you Tal!

I am an independent illustrator from Vietnam. I love drawing lovely, weird things with bright, vivid colors, strong contrasts, things that are mysterious, full of magic and sparkle.

How did you find your medium and style, and who and what influenced you?

I was a student majoring in graphic design. When I was a child, I loved to read manga and watch anime (Japanese comic and cartoon/animation). There are many mangakas (Japanese comic authors) that have influenced my style such as Fujiko F Fujio, Suzue Miuchi, Takahashi Rumiko, CLAMP, Hosokawa Chieko,.. After graduating from university, I focused entirely on illustration, and animation. My style is inherited from both the graphic design industry and the Japanese manga industry.

What subjects are you most fascinated with?

I like themes about cuisine and Asian culture. Lately I've been preferring clear and content themes , like life issues, and love - Love Cycle. My latest personal project is on this topic.

Those are the 4 stages of a love story (just an example, not meant to represent them all). Starting with getting to know the other person (find love) - then falling in love - then one of them having a third person interfere (betrayer) - then running away from that love (escape). I was delighted to be able to use iconic images to create these illustrations.

How do you create characters, what inspires them, how do you use color?

The character creation came to me quite naturally, as I was heavily influenced by the Japanese manga industry of the 80s-90s and 2000s. But with what I learned in graphic design, it helped. I create a more modern style, simple lines and shapes, but the overall is always sophisticated and detailed.

I like strong contrast, bright and vivid colors. Color is often the detail that can cause the most visual stimulation. High contrast colors can also reflect emotions the best, as I often like to draw characters with quirky, unforgettable expressions, or simply angry, worried expressions, scared.

If you had to pick a favorite project, which one are you most proud of and why?

I love and take pride in all of my projects. It's like every phase I try in this career. Each project has different emotions. The most recent is the personal project 'Incident at Sailor Teashop'. When I came up with the idea, I had a lot of strange thoughts and directions. I wanted to create an ordinary story that was predictable, but presented in a different way. The emphasis will be on small details, movements, and transitions. This project was completed in a relatively short time, but I absolutely love it.

What’s next for you?

I want to combine 2D and 3D into my works. And also 3D animation. Very few artists combine this, only 2D or only 3D, so I wanted to challenge how far I could do it. And also some 3D animation.

Rapid Fire Round!

Weekend - lounge in bed / go out and party? Totally lounge in bed. I'm a home addict :)

Coffee or tea? Tea

Cats or dogs? Both

Favorite season? Autumn in Hanoi (Vietnam)

Cinema or Netflix? Netflix

Pool or beach? Pool

Computer or sketchbook? Computer

Text or voice note? Text

City or countryside? City! Modern city

Getting dressed: colorful or monochromatic? Monochromatic

Thank you Lucia!

I’m Kaitlyn Chai (蔡佳伶), 24, and currently based in Melbourne – but originally from Malaysia. I’m also blessed enough to be working as a multidisciplinary designer and illustrator. I used to work as a freelancer but have since found a home at Date of Birth and have been with them as an Associate Designer for about 9 months now. I’d say my practice is pretty broad and I don’t really think I have a particular “style”. I like to keep an open mind and I’m always experimenting with different tools/techniques across print and digital mediums. I don’t like boxing myself into the traditional role of a “Graphic Designer”; to me design is first and foremost storytelling and exploration, it’s not always about a predetermined material outcome. It’s exciting to see how far we can push the potentials of design, using methods and mediums that might not always be conventional or expected.

Which design topics are you most passionate about?

Not sure if this is a topic exclusive to the design world, but I'm passionate about advocating for greater equity and diversity in our industry, as well as in design history and education. Graphic design has been built off of western influences and knowledge for far too long, and it's about time we broadened our perspectives by acknowledging and celebrating cultural and design influences from other parts of the world. The work we put out has an impact on society and culture; our messaging, the images and models we use, the aesthetic we assign to our work. Being aware of what we reproduce, where we draw our influences from and questioning what we consider to be “good” design is something I think every creative should be asking themselves. These aren’t issues that can be solved overnight, it takes collective work and it's not a perfect journey, but small steps are still steps forward.

What do you like to do in your free time?

With the free “me time” I have, I usually like to have coffee by myself and just wander the city or around random shops although I have nothing to buy. I find spontaneous inspiration also hits me when I'm just wandering aimlessly and find small book stores filled with indie publications or cool typography on signages. It might also sound slightly workaholic of me, but when I clock off my day job I usually take that time to work on personal projects.

Share a project / exhibition / creative person / anything that you found recently and sparked your imagination.

I came across Anna Mills (@annam.lls) on Instagram a while ago, but I’m still so enamored and inspired by their work. They do some incredible stuff with motion and typography, using analog and print mediums combined with digital tools to create beautiful frame by frame animations. Makes me really inspired to incorporate more hand drawn and analog ways of making into my design work.

What’s the hardest thing about being a designer?

I think the hardest thing I learnt after getting out of university was the reality of making a $ living $ as a creative. Being in university, I had so much creative freedom and flexibility with the work I produced, I got to be as wild and experimental as I wanted. But working with clients, you don’t necessarily have limitless creative freedom. Sometimes clients are open to letting you go as wild as you’d like, but some clients can be more conservative about their approach based on their tastes and what they think might be more commercially successful. We don’t all have the privilege of picking and choosing the work we do, but I think at the end of the day projects like these build you up to be a better designer. Looking at a brief from a different perspective and accepting that your work isn't always for you, although hard, can be a great way to learn how to break away from your personal biases and agendas.

What’s the best thing about being a designer?

Nothing beats the feeling of seeing my work outside of the computer screen and in the real world. It’s an extremely surreal feeling walking down the street and seeing the poster you did or watching a brand identity concept come to life on print and digital media. At Date of Birth, we do quite a bit of packaging work for clients who are stocked at major supermarkets/retailers, and it's wild to just be running errands and seeing our work on the shelves, knowing the hours of labor everyone has put into making that product a reality. It never gets old!

Who would you love to collaborate with?

I think every designer at some point has fantasized about doing a collection for Ikea–or is that just me?

Describe your dream project.

I have so many, it's hard to name just one dream project. I would love to design a book for A24 or for the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) though–they’re publications are stunnnning!

Share the last photo you took for inspiration and explain why.

I took this screenshot while shopping online for Asian groceries. I’m a sucker for Asian food and drink packaging (I always feel like a kid at a candy store)! The colors, the illustration, the (i think) hand drawn type, all beautifully, “haphazardly” placed on the packaging just does something for me. Fun, colorful packaging isn’t just for kids!

What do you do when you feel stuck and uninspired?

I used to spiral when I was working on a project and had a creative block. My approach used to be to keep working until an idea sparks, but that didn’t really work. I figured out later on, that it helped when I just stepped away from my laptop and got my mind off the work, at least for a little while. I’d do something else for a couple hours, like reading a book or being around my friends. I noticed that most good ideas also come to me when I’m in the shower as well, not sure why but, it’s worked for me so far. However, if it’s crunch time and you work in a full-time role like me and can’t really step away from your job, moving on to a different task or area of the project and coming back to what you're stuck on later helps heaps too.

Recommend a book / movie / TV series / podcast / playlist to our readers

If you’re a horror film/series buff like me, definitely watch From, I'm counting the days till the next season. But I’d also highly recommend the book “The Politics of Design” by Ruben Pater. It's a super easy to read and concise book that explores the socio-cultural and political context of design and the impact it has on our society. It’s an amazing way to get started on critically thinking about our roles as designers.

Thank you Kaitlyn!

I’m a freelance illustrator from Spain based in Berlin. I draw colorful characters doing things for different publications and brands and have been doing so for a while. I graduated from the UdK in 2013 but didn’t have a strong portfolio nor any significant internet presence or contacts anywhere, so it took me some time to take off. I reached out to small publications for my first editorial assignments and posted my stuff regularly on Tumblr and facebook. Two years later, some small illustration blogs featured my work and that gave me confidence to submit it to bigger platforms and to start posting on Instagram. I got exposure, which led to exciting work and to more exposure and more exciting work. I went with the flow for some years, got to work for some of my dream clients and signed with a nice agency. Life was good.

However, in the summer of 2019, I started going through a series of crises that would accompany me through the pandemic, affecting almost every area of my life at one point or another. During those years, work was chaotic. I was often unavailable, sometimes for long periods of time, and, whenever I could work, I went into survival mode, desperate to secure income to prepare for the next setback. I survived, but lost touch with old connections and also most of my drive to make personal work along the way. Meanwhile, Instagram was becoming super toxic. In the fall of 2021 I got diagnosed with a moderate depression, couldn’t sleep for months and had to stop working again.

Therapy saved my life and last year was very cathartic. I made difficult decisions, solved most of my problems and got much better at accepting and managing the unsolvable. Work-wise, I acknowledged my dissatisfactions, made changes, left places, moved into a new studio. This year, business is oddly slow, the future uncertain and the world makes very little sense, but I’m fine and available.

How did you find your medium and style, and who and what influenced you?

My style has evolved a lot since I graduated. I’d say it’s become cleaner and simpler over the years, partly to adapt to changes in the creative zeitgeist, partly because life was noisy and complicated enough and I strived for simplicity, but mostly for efficiency’s sake: in the beginning, I was just very slow and overworked a lot, so I needed to find ways to work faster and learn to redistribute time, energy and mental space to other activities if I wanted to have a healthy work-life balance in the long run.

I started out with a collage-like approach with drawn details, no outlines and self-made textures on way too many Photoshop layers. Early-mid 2010’s to the max. Very exhausting. I stopped that in 2017, getting rid of the textures and going for more vibrant colors, now flat. This was already much better, but I struggled with contrast all the time and didn’t have enough control over the colors because I was still working on too many layers. I addressed those issues by adding outlines one year later, which was a huge relief, and transitioned to vectors during the pandemic.

As for influences, I think my university years were important for shaping my visual preferences and providing some direction to my early practice. The internet and social media did the rest.

What subjects are you most fascinated with?

I spend a lot of time thinking about politics, gender and identity issues, mental health and trauma stuff, but tend to get booked for tech, work and business-themed projects.

Also, flowers and animals are great, tattoos are cool and music is very important.

How do you create characters, what inspires them, how do you use color?

I like my characters to be simple, easily readable and friendly. I sketch them first on Photoshop or Procreate, then draw them clean on Illustrator, usually keeping the final close to the original sketch. Nothing special here. I keep my own guidelines for faces, shapes, proportions, etc. flexible because I don’t need my figures and objects to look the same all the time.

When it comes to color, I usually reuse palettes that worked well in the past as starting points in future projects. These palettes usually consist of around eight swatches, and I adjust them as needed based on the overall tone of the illustration, the elements being colored, and the diversity of the characters I’m depicting.

If you had to pick a favorite project, which one are you most proud of and why?

From the last couple of years my favorite one might be the New Year’s e-card I made last winter together with Mathieu Maillefer for my French agent Tiphaine. I had been a fan of Mathieu’s animations for a while, so working with him was exciting. Also, it was the first time I saw my vector work animated by a pro. It was very satisfying.

Apart from that, two other projects have made me proud lately. The first one is a comic I made during the pandemic, part of Wlada Kolosowa’s novel 'Der Hausmann’. It’s the longest thing I’ve ever made, around fifty pages in total, and I had to work on it under terrible emotional and material conditions, so finishing it was extremely liberating. Wlada did an excellent job and the final result turned out to be a really beautiful book. It was published last summer by the Austrian publishing house Leykam. I made the cover as well.

My second pick is a Pinocchio little set of illustrations I made with Disney last year for their 100th Anniversary because receiving an enquiry from Disney is just a very pleasing experience. Also, working with their team was delightful and the art ended up being printed on t-shirts and sold at ZARA, which caught me by surprise and didn’t necessarily make me proud but was a very fun twist.

What’s next for you?

Healing, growing, taking things slowly, hopefully lots of nice projects. I also intend to draw more for myself, learn at least one new skill and visit my mum more often.

Rapid Fire Round!

Weekend - lounge in bed / go out and party? An entire weekend in bed sounds too drastic, but I do prefer chill and intimate over hectic and crowded.

Coffee or tea? Coffee.

Cats or dogs? Dogs.

Favorite season? Spring

Cinema or Netflix? Cinema

Pool or beach? Beach

Computer or sketchbook? Computer

Text or voice note? Both.

City or countryside? City.

Getting dressed: colorful or monochromatic? Color-friendly

Thank you Raúl!

So, if being asked to write about yourself or your work makes you break into light sweat, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to share 6 tips that will help you when dealing with any copy-related task.

But before we dive in, a quick, very useful reminder: writing and design are more similar than you might think! These two disciplines ultimately have the same goal: to communicate a message and tell a story. In one you might be doing so by creating a layout and choosing the best type and color palette; and in the other by composing a paragraph that’s easy to read and makes sense.

Embracing this mindset can help eliminate the fear usually associated with writing, and as long as you’re able to acknowledge this, we guarantee that writing can become a skill you develop and weave into your creative life.

1. We are all writers

OK, so we’re not all published authors, that’s true. But we all engage with writing in our lives on a daily basis. Sending emails, texting family, commenting on a friend’s post on Instagram: these are all examples of writing. Don’t dismiss it as trivial, on the contrary, use it! Maybe your personal tone of voice is hiding there. Have a look at the way you write and take inspiration and guidance from there.

2. Can’t write? Talk!

If you struggle with the blank page and find yourself staring at the screen or notebook paralyzed with the idea of writing, here’s a fun trick for you to try. Get a good friend to sit with you, buy them a coffee, and just start chatting about whatever your writing task is about, making it into a conversation. You can either record your session and transcribe it later, or if your friend is up for it - have them write your words for you as you speak. This is a great little exercise to not only get some words on the paper without that dread, but also to make you realize how writing is very much within your reach as something you practice daily in talking.

3. Read aloud, edit, repeat

This is like a reverse exercise to the previous one: after putting things down in writing, you repeat them out loud. This is the best way to ensure your writing works and makes sense. While reading to yourself, it’s also easier to put yourself in the shoes of whomever your reader may be, and sensing to see if your writing fits your goal. Is everything clear? Does the order make sense? Who is my target audience and will they relate to what I’ve written? In the same way that you’d be your own critic for your designs and keep reviewing and perfecting them, do the same with your writing and edit and reiterate - write, read aloud, edit, read aloud, until you feel you have come to a good place.

4. Language is a form of personal style

No matter what your writing task is, you want to let your individual personality shine through in your text. It is your language that makes up your personal style and creates your tone of voice: choice of vocabulary, length of sentences and paragraphs, insertion of humor, etc. For example, using formal or complex jargon might seem like ‘the right thing to do’, but if that feels jarring, you might consider softening that and opting for other choice of words that feel more organic and true to you. When you’re feeling stuck and not sure how to approach a topic you need or want to write about, simply focus on getting the point across succinctly and in your own words. Authenticity will always feel right.

5. Simplicity for the win

It’s always better to have your text simplified rather than overly-complex. Eye-level, conversational copy, is so much easier to read and digest, and makes you accessible.

Try to avoid using extremely professional phrases that people outside your circle won’t understand. Same goes for buzzwords—just like trends, you shouldn't use them if they don’t work for you personally. Keep it concise and to the point, without repeating sentences or using synonyms just for the sake of sounding sophisticated.

6. It’s a work in progress

Luckily for us, most of the writing we’re doing nowadays is online, and therefore - editable. Whatever it is you are working on, remember that it represents you at this particular point in time. In the same way your portfolio is ever-changing and you’ll always be updating it, so is your writing. Don’t be afraid to make statements or have fun and experiment. Make whatever you are writing a true reflection of who you are and what you’re thinking at this exact moment in time. And when you change - that would change as well.

Saleena Aggarwal, Blog and Social Team.

Tell us about your work. What is your current position?

I'm a Senior Designer focused on Wix's social and blog visual language. My role involves creating style guides that capture the essence of Wix for our audience. It's all about ensuring our design communicates effectively and authentically.

What are the top traits that make you good at what you do?

I've got a knack for blending wide-ranging exploration with focused refinement, all wrapped up in an organized and thoughtful process. Research isn't just a task for me; it's a key pillar of my design approach that I've sharpened into a skill over time.

Blog covers

How do you deal with challenges in your creative process?

We all hit creative roadblocks, don't we? When that happens, I find my way back through research and inspiration. I select a couple of standout inspirations, dissect what makes them tick, and then blend those winning concepts with elements from previous explorations. It's like a creative puzzle that starts coming together organically.

What’s the best way to handle receiving negative feedback?

Dealing with negative feedback is really about adjusting your mindset. I've come to see feedback as a companion on my creative journey. It's always there, so I've learned to make room for it without letting it bring me down. When I receive criticism, I put on a sort of "detached hat" and view it as a chance to team up and improve my work. This way, feedback becomes this really helpful tool for making things better.

Social post

Share something that inspires you that has nothing to do with design?

Nature has a profound impact on me. Stepping into its serene embrace offers me the freedom to experience and simply exist. Nature inspires me to embrace a meaningful life, embody kindness, and appreciate the intricate beauty that surrounds us all.

What's the best advice you've received - design related or not?

One of the most treasured nuggets of wisdom I've been given is that life has a remarkable way of finding its own rhythm. You don't need to have every detail mapped out. This relates to design too. You don’t need to have all the answers right away. Enjoy the process of exploration. Trust in yourself, keep moving forward, and embrace the infinite opportunities that lie ahead.

Blog cover

What would you do if you weren’t a designer?

Occasionally, my mind wanders into this realm. I often find myself envisioning a path in wildlife photography. Yet, whether through the lens or through design, my drive to seek inspiration has remained unwavering.

Typography research

Tell us something about the projects you’ve shared and we’re seeing here

Blog Cover:

These blog covers emerged as part of our monthly Blog Marathon, a dynamic week-long endeavor where we generate designs for the Wix blog. There was a time I used to feel the weight of the clock ticking while striving to craft something aesthetically pleasing that aligned with the brief. Over time, experimentation led me to establish my own unique approach and rhythm.

Social Carousel: The "Safer Space" carousel came to life in honor of Pride Month 2023. This piece was a collaborative effort with other team members. It was quite a journey to navigate the intricate process of developing a distinctive visual language that resonated with the moment while maintaining a sense of relevance and respect.

Type Research:

I undertook a lengthy expedition, delving into the depths of the internet to unearth typography trends that resonated with our brand. What truly amazed me was the impact that global events and the shared human experience had on typography. Though the initial goal was to refine our typography library in line with contemporary trends, the outcome turned out to be immensely intricate and eye-opening.

Thank you Saleena!

Hello, I'm Sofia Noceti, a 38-year-old graphic designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I have always been drawn to the world of design, and while I may not have completed formal studies, I embrace the title of a graphic designer by trade. This year my journey has led me to an exciting partnership with Crista Bernasconi, giving life to our new design studio/office called, 'ufficio'. Summing up in a few words is hard, I have been trying to write my Bio many times, but, much like design, it’s something I'm continuously shaping…

Which design topics are you most passionate about?

I really enjoy the moment of exploring a project, that moment when the project doesn't exist yet, when the tests are diverse. I like the moment when I find something – the humor, the joke, the "why." The moment in which the project takes on something. Because when you start working on the project, you can go anywhere, take any direction. I like to understand the reason for the choices I make. I also like it when, once that direction is chosen, I can explore it in depth, begin to see its edges, its flaws, its potential, its scope, its vices, and at the same time set the limits, define the boundaries, and establish the rules. I like it when the project comes to light. I'm especially fond of collaborating with people that are open to immerse themselves in the process. There are moments of intuition, trial and error, and delightful discoveries. I find great pleasure in delving into the reasoning behind every design choice.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I have a small risograph publisher project with Juan Casal, my boyfriend, called Ediciones El Fuerte. I make etching, almost as a secret practice. I like to dance. I go to dance and movement practice classes.

Share a project / exhibition / creative person / anything that you found recently and sparked your imagination.

It's a tricky question. I feel that these days, having so much to see and with everything so accessible, it is difficult for me to mention something in particular. I can say that the things that inspire me the most are rather indescribable, it's more like a place, like the sun reflecting off an object, a song, a sound. In a world where everything is more and more "the same" it attracts me and inspires me to see something unique, different and genuine. I am greatly drawn to projects or individuals where ones own essence shines through, not simply chasing after trends. When someone dares to do something that might even invite criticism or stands out as different. Nowadays, we are all striving to fit into something, including myself. However, I admire when I come across projects that break away from that, that deviate from what's considered "acceptable" and normal. I appreciate these small revolutions.

What’s the hardest thing about being a designer?

I can’t say that it is hard to be a designer. I really enjoy working. I can't complain. Of course, there are difficult times, even more when you own your own studio, and you have to be in charge not only of designing, but in general. I have to say that I really enjoy working (except when the client wants to handle the files or send 'their own sketches', I don't like being a mouse driver).

What’s the best thing about being a designer?

That we believe or feel that we have the power to do any kind of project. Here in Argentina, the graphic design career is very project-based, they teach us to think, to conceptualize, and that gives us tools to create projects of any kind.

Describe your dream project.

I think I would really like to design album covers. My first approach to design was as a teenager when I made CD's for friends and designed the covers in a very rustic way, making collages and retouching in photoshop that were very poorly done. I would like to collaborate on musical projects one day, since in another life my dream would be to have my own band, although in this one I don't know how to play an instrument. But, to be honest... my biggest dream project, not as a graphic designer, is to design my own house. Years ago I drew the plan of my dream house. I just need to be able to decide where I want to plant it, and find a place that suits that house.

Share the last photo you took for inspiration and explain why.

It's a photo from a Joseph Beuys book that I took in my etching workshop. I have been working for several years on a series inspired by mountains in geological movements and their textures. I am attracted to these formations, which are unique, each piece of stone, of mountains are perched in a space on the planet like sculptures.

What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?

“If you don’t trust me, go with another one” ( from a taxi driver on a small island in Indonesia). You can't be liked by everyone, we are always going to disappoint someone's expectations of us, and that's okay. It is also part of accepting that not everyone loves what you do, and that is what makes you different. And that it is also great to follow your own intuition and path. Even though that might distance you from people or projects. It was a comment completely out of context, but it kept ringing in my head.

What do you do when you feel stuck and uninspired?

Actually, I'm very headstrong. When I feel stuck I just insist until I achieve something, if not I change the tab and get into another project. I am lucky to work with clients and brands that inspire me, that amuse me, I always look for a way to have fun, doing it my way. When I have too much work, sometimes I find it hard to feel inspired, and then there's nothing better than taking a vacation, and missing my job.

Recommend a book / movie / TV series / podcast / playlist to our readers

Shirkers (Sandi Tan): A documentary about loss, nostalgia from a place that doesn't exist anymore, friendship, mysteries and the passage of time.

Thank you Sofia!

I’m a freelance illustrator/animator and (sometimes) graphic designer currently living in Berlin, Germany. I usually work on a lot of editorial commissions for newspapers, magazines and create promotional materials for small brands. I also very much enjoy working within the music sector, creating show posters or album covers for independent artists. Before moving to Berlin, I was living in Brooklyn, NY and working full time as an animator for a newscast. I was a bit burned out, so I decided to take a break and pursue a 6 month artist residency In Berlin starting in January 2020. This small break turned into 3.5 years of ‘seeing what happens’ and I am happily (permanently) living here now and freelancing full time.

I am originally from Quito, Ecuador and migrated to California with my parents when I was a child. Growing up in Southern California but being from somewhere else played a huge part in my creative life. I was lucky to live in a city where there was always something going on. It made it easy to be immersed in pop culture, music, and many diverse subcultures which really shaped my interests. I also found that the contrasting influences from my homeland propelled my desire to find a way to make sense of it all, which I began to explore through making art. Throughout my years in high school, I was drawing and painting a lot, I was encouraged by my high school art teacher to apply to art university. I wanted to explore a different place so I applied to Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. I enrolled in the animation program and fell in love with different ways of creating moving image work. I began experimenting a lot with stop motion, hand drawn animation and creating animated still life. Through going to art school I was able to nail down my influences and begin to make work that I was really excited about.

How did you find your medium and style, and who and what influenced you?

Finding my medium was very fluid. Like I mentioned, I began my career as an animator, making some stop motion and 2D animated work but then somehow found my way to illustration. I think spending hours on end on one animated sequence after another burned me out a bit and pushed me to try to make work that still told a story but felt a bit more balanced. I also found that learning about different disciplines and having a ranging skill set has allowed me to be a bit experimental and have a fluid and fun approach to the work I currently make.

Some early influences for me were Daniel Clowes - I've always loved his way of storytelling and depicting coming of age. He’s been a big inspiration for me and really got me interested in making sequential art. Sally Cruikshank has been another huge inspiration for me. From her color palettes to the wackiness of her subjects and the elaborate nature of her animations, she was such a pioneering force in the animation world and someone who I continue to draw inspiration from to this day. I’ve also been going to the archive of youth culture in Berlin a bit and have found so much inspiration from going through zines from the 80’s and 90’s. So many fun illustrations, layouts and textures to pull from! It’s all super inspiring.

What subjects are you most fascinated with?

I love drawing people and depicting ‘real life’ situations in a fun and over exaggerated way. It’s always so interesting to draw over emphasized expressions and add some fun textural components to my work because playing with the line of figurative work and a little bit of surrealism makes it all more fun.

How do you create characters, what inspires them, how do you use color?

I think I draw inspiration from my everyday life a lot. Going on walks I often see people and I think ‘huh they’d be fun to draw’ and then probably forget (I'm very bad at keeping a sketchbook) but I do think parts of people I see, colors I see on the street, on posters, on clothes, really make their way through my subconscious and onto my work 80% of the time. The other portion of the time I am actively looking for inspiration, I try to stay away from instagram and other social media in order to do so because I think sometimes the nature of the algorithm is overwhelming and only pushes very specific aesthetics. My way to combat algorithm lethargy is to look through printed matter, either by going to the archive or going to a bookstore and buying some magazines that look interesting to me.

If you had to pick a favorite project, which one are you most proud of and why?

I really love the recurring work I've gotten to do for Colorama Workshop, a Riso printing studio / publisher here in Berlin. I’ve been working with them for a few years now and have gotten to design posters, animated reels, fun character illustrations and soooo many assets over the years. It’s been really fun to see my work circling around the city and it’s also been such a pleasure to work with such a community minded project.

What’s next for you?

I hope to continue freelancing and also continue to get more fun and interesting gigs. I also started a clothing and screen printing project that I hope will grow a bit more in the next year as well. I have really enjoyed making work that is more ‘off screen’ and organizing fun pop-ups where the Berlin creative community can meet and support one another in a physical space.

Rapid Fire Round!

Weekend - lounge in bed / go out and party?

Hybrid! I love both, some weekends I'm a total couch potato and other weekends I love going out to dance / shows.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee!!!!

Cats or dogs?

Dogs definitely

Favorite season?

Fall

Cinema or Netflix?

Cinema

Pool or beach?

Beach 100%

Computer or sketchbook?

Computer, unfortunately

Text or voice note?

Voice note

City or countryside?

City mostly, countryside for a couple weeks out of the year

Getting dressed: colorful or monochromatic?

Monochromatic with a pop of color ;)

Thank you Pamela!

It’s a topic that has been researched for decades, and for good reason. If we can decode this enigmatic process, we can easily tap into this infinite resource. In today's reality, when we are flooded with new information and inspirations every second of the day, being able to tune in to our own inner process could be useful more than ever.

The Four Stages Model

It was in 1926 that British psychologist Graham Wallas proposed one of the first complete modules of the creative process in his book ‘The Art of Thought’. In it, Wallas described how it consists of the four-stage process of preparation, incubation, illumination and verification.

Before we begin to explore each stage, it’s interesting to acknowledge that though this theory is nearly a 100 years old, it continues to be one of the most reliable thesis on the subject, and is considered fundamental in this field.

Let’s dive in to the model:

Stage 1 - Preparation

Also known as ‘saturation', the first step in the creative process is about—well, you guessed it— preparation. You saturate and immerse yourself in the project at hand, collecting information and acquiring knowledge about your project. This stage involves both internal and external processes: internal in the sense that you get into a lot of deep thinking in order to generate ideas; and external in that you are going out into the world to gather necessary data, materials and resources.

Stage 2 - Incubation

The incubation stage can be best described in terms of a stew, or a dish you cook. After you've put all your ingredients (ideas and information you gathered) together in a bowl (your brain and mind), you let them sit and marinate. It’s almost as if you’re not doing anything, just letting them work their magic together and interact with each other's qualities. All you need to do is not interrupt the process that goes on behind the scenes. It might feel like doing nothing, but in reality there’s a lot going on, as your brain works and new connections are formed, and the unconscious mind is engaged.

Stage 3 - Illumination

This stage is what we all imagine when we think of the spark of creativity. That ever-elusive moment when everything clicks together and a solution presents itself. After we allow the period of incubation, insights are now free to arise from the deeper layers of the mind and surface into our awareness. This often happens in a very dramatic way, that sudden ‘Eureka!’ that comes when you least expect it. Seemingly out of nowhere, but not really as we see.

Stage 4 - Verification

And now for the final stage, where we execute our vision and the creative solution that came to us. This is when we sit down and do the work - opening documents, sketching, painting, animating - whatever it is that the task requires of our craft. All the ideas and insights that arose in the illumination stage are fleshed out and developed into reality.

Doers and Dreamers

A creative process is about bringing ourselves forth, bridging our inner and outer worlds. You might have noticed the four-stage model can be roughly divided into a similar inner-outer play. One part, which consists of the preparation and verification stages, is about external doing and being out in the world; and the other - which consists of the incubation and illumination stages - has more to do with drawing in, dreaming, and the internal doings of our mind.

Harnessing the knowledge of the cycle

To some - those who more easily relate to the dreaming and imagining sides of a project - the incubation and illumination stages might seem more appealing, as they feel more at ease and at their best when getting lost in all the different paths an idea can lead to.

For others, the executors, the preparation and verification stages will feel more safe as this is their comfort zone. This is where they get to shine with their ‘doer’ qualities.

Not everyone, though, considers themselves ‘dreamers’ or ‘doers’ by definition. Many of us fall in between, or transition between those inclinations as we move along a project. This is why some people might look at this model and deem it a bit dogmatic in its understanding of creativity. After all, creativity is messy! It’s an unpredictable, organic process, so how can we artificially divide those parts of ourselves?

Actually, this is exactly where the power of the model lies, and how it can be utilized at its best - through its so-called limitations of structure. How? by choosing to look at it as a map, rather than territory, for our own creative process. It’s a way for us to shine a light to where we might need an extra bit of help to help us thrive, and avoid by-passing areas of discomfort.

If, for example, you find yourself excelling in the research and planning of your project, getting things done and being productive - take notice and make sure that you’re not putting too much time and effort in this stage, and neglecting the focus and time it takes to incubate. Don’t rush into the next ‘doing’ bit; allow yourself to digest so the ideas you come up with won’t end up half-baked. Level up your process by taking the necessary time to reflect and contemplate.

On the other hand, if you notice you’ve really gotten stuck in your head with imagining and dreaming - as much as you might find that pleasurable - make sure to set yourself some structure and commit to action, so that your project doesn’t lag behind and remain nothing but an idea.

In this way, whenever you feel a bit stuck or unsure in your creative process, just look back into these four stages, and try and identify where you are now; what you might have missed in one of the stages; and which stage could benefit from a little more time and energy. By bringing balance into the stages and the energy they represent, we can harness their power and allow the dreaming and the doing to coexist in harmony.

I’m Juliette van Rhyn, I’m 37, and I work from my home studio (...my spare room) in Hackney, London. I’ve been a freelance graphic designer since 2019 and before that I was a textile designer for 10 years. I work on a pretty broad range of briefs, usually across print, illustration, and branding.

Which design topics are you most passionate about?

Is color a design topic? It will never stop being totally fascinating to me, and I hope I never stop getting a physical rush of excitement when I hit on a combination that really works. My background in textiles has a large part to play in my love of color. It has also shaped my approach to producing work that often feels decorative; I love that graphic design is about communicating ideas, but ultimately I still want to create something that is also just beautiful and uplifting to look at.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I like to do nothing quite a lot. As I get older I’ve come to realize how much time I need to recharge, and this often looks like me lying on the sofa listening to music and daydreaming. I used to think this was me being lazy, but I now see it as a vital part of being a creative person. We need time to go inward; incubate ideas without directly thinking about them; rest when we feel wiped out; be okay with feeling like we can’t turn the creative tap on; let our minds wander. The list goes on and I can’t overstate how important it is to me.

Share a project / exhibition / creative person / anything that you found recently and sparked your imagination.

A friend played Dead of Night by Orville Peck to me the other day and for love or money I can’t stop listening to it. It’s so atmospheric and a little mysterious, and whenever I play it I feel transported. Perfect daydreaming material. My second one is Natalie Du Pasquier’s 2020 exhibition BRIC in Modena, Italy. It’s an installation of seven large sculptural structures made from thousands of colorful glazed bricks. They appear almost architectural or somehow functional, and her expert use of color and form totally captures my imagination.

What’s the hardest thing about being a designer?

It’s always felt like a privilege to work in a creative field, and I sometimes can’t believe I get paid to do it. So I wouldn’t classify much of it as objectively hard compared to many other jobs. Although an aspect I do often find challenging is the rollercoaster of self doubt that can happen on almost any brief. It’s the ups and downs of feeling excited, then freaked out and incapable, then like you’ve totally nailed it, then coming back to it the next day and feeling like it’s dreadful. Then ultimately finishing on a high! And then a new brief comes in and the whole cycle begins again. It can be draining and you have to learn to surrender to the process, trust your skill, and tune out the doubt.

What’s the best thing about being a designer?

Discovering/researching new things that inspire me, and developing my skills each time I do a piece of work. It’s a constant process of uncovering what makes me excited, and gradually getting a little better at being able to express that visually.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

The Danish furniture company HAY. I love their designs and use of color; the simple, practical functionality and use of materials is totally up my street, and as someone obsessed with interiors this would be a real peach.

Describe your dream project.

Designing the visual identity and packaging for a wine bar/deli owned by people with great taste, who want to collaborate but ultimately trust my creative vision?! I love designing for hospitality, the clients are always so passionate, knowledgeable, and fun.

What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?

‘Keep making’. From my brilliant tutor Hannah at university. It was in the context of me whining about being creatively stuck. She just said do more, it doesn’t have to be good but you do need to keep making work, if possible every day. Now I put it into practice by having a few personal projects on the go at all times; things I can dip in and out of whenever I feel stuck on client work, or if I have a sudden moment of inspiration. When it’s not for someone else you end up making weirder, more interesting work. You can afford to be more experimental and instinctual, and things certainly don’t have to be perfect. Loosening up in this way has made me a much stronger designer. It’s a worthy investment of time too, as the work I do for myself is the mainstay of what I post online and has led to almost all of my paid work. It’s the core of my practice and I couldn’t be a designer without it.

Thank you Juliette!

Liat Elkaim (Chetrit), the Wix Agency team.

Tell us about your work. What is your current position?

I’m the Art Director in Wix Agency, mentoring a team of web designers and tech designers, guiding them through our team’s projects.

As a bit of context, I joined Wix 11 years ago as a designer in the Templates Design team. After a few fulfilling years, I felt the need to move on and introduce new challenges for myself. At the time Wix Agency was just established as a team specializing in creating websites for strategic partnerships, enterprises, brands, nonprofits and influencers. I joined the team in what turned out to be the perfect opportunity for me.

What are the top traits that make you good at what you do?

First and foremost - passion. Every morning when I wake up I have the urge to design, and that’s why I'm always willing to put in that extra effort and time to create the best sketches to show clients. Knock on wood, I hope this feeling lasts forever!

Secondly, I’d say courage. I get my drive from design challenges and always want to push the boundaries with new ideas, new layouts or trying new behaviors, which all require a certain amount of fearlessness.

And lastly, flexibility. I have to be able to adapt quickly to any change in plans, like project timelines or client needs. This is a real emphasis in our team, as we work with real clients, so the demands they bring to the table have to be met.

What is the biggest challenge in your role?

Finding the balance between the designers’ aspirations and their creative process while also delivering great design results that the client will love. And managing this while working with tight deadlines.

How do you deal with challenges in your creative process?

The layout phase of designing a website is complex, and therefore something I would usually spend more time on. It’s never a simple process, and can be especially confusing when you have so many inspirations. out there. And so during my time working at Wix I actually developed my own method for tackling this challenge, a new process for creating wireframes which I call “The Frankenstein Way”. This method allows me to sketch compositions and create designs in a much faster, creative, and more efficient way.

What’s the best way to handle receiving negative feedback?

I'm always reminding myself that good design is like a puzzle which can be solved in many different ways. There isn’t just one correct answer, or one right path to get to that final desired result. If we receive negative feedback, all it means is that we need to continue working on finding the next best solutions - which will be just as good and which I’ll still be proud of and will be appreciated by the client.

Share something that inspires you that has nothing to do with design?

It might sound corny, but my kids. Not a day goes by that I don’t learn something from them and grow a little bit thanks to them. There’s always something new to discover about myself, my emotions, about who I was and how I’ve developed and become who I am today, and most importantly what is important to me in my future.

Who or what has been the biggest influence on the way you think about design?

I’d say that a fundamental principle I work with is to never let the tool, platform or technicality control my designs. If I have a specific vision and encounter a technical challenge - I will never let that determine how I move forward and will always find a way to work around it or with it so I can bring my vision and creativity to life.

What would you do if you weren’t a designer?

I can’t imagine my life without design on a daily basis. For as long as I can remember, since I was a little girl growing up in a very small town, I always dreamed of having a job related to design somehow.

What's the best advice you can give to your designers who are mentoring other designers?

If you want to achieve much more interesting design results, you should look for your inspiration in other fields, and other platforms. For example, I can see a printed poster and translate it to a digital animation. Or when I'm looking for inspiration for a blog layout, I’ll look at e-com galleries or album covers, rather than looking at other blogs. This cross-pollination always brings out the best results.

Tell us something about the projects you’ve shared and we’re seeing here

OFFF Barcelona 2021 Editor X: During the Covid pandemic, I was just returning back to work from maternity leave. I was working from home with two kids and a baby, and was given my first task which was a huge challenge - I had one week to design a full website for the OFFF Barcelona 2021 Editor X partnership. There were no brand guidelines, nothing to rely upon, just a great open-minded client and a lot of creative passion to express.

Wix Devcon New York 2022: A website for a conference in NYC for web developers. The challenge here was to showcase the design abilities we can achieve on the Wix Editor in a very short amount of time, again with no brand guidelines. Finding the right communication while leading a group of four designers I’d never met before was a real challenge and a project I’m very proud of.

Thank you Liat!

My name is Moritz, I'm an illustrator currently based in Hamburg, Germany. Like most people who draw, I was always into drawing. When I was a child I had dyslexia, so it took a long time for me to learn to read and write and when I did learn it, I hated it, because it was still really difficult for me. My mother was a librarian, so my whole family is kind of bookish. From time to time I got a comic from my parents and I really loved it. Of course I never read the text and just looked at the pictures. That's how I started drawing comics and also started to love books and to read. When I got older, I stopped drawing comics and just drew single pictures, but I never stopped drawing. After school I didn't really know what I wanted to do, so I studied graphic design in Nuremberg. There was a new professor, Alexandra Kardinar, who taught illustration. When I met her, I knew that I also wanted to become an illustrator. Through her example I realized that drawing is the perfect medium for me to communicate ideas and concepts and it also never gets boring for me. There’s always so much to discover and learn. During my bachelor’s degree I read more experimental comics for the first time, and I was really blown away by all the possibilities of the medium. So I started doing comics again. After graduating I moved to Hamburg to do a master’s degree in illustration and there I studied under Anke Feuchtenberger, an amazing comic artist. During this time I also got more and more commissions for editorial illustrations, which was exciting. I did an exchange semester in Tel Aviv which was an important experience for me. It took a while for me to graduate because I was working full time as an illustrator as well as studying. In 2021 I graduated with my first comic book “Es gibt nur uns” which was also published in Germany last year.

How did you find your medium and style, and who and what influenced you?

I experimented a lot with different materials and styles for a really long time. During my master’s degree I found my style. I mostly draw with pencils and rulers and add colors with Photoshop. When I started working like this it was simply the way of working that was the most fun for me and what I felt comfortable with. The ideas and concepts that I have work well with this style. If I use a different technique, my ideas change as well. Even though I’ve used this technique for a long time already, I never grow bored of it. There’s still a lot for me to learn and my work is always evolving. I like to experiment with different materials and these experiments also influence my work.

During my studies I was really influenced by illustrators and comic artists like Hergé, Saul Steinberg and Mark Beyer. Currently I think I’m more influenced by essays and novels than by visual arts. Also I’m into performances and installations. This type of artistic work is really far away from my work and that’s maybe why I’m so fascinated by it. It's really inspiring to see a topic that I'm interested in but that’s really different from my own work.

Besides that, I'm influenced by the news, politics and pop culture. I also love to walk through the city and wonder about the architecture and city in general.

What subjects are you most fascinated with?

In general, I'm interested in almost everything. For me it’s also part of the fun of being an illustrator: to get constantly introduced to new topics and to find a position dealing with these. For me, that’s what life and illustration is all about, staying curious and learning more!

I'm really interested in cities and how we are living together as a society. That's why I love architecture. I love drawing houses, planes, and cars, even if I don’t have a driver’s license. These things are shaping how a city looks and how we live together. I like to draw humans and animals too because it's fun and an important part of life for me.

How do you create characters, what inspires them, how do you use color?

I draw a lot with rulers, so most of my characters are based on geometrical shapes. They are inspired by my friends, what I’m into currently and what I see on the streets. Social media plays a big role in this too.

I draw in analogue, then scan these drawings and add color with photoshop. I think color is a complicated topic, there are so many possibilities. I always have a few color combinations that I use regularly and that I transform a bit for every project. It helps me to limit myself to stay focused on the idea and the pictures. That's maybe also one of the reasons why I mostly draw with pencils and rulers and don't change my technique so much. I’m also working a lot with gradients to give the drawing a bit more depth.

If you had to pick a favorite project, which one are you most proud of and why?

That's a difficult one. I really like “Es gibt nur uns”, my first comic book. I worked on it for over 3 years and I'm really proud that I managed to finish it. It was released in Germany last year and the Slovenian translation came out this year. I was really blown away that the book was translated into another language. Also, I learned a lot about drawing during this project, because it's drawn a bit rougher than most of my other drawings.

Besides this, I did the illustrations for the investigation “Cities4rent”. It was a project for 16 different newspapers from 16 European countries. They did an investigation on the housing crisis and all of them used my drawings. It was a really awesome experience to be part of such a big team and work together with so many interesting journalists.

Currently I'm doing drawings for a regular section for a German Magazine called “Spiegel Start” that deals with the intersection of climate change and romantic relationships. It's always fun but also informative. Climate change is such an important topic, so it's one of my favorite projects I'm currently working on!

What’s next for you?

I'm currently working on a new comic which is really exciting but will take some time to finish it. I also have some projects coming up that I can’t reveal just yet. I'm curious and excited for what the future holds.

Rapid Fire Round!

Weekend: Lounge in bed or go out and party? I love to do both. So I can’t decide!

Coffee or tea? Coffee, but I love tea in winter.

Cats or dogs? Dogs, at least on Instagram.

Favorite season? Summer, I love when it's warm and sunny!

Cinema or Netflix? Cinema, but I should go more often!

Pool or beach? Definitely beach

Computer or sketchbook? I love the possibilities of both!

Text or voice note? I like both!

City or countryside? I'm a really big fan of cities, but I like to be in nature from time to time.

Getting dressed: Colorful or monochromatic? I'm in between both.

Thank you Moritz!

As we wrap up and conclude the summer cohort of the 2023 NYC Wix Playground Academy, it is more appropriate than ever to revisit this idea. This specific academy was a new experience not just for the students who attended it, but also to our very own Erica Heathcote, who joined the Wix Playground team this last April. As a Design Community Lead, Erica was an integral part of the recent academy, playing part as a mentor as well as joining the team in overseeing the program during the four weeks it took place.

We sat with Erica for a heart-to-heart on the many wonders of first time experiences: from first challenges in the role, to new relationships being formed, and new ways of using old skills. First times, here we go!

First Months at Wix

“I joined Wix three months ago, and it's been a whirlwind getting acclimated with the company. Before Wix, I worked as a brand designer and motion designer at two different small studios, so the transition feels like going from a very small pond to a huge ocean. I’ve been learning about the structure and mission of the company and how it all connects back to this idea of design being at the core of everything we’re doing. Going into the Academy really reinforces this idea, because I see this being brought to life in everything we do with the students. I'm also transitioning from a type of role where I was sitting at my computer every day, designing and animating, to working with people every day and coordinating a lot of different things and mentoring. It's been a huge shift in my brain but it's interesting how much overlap there still is, in process thinking and design thinking which really come in handy.״

First Career Change

“I’m used to hands-on designing, using mostly hard skills of software knowledge and design experience. Moving to a Community Lead type of role, it was my purpose to make this switch and really lean on my soft skills, where communication becomes more important than knowing Photoshop. The first couple of weeks were a bit uncomfortable - learning to use different skills as your primary tool makes it inevitable to experience a bit of imposter syndrome, but I knew this was coming, so I was prepared for that and didn’t take it too hard when it happened.”

First Academy

“I wasn’t aware of the Playground Academy before I joined Wix. I hadn't heard about it before, which was almost more exciting, because I came in with a fresh set of eyes to this program, really taking in how crazy and incredible it is. It made me understand on an even deeper level the intensity of it - a month of design school, mixed with a summer camp vibe, compacted into four weeks, packed with workshops and classes, all in a bootcamp style of learning.

Going in, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen and how, so I basically decided to just let it wash over me, to just be as present and as helpful as I can. Once it started, I was just excited to get involved and help the students out wherever I could. I was blown away by what they were able to accomplish.”

First Challenge

“The first challenge I encountered was on the first day of the second week. That was when I realized that each week will be a new beginning on its own - meaning that every week will be demanding in a different way, and will require a new learning curve, a new discomfort and perhaps insecurity. A sort of back to square one. This program was modeled in a way that meant each week was a completely new game: new topic, new tools, new ideas and new set of tasks and goals. That meant that the students - and us! - were faced each Monday with a new project and therefore challenge. That had the potential to be exhausting and I think understanding that and learning to ride this wave was the main challenge of the experience.”

First Time Working on Social Media

“I don't have a tonne of experience with social media, but I had to dive right in with that. On the first day I was a bit nervous, thinking I’ll have to beg the students to cooperate and be part of all the concepts we had planned for our channel. But everyone was so amazing and was so easy to work with. We had the ,Process Takeovers, where each week a different student filmed and walked us through what was happening, and they just totally got what I was looking for and delivered. It was really exciting to see them find their own voice, and by the end of the four weeks you could really see the whole arc of the experiences that has developed through our ,Instagram channel.”

First Outing

“During the second week, which was dedicated to video mapping and projection, we got out of the classroom for the first time and went to see the ,Sarah Sze exhibition at the Guggenheim. First of all, it felt really good to be out and about in the sunshine, because for the duration of this week we had the entire Playground space covered for darkness, for the sake of the projections. This little field trip really felt good. And of course the exhibition itself: for the students to see art and experience a different perspective into the same technology they were dealing with. You could really notice the artist versus designer mentality. I always feel that’s a thing, artists are willing to make something that looks like a total mess, whereas the students were really trying to compose these amazing elaborate sculptures. It's always great to look outside of what you're normally looking at. This is why I think museums are amazing for inspiration.”

First Mentoring

“I've done some mentoring in the past, but not in this capacity and definitely not working so directly with the students. It was the first time I experienced mentoring on both a technical level, such as helping them with camera equipment and software tools, but also with soft skills, such as how to communicate and work in a team. I really enjoyed flexing all of these muscles.

And I learnt so much from them and their thought processes! Understanding that they don’t need me to provide solutions on how to do things my way. My role was to be there for them in their own process and guide them through their ideas. By the end of the fourth week, I felt much more empowered and that my mentoring became much more holistic - checking in on the students and being there for them in whatever way they needed.”

First Friendships

“Obviously, when you go through such an intense few weeks together with people, you get to know each other really well and so it’s inevitable that you will bond. But it was still incredible to witness and experience it myself. Seeing the relationships being formed and friendships created, it’s priceless. And knowing that the students are now joining the ever-expanding group of the Playground Alumni community, which is over 300 people by now - it’s exciting to think that we are now part of their creative path and get to see how they grow from here on out.

And personally of course, it was such a special opportunity for me to get closer with my team and bond with them. Yoti—who has so much experience in running the academies—was my own mentor throughout this whole thing, so it was such a perfect way to get to know him and the entire NYC team better, as well as the mentors who came from Israel. It was really the best way to get acclimated into this new job. I feel as though my experience mirrored the students’ - in the same way they were welcomed into the Playground alumni community by the end of the Academy, so was I into the Wix world.”

Thank you Erica!

I’m Maya Berenblum, a 22-year-old Miami native. I recently graduated from the School of Visual Arts, where I completed my BFA in graphic design. I’m passionate about exploring methods of presenting information through digital interfaces and tangible surfaces. Currently, I’m on the search for design opportunities.

Which design topics are you most passionate about?

I’m interested in the intersection of technology in graphic design. I recently learned javascript and hope I can implement creative coding techniques into my design process. I’m excited about the new advances in artificial intelligence, too. Generative arts offer new pieces never seen before. While AI provides many benefits, designers' creativity and intuition are essential in art and design to help to forge new artistic frontiers.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I don’t know about you, but I spend most of my day in front of my computer. I can feel exhausted and mentally drained. Cooking and baking help me zone out and take a break, especially when I get to share it with my friends and family. Being able to give my loved ones a home-cooked meal is a way I can share my appreciation for them. Another thing I do in my free time is take my point-and-shoot camera with me everywhere. I try to capture the small moments in life that typically would go unnoticed.

Share a project / exhibition / creative person / anything that you found recently and sparked your imagination.

On a recent trip to Mallorca, Spain, I encountered a bar and bookstore called Panorama. The store featured local artists' riso prints, screen-printed shirts, books, and miscellaneous art supplies. The beautiful artwork reminded me of my joyful memories of taking a risograph class during my last semester of college. I could apply what I learned in class by understanding the artist's techniques. Additionally, the store offered new ways to present books. As I love book design, I was excited to explore the various types of books they carried.

What’s the hardest thing about being a designer?

Designers strive to make every detail pixel-perfect. The meticulous nature of designers is what drives them to work on their projects endlessly. Perfectionism can be helpful for our determination to create beautiful work. However, it can take a lot of energy from us and ultimately lead to burnout. Especially if we are hard on ourselves after investing significant time and substantial effort into a design. I’m unsure how to solve perfectionism, but finding the right balance between trusting yourself and knowing when iteration is too much makes a design truly good.

What’s the best thing about being a designer?

Design is more than visuals or aesthetics; appearance is only a fraction of the whole. Our primary responsibility is transforming concepts into unified systems connecting to individuals. We can express their creative vision and bring form to ideas. Designers can develop different methods for one problem and discover unexpected outcomes.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

I would love to collaborate with people who are passionate about their craft and are excited about the projects they are involved in. People who are deeply motivated about the work they create exude an every that inspires me. Moreover, I enjoy working with open-minded individuals as they are willing to explore and experiment with new mediums. They seek out innovative and unconventional approaches to bring forth different solutions. Through the joy of exploration and experimentation, exciting ideas can emerge.

Share the last photo you took for inspiration and explain why.

I’m obsessed with the textures of the poster. The poster's background is bright yellow and orange, using a halftone texture, while the foreground uses a black marker to outline the figure and stars. The illustration overlays many textures and uses individual lines instead of a single one. I had never thought of using these techniques before seeing the poster.

What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?

“Every struggle is a window of opportunity.” I’m unsure where I heard this advice, but I remind myself of the quote when I have trouble with a project or learning new software. Seeing challenges as a moment to learn has positively impacted my design process. I like to think with every struggle and mistake I’ve endured; I have learned a new perspective and skill, big or small.

What do you do when you feel stuck and uninspired?

When I feel stuck, I can be hard on myself for not coming up with solutions and ideas fast enough. To help my inspiration rut, I draw from an image or an object beside me. I’ll draw until I feel confident to return to the existing project. This helps my mind flow easier and mentally removes me from the project I was working on. Also, it reminds me of my creativity and is a fun exercise.

Recommend a book / movie / TV series / podcast / playlist to our readers

As designers, we notice places others haven’t. We are inquisitive about the world around us. The podcasts “99% Invisible” and “RadioLab” reflect the pursuit of curiosity. They tell niche stories about science, design, architecture, and history I wasn’t aware of before. I’ve learned interesting things I wouldn’t have known about otherwise, and I feel inspired after listening.

Thank you Maya!

Dafna Sharabi, Playground Academy.

Tell us about your work. What is your current position?

I am an academic consultant and content curator at the Playground Academy. In practice, this means most of my time is divided between planning the Playground Academies, or running them. The planning phase includes building the curriculum, looking for interesting speakers and activities, and going over student portfolios and interviewing them as potential participants. When we run an academy, it is all about making sure everything we planned goes smoothly.

What are the top traits that make you good at what you do?

I think I know what makes a good experience :), and will do my best to create one for our design students and in our events and our programs. I believe every small detail counts.

I’ve also worked at Wix for 13 years now and have run 8 cohorts of the Playground Academy, so perhaps learning from experience also mattress.

What is the biggest challenge in your role?

Always being in the know, on top of new technologies, interesting upcoming designers, and keeping up with trends.

What do you do when feeling stuck or frustrated in your creative process?

I’ll just leave it… and go and do something else. If we’re collectively stuck on a project as a team, I’ll try and see if it’s possible to pause for a bit, and only continue once we have the right answers. This might sound a bit privileged - to not put a deadline on a project - but if you have that flexibility and can afford that headspace, it’s really recommended. We’re sometimes too hard on ourselves with time, and actually have more of it than we’d like to think.

If none of that works - I will probably just find a good old simple solution that might not be as innovative, but that has proven itself in the past :)

What’s the best way to handle receiving negative feedback?

Not to take it personally, simple as that. Negative feedback means nothing about your own being and should not take you out of balance. It is just one moment in life.

Share something that inspires you that has nothing to do with design?

As banal as it sounds - the sea and nature. I enjoy being in it and feeling connected to it. Observing it, acknowledging its cycles, and trying to find my own cycles within it.

Which design trend / theme / persona are you obsessed with recently? Which are you sick of?

I can’t stand the discourse around AI, hear about it, or see all the images that relate to it :))). In a way, I wish we could fast-forward to five years from now, when this technology is already embedded into our lives and settled, just as any other new technology. This in-between phase is exhausting.

I prefer getting my inspiration from human beings that are part of this world, trying to take responsibility by doing something good.

Who or what has been the biggest influence on the way you think about design?

It’s usually the little things: everyday people, everyday conversations. Not one big thing, just noticing ordinary daily life.

What's the best advice you've received and from whom - design related or not?

My best friend Shelly and I were having a conversation about a sense of belonging, and she said that there’s no action you need to take in order to make yourself belong. You're inherently part of many things in the world, just by being in it.

What would you do if you weren’t a designer?

A monk.

Thank you Dafna!

Hello, I’m ,Justin Cassano. I’m an illustrator and art director in New York’s Hudson Valley. I’ve never been great at expressing myself verbally, so I turned to pictures. I can draw characters representative of myself and my emotions, without ever admitting how personal they are to me (although, I guess I just admitted it).

How did you find your medium and style, and who and what influenced you?

It took a while for my abilities to catch up to my taste, but early Tumblr days exposed me to loads of great artists and a community that were hugely influential. I learned to value substance over style and a clever idea over a breathtaking visual. My point of view comes from my experience of the world and I put a lot of stock into the idea that this is unreplicatable.

What subjects are you most fascinated with?

I’m interested in big picture items like consciousness, the universe and nature. I also love small details; eye contact, awkward smiles, the way birds work. The middle-sized stuff is for other artists to worry about.

How do you create characters, what inspires them, how do you use color?

Someone told me you have to love your characters. I think about that all the time. If I’m drawing a character and I can’t find a way to love them, it won’t be a successful drawing. I like to draw simple, accessible characters; characters with deeply human themes that we can relate to. I like colors that make you want to touch them… I don’t know if that makes sense.

If you had to pick a favorite project, which one are you most proud of and why?

I started a barefoot walking group near where I live, and I’ve made some art to promote it. I made a few posters and designed some pins that I gave out at the group. I’m proud to be fostering some community around a project and iterating on artwork as the group finds its *ahem* footing.

What’s next for you?

I’ve written and illustrated a children’s book about friendship. It’s very simple, but I think it’s clever. I’m currently shopping it around, hoping to find it a cozy home at a small publishing house.

Rapid Fire Round!

Weekend - lounge in bed / go out and party?

Party in bed.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee coffee coffee!

Cats or dogs?

Dogs. I’m quite allergic to cats.

Favorite season?

Spring. No, Summer. No, Fall! Not Winter.

Movie theater or Netflix?

Netflix, but with movie theater popcorn.

Pool or beach?

Swimming hole.

Computer or sketchbook?

Computer at home, sketchbook on the move.

Text or voice note?

Voice note.

City or countryside?

Countryside with city access.

Getting dressed: colorful or monochromatic?

Colorful, but not too colorful.

Thank you Justin!

I’m Harbor Bickmore, I’m 31, and semi homeless (but I tell people I’m a digital nomad cuz it’s all about branding) right now I’m in Utah. For work I’m mainly running my one-man type foundry, That That Creative. I also do a bit of freelancing on the side.

Which design topics are you most passionate about?

What I’m most passionate about when it comes to design right now is the idea of creating delight. People say designers are problem solvers, but honestly name one career that couldn't say the same (besides evil henchmen or some bad guy thing like that). So, the thing that really sets design apart is it’s all about creating delight where it doesn't necessarily need to be and oftentimes is not expected to be. Anybody could make a functional toothbrush but a designer is going to make a delightful toothbrush that you love using a few times a day. And now instead of just having clean teeth you have clean teeth and a smile.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I grew up rollerblading and still do that in my free time. It’s the hobby that got me into design in the first place. My twin brother and I used to film and edit skate videos, I used to draw logos for pretend skate companies I wanted to start. My brother actually ended up starting a skate company that I get to design for. Living my ten-year-old me’s dream!

Share a project / exhibition / creative person / anything that you found recently and sparked your imagination.

What has been really inspiring to me as of late is Nathy Peluso’s Album “La Sandunguera”. It's super inspiring how her performance is so dynamic and varied but always very much her style. I love that she doesn’t take things too seriously on tracks like “Gimme Some Pizza” while at the same time leaving no doubt that she’s serious about her craft. I strive for that in my design work.

What’s the hardest thing about being a designer?

My wife is also a graphic designer and we have an ongoing joke about how graphic design is literally the easiest career on the planet earth. But the hardest part of my current design practice is trying to figure out how to draw a good lowercase “f” at a super bold weight on a variable typeface with a super tall X height. Like I said, a laughably easy career when the thing I am most worried about is drawing a good lowercase f. That’s stuff normally only toddlers stress about.

What’s the best thing about being a designer?

The best part about being a designer for me is that it is something that I will never be able to master in this lifetime. It is such a wide field and each new thing you learn can be a stepping stone into another fascinating rabbit hole. Between graphic design, type design, 3D modeling, architecture, industrial design, motion graphics, fashion, photography, and like twenty other things, no one has time to master them all; but I’ll go to my grave trying my best to do so, knowing I never will, but loving the process anyway.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

I’d love to collaborate with the Glyphs App Team and create a video series diving deep into everything there is to know about using the software. I absolutely love using Glyphs 3 and they have a lot of amazing learning resources that could be made even more accessible through video.

Describe your dream project.

My dream project is designing a brutalist home for my family one day.

What's the best advice you've received (and from whom)?

When I was trying to figure out what to do once I graduated from college my father asked me what I would spend my days doing if I didn’t have to worry about making money. I told him, then he asked “Okay, now how can you make money doing that?” It got me thinking about what I need to do to make money outside of a traditional job and really pushed me to develop the skills I needed to turn my passions into something that can support my family.

What do you do when you feel stuck and uninspired?

When I feel stuck I don’t force it. I scrap it. If I’m not inspired by a project I’m working on I figure it’s not worth putting out into the world. Then it’s time to go back to the drawing board and make something exciting enough to sustain the effort it will take to create it.

Recommend a book / movie / TV series / podcast / playlist to our readers

The best book I can recommend is “Red Rising”, a science fiction novel by Pierce Brown. He does an absolutely amazing job of shifting the paradigm multiple times throughout the book in a way that made me think very closely about my design process and how I might use paradigm shifts in problem solving or as a design element themselves.

Thank you Harbor!

If you have, then you know how rare and satisfying that feeling is. Most of the time, projects are messy, unpredictable, and full of surprises. You have to deal with changes, conflicts, obstacles and doubts. You have to adapt, improvise, and iterate. You have to accept that the end result might not match your initial expectations.

But once in a while, you get lucky. You get to work on a project that seems to have a life of its own. A project that flows naturally from concept to execution. A project where your dreams and your reality perfectly align.

One of these rare projects was the ,incredible installation the Studio Video from the Wix design team had built for the 2023 ,OFFF festival in Barcelona (you might have seen glimpses of it in ,our Instagram account as we shared it over the last couple of weeks). A towering digital wall was erected at the entrance of the festival, featuring 25 motion videos designed and produced by the team, generated and activated by a 25-cell grid system. This project wasn’t without its challenges. Between the tight deadline, budget, ambitious scope, and a complex workflow that involved different talents working together, it had every opportunity to go sideways - but it didn’t.

This remarkable achievement was a great excuse to sit down for an in-depth conversation with the team’s creative director Eliraz Dekalo and animator and motion designer Hezi Jacob. As we spoke, the tale of the project unfolded as a 4-part story: the team’s unique structure and style; the project’s grid and the framework it provided; the videos and the complete freedom they encapsulated; and wrapping up the whole experience.

A Creative Lab

Q: Let’s start by introducing yourselves and your team.

Eliraz: “We are the Studio Video team. Within the design guild we take on everything that has to do with motion creative and exploration: new techniques and technologies, coding languages, building tools, etc. We are made up of 3D artists, motion designers, 2D animators working in After-Effects, modelists, a video editor, and of course the managers of the team - in both creative direction as well as team management. We mostly work internally - with other Wix teams as our clients.”

Hezi: “One of the things that really characterizes the team is that we work in a collaborative process. There’s no top-to-bottom hierarchy in our projects and we encourage each team member to take on any role they desire in each project.”

Q: This way of working - is it inherent to your discipline? Or was it a conscious management decision you’ve made?

Eliraz: “I’d say it’s inherent to the unique definition of the team: a creative lab, an R&D team at our core. Naturally, the people who join us and those we end up recruiting are explorers at heart. It’s innate to who they are - unafraid to take on new challenges and try new things that are still in their infancy stages of development. It’s important at the personal level, but also professionally - this field of design and technology requires you to always be on your toes, always be searching for the next big or small thing that’s out there. Our team members are naturally these types of people - and essentially fit to perform and take on many roles within the team. Our way of managing projects just lets those qualities shine and proves them valuable.”

The Enabler Grid

Q: Tell us about the OFFF project. How did it all start?

Eliraz: “The Wix Playground team approached us again this year with ‘On the Rise' project - a partnership with the OFFF festival in Barcelona. The idea was to create this massive, huge wall that will be a main focal point for visitors in the festival, representing Wix Playground and our design guild. On the wall, we will screen whatever it is we decide to create. We wanted something that will represent us in the best possible way, demonstrating how we are at the forefront of design and innovation. This festival is one of the most influential design events out there, and the creatives who attend are on top of their game, so you really need to stand out. You can’t afford to showcase something that’s anything less than amazing.”

Q: How did you come up with the idea for the grid?

Hezi: “We needed to decide how to best utilize this enormous wall. One of the main challenges of broadcasting on it for 3 days straight, is that you need a generative mechanism that could theoretically play itself forever, while still being fresh and interesting. That’s how we came up with the idea of a grid that is constantly alive and acts as the catalyst for all the content and videos within it. Conceptually, it also fitted perfectly with the theme of creation and creativity.

We ended up with a 5 by 5 cell-based grid system, totalling in 25 cells, each containing a video. They all adhered to the structure and rule of the grid, expanding to display themselves and converging back to show the grid and expose other videos from different cells. When we tried to describe the project, we asked ChatGPT and he named it ‘The Enabler Grid’, which was a great way to emphasize the potential the grid provided us with.”

Eliraz: “We knew we didn’t want to create a narrative-based film. There is no sound in that public space, so no matter how appealing a film would be - it wouldn't be enough to captivate the crowd. That’s when we began exploring the idea of creating a mass of short films.”

Q: Describe how it worked, once you finalized the grid concept.

Eliraz: “At first, we tested out optional behaviors of the grid. What type of movements, or metrics that the cells and the videos within them could move according to. Once we had a green light to move forward, we developed these behaviors and continued the research in that arena. For example, what happens if one cell expands and pushes all the others to disappear. Before we even touched on animation, we gathered a list of interesting and relevant keywords and topics for the festival and its visitors. What would they like to see there? What fascinates them? And we used that list as a reference point.

Eliraz: “It also related quite beautifully to the Playground’s tagline - A Space for Creative Growth. This was exactly what the grid provided us with - a space for creative growth.”

The Videos: Pure Creative Freedom

Q: Let’s talk a little bit about the process of working on the videos. Ideation, the restrictions of the grid, working with generative outcomes.

Hezi: “In terms of a concept, the conversation developed organically around themes of creation and creativity. After all, this wall was about to be displayed at a design festival, and the brief we received from the design guild and the Wix Playground team was one that focused on these themes as well. So the word Creativity was there all along.

It was beautiful to see it unfold and evolve, how creativity as a theme turned into this complete freedom we had in our own creation process. Because we had the grid - this very clear set of rules and structure - we were able to be very free in whatever we placed inside it. It was creativity at its purest.”

Eliraz: “As for the generative aspect of the project - because we knew this was an important part of the concept, it allowed us to freely accept the results that the computer generated. We knew what we wanted, but we could also be quite lenient about the actual outcome we received. Instead of being stuck on a specific idea about what things should look like, we just let the generative process take care of that and embrace the results.”

Hezi: “With the videos themselves, there was a bit of a challenge to begin with, deciding where to draw inspiration for our designs and animations. Eventually, most of our choices ended up being quite personal, or handmade, creating an interesting tension and balance with the mechanical nature of the generative process, which has no personality or individual choice to it. Overall, the outcome really benefited from this duality.“

Q: Working with this scope of creative freedom, and when so many different talents and minds are involved - how do you make sure the final result is cohesive?

Eliraz: “Again, it’s all thanks to the grid. All the videos were geared towards focusing on the grid as a motivator and as a focal point - and so they end up working together. When you look at the overall result, things relate to one another thanks to the grid. That’s the overarching theme, and even when it’s hidden - it’s palpable, it’s there.

Of course we also worked with a color palette which helped in adding cohesiveness. I think this is also where the team’s work was very beneficial. Since we were all involved in pretty much all of the videos - elements sip into one another, and find their way to other videos, creating a visible and invisible line, connecting the dots and unifying the videos.”

Q: What was the main reasoning behind the decision for the teamwork methodology?

Eliraz: “I honestly believe that any idea, concept, and project benefits from it. It creates a cross-pollination from a variety of people. We come from different backgrounds and carry our own unique voice and cultural influences, and that makes any idea richer. It’s like cooking with spices - we all bring our flavor to the final result.”

The Aftermath

Q: Finally, could you each share what was the most challenging aspect of the OFFF project, and what was the most joyful.

Eliraz: “The most challenging for me was proving we can make it happen. When we just pitched the idea, everyone looked at us with disbelief, as if we’re crazy to think we can achieve this. No one thought we would be able to actually produce this amount of videos and content within that time frame. So it was a big challenge to prove everyone wrong.

Which lends itself to the most joyous thing about the project - the day of installation at the festival, seeing it come to life. It was exactly the way I imagined it, a spitting image of the sketch I presented when we pitched the idea. I think it was the first time in my professional career that I delivered a result that was exactly what I promised to begin with.”

Hezi: “The most challenging part was The How. Naturally, since I was the person in charge of the technical side of things, understanding the mechanics behind everything, and how it all fits together as a structural mechanical system - I was very preoccupied with The How. We had all these great ideas, but at the end of the day, I was the one sitting down in front of the computer, trying to figure out the right solutions and dealing with all the technical challenges.

The joyous part of the project is something I referred to earlier, and it is the complete freedom we had. It is far from trivial, to be granted this level of freedom - creatively and emotionally. It is definitely something to be grateful for, and I enjoyed it immensely.”

My name is Anat Gutberg, I’m 35 years old, based in Tel Aviv. I have been drawing/sketching/painting/expressing myself in visual ways ever since I can remember.

When I was 23 years old, I started studying at ‘The School of Visual Theater’, a small and intimate school for performance studies in Jerusalem. Within a year I realized that the stage was not right for me and I went—completely inexperienced—to work as a graphic designer in a post-production studio. After two years in the advertising industry, I wanted to do something for myself and my personal development. That's how I found myself in the ‘Visual Communication’ department at ‘Bezalel Academy’. Between semesters I worked as a freelancer, so I had some clients to build on. I rented a small studio and started my path as an independent creator.

How did you find your illustration medium and style, and who and what influenced you?

The truth is that I can’t really say I found it. I mean, there’s a certain line or connection between my work which I can call "my style", but the medium changes all the time—it can be an animated music video, a branding project, or even installation artwork. I love the freedom to switch between different mediums, even getting to change the materials and tools I work with every once in a while. It helps keep me fresh coming to the studio every day with passion.

When I think about artists who’ve influenced me, they would almost always be artists who work in more than one medium. For example, besides being a brilliant director, David Lynch is also a painter and an excellent musician. Another example is Man Ray, who self-defined as a painter, was known as a photographer, and fascinated me mostly through his films.

As a teenager studying in art school, one of the first pieces of artwork that I was able to say I loved was 'One and Three Chairs' by Joseph Kosuth. I was mainly curious about the gap created by taking a simple object like a chair from one medium to another, and how it affected the viewer, as well as the creator. There is something about the diversity of mediums that makes the practice a little more light and playful. For this reason, I really like the work of Alexander Calder, another artist who influenced me a lot. Through his work you can see a guy who remained a child until his last day—and enjoyed every moment. Another good example is the animator Norman Mcclaren, who played a lot with shapes and sounds. I believe in being a contented artist and not a tormented artist. Inspiration and motivation come to me only when I'm having fun. I can get impatient when I’m bored but I have no problem sitting for hours and drawing frame after frame of something that fascinates me.

What subjects are you most fascinated with?

I was always captivated by nature. As a child I used to talk to flowers, collect leaves and stones, and observe the urban nature that surrounded our house (I still do, in fact :)). I find myself fascinated by the surprising forms in nature, the perfect compositions created by chance, the color palettes that change over time, and the way "time" becomes tangible through processes that can be observed (the growth of a plant, leaves turning yellow, etc.) Everything in nature happens by coincidence, completely accidentally, and produces the most amazing and beautiful phenomena. A significant part of my work is dedicated to finding systems that generate “mistakes”—to build a setup that allows me to go wild and get creative, and then, out of all the chaos, choose the most interesting and authentic outcomes. Many times I find that the setup that works best for me is one that has a timeline, even if the end result I'm aiming for is static. When working with a timeline you deal with movement, rhythm, and change. The transformation of an image fascinates me. The experience of creating animation is slow and Sisyphean but also almost meditative. I am intrigued by this contradiction, and by the magic that occurs when everything connects and comes to life.

How do you create characters, what inspires them, and how do you use color?

In my work I’m not necessarily creating characters, I mainly create images. Usually, I’m searching for some sort of atmosphere. The atmosphere can be expressed in colors and materials, through movement, or through an object or figure. Sometimes it helps me to find the soundtrack first and only later understand what the image should be, or what its colors are.

Music helps me a lot because it is an abstract medium. It has no physical representation, but it is so total and undeniable. When I'm lost and need some inspiration, I access my personal archive. I feel most creative when I have a bank of materials to play with. My work is not limited to working hours in the studio. It continues when I’m riding my bicycle around the city, traveling abroad, driving a car, or any other moment that I choose to document. These materials become a bank that I use in almost every project, in one way or another, sometimes as the image itself, sometimes as a reference, and sometimes as raw material that becomes something else.

For example, in the music video I created for ‘D Fine Us’ (an Israeli musician), I was looking for ways to express a washing motion that would wrap the screen, and also feel organic.

In my archive, I found a video I took of waves crashing against the shore in Sinai (Egypt).

I colored it and processed it in a way that worked with the visual language of the video, leaving no trace of the beach, isolating only the movement, rhythm and texture.

If you had to pick a favorite project, which one are you most proud of and why?

That’s a very difficult question. I feel that each project brings out a different side of me and there is no one project that contains everything. Also I feel that I am a little different in each period, interested in different practices and techniques. There are times when I am more of an animator, a graphic designer, an art director, or a video artist.

On the other hand, some projects are ongoing and consistent, so maybe that’s a good example. A few years ago I came across one of Daidō Moriyama's famous photographs, called ‘Stray Dog’. This photograph captured my attention. I began to sketch it over and over, and each time I felt that I was getting to know its composition better and found more freedom to experiment with it. It became a daily routine, one sketch a day. Every day I sketched it a little differently—a different style, a different tool, colors, stain, line, flat, deep. The act of sketching the same familiar composition over and over again allowed me the freedom to focus on the action itself. This led me to ask myself, “what happens when the hand knows an image so well? What qualities does the image still hold, that I haven’t revealed yet? Can an internal movement occur within a static image? And what is the power of repetition?”

What’s next for you in your career?

I recently moved to a new studio. It didn't happen by choice, but during the move I realized that there is something right about changing my work environment once in a while—to renew my work setup, and change the view I see from the window every day. This change brings new possibilities that are hard to anticipate, and takes me out of my comfort zone and my old habits.

So for now I'm interested in finding a lifestyle that will allow me to move much more often—to travel, and at the same time continue to do what I do in a way that is unique to the place I’m in at the moment. Some artworks are site-specific and I believe work processes can be site-specific as well. I'm interested to see what this lifestyle can bring.

Rapid Fire Round - Choose one answer! you can add a few words if you like :)

Weekend - lounge in bed / go out and party? Party. The weekend is the time to be social

Coffee or tea? Coffee

Cats or dogs? I grew up with dogs. but I recently found out I am allergic, so I have to settle for a cat

Favorite season? winter!

Cinema or Netflix? cinema

Pool or beach? beach

Computer or sketchbook? sketchbook

Text or voice note? text

City or countryside? City, with frequent visits in the countryside

Getting dressed: colorful or monochromatic? Monochromatic with a touch of color

I’m Yossi Abodi. I am the Lead Designer in the Brand R&D team at the marketing studio.

What is your current role?

I’m in charge of developing the Wix brand through the different media and teams in our studio. Each media (3D, Photography, Graphic Language, etc.) has its own championship forum, composed from designers from each team in the studio. I orchestrate the activity of all Championship Forums and make sure all our teams are aligned to the brand vision, and that the design bar is consistently raised. In addition, I also mentor all kinds of design projects happening in our studio.

What are the top traits that make you good at what you do?

A positive attitude is the key - you should always come into a project with a good vibe and reflect that to your teammates. Being patient and accepting of your teammates' needs is also really important. And always bringing your best - no matter the conditions, I strive for perfection!

What is the biggest challenge in your role as a creative?

I feel that in each aspect of my role there is a big challenge, one in design and one in mentoring.

In design, staying up to date with the latest trends and always bringing new approaches, media, and methods is very challenging. It’s an essential part of any designer’s role but it has to be done in addition to the everyday tasks.

In mentoring, it can be difficult to deliver negative feedback to designers who may or may not understand it while still keeping them motivated, inspired and free.

What do you do when feeling ,stuck or frustrated in your design process?

I get away from the computer. I take a break, listen to music, scroll Instagram and then come back to work with a fresh eye.

What’s the best way to handle receiving negative feedback?

Both from a mentor and a design perspective - don’t blow things out of proportion.

Negative feedback on design is not negative feedback on you as a person. Design is a matter of taste and it’s a process that you need to continue until you get the best result. For me, this is ingrained in the profession, and I feel lucky that I get to do what I love the most.

Share something that inspires you that has nothing to do with design.

Going to the beach to watch the sunset is the perfect source of inspiration for me. The vibrant colors and calming atmosphere of the sunset never fail to captivate me. It’s the interplay of layers and hues that really fascinates me.

Which design trend/persona are you obsessed with recently?

I've always been a huge Nike fan, admiring their excellence in every aspect. Their campaigns are consistently impressive, featuring captivating visuals, typography, and stunning store designs worldwide. Their clothing and shoes are truly exceptional, making them the complete package in my eyes. Recently, I visited their store in Paris and was amazed by the art and technology integrated there. Nike consistently stays ahead of trends without overdoing it.

Who or what has been the biggest influence on the way you think about design?

My typography teacher at Shenkar College, Michal Pauzner, has profoundly influenced my style. Her meticulous attention to pixel-perfect detail left a lasting impression on me. She introduced us to the world of inspiring typography, showcasing a wide range of stunning designs that I became obsessed with. I truly admired her and aspired to emulate her talent. Through her guidance, I was exposed to numerous designers and their diverse styles.

What's the best advice you've received?

A former manager once told me that I am solely responsible for propelling myself forward. Setting my own aspirations and charting the course of my career rests entirely upon me - no one else can do it on my behalf. It means discovering my unique strengths and identifying the areas where my skills are indispensable to others. By being helpful and earning recognition, I can establish myself as a valuable asset.

What would you do if you weren’t a designer?

Psychology. When it comes to giving advice, I am great at listening to people. My friends always come to me with their problems.