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Interview with Deborah Avila |
Home > Designer Interviews > Deborah Avila |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Deborah Avila (DA) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Deborah Avila by clicking here.
FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
DA: I've been drawing since a little baby. As a child, I started drawing ads for products as a hobby, inventing all sorts of campaigns. I used to draw comic books and sell them in my school. When I was 17, I started my Graphic Design bachelor's degree at a University, and since then, I never stopped working in this field.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
DA: did.lu is an incubator of people and ideas for apps and games. Our main task is to develop careers for people and teach them how to invent new apps using no-code platforms. We are always searching for new trends in tech, implementing them in our jam sessions to create new ideas and perform them into the craziest apps.
FS: What is "design" for you?
DA: Design is everything you see, touch, and taste. It can be the chair you're sitting on, the beautiful garden in your neighborhood, or the tasteful dish you probe. It can be everywhere, as you walk the streets and see many different things. That's what "design" means to me: everything.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
DA: I like to create new platforms and websites using my UI/UX knowledge. It is beautiful to think about the usability and how the user will use the interfaces and experience I create. It’s almost like a puzzle, one that I invent myself. It’s challenging.
FS: What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?
DA: It’s a difficult question. We are surrounded every day by the most incredible designs on each thing we use, wear, or taste. For me, the best I can think of now is Apple’s product package design: they are absolutely gorgeous and clean, and the start of your excellent experience starts with the package.
FS: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
DA: The first thing I remember designing for a company was a t-shirt. I was an intern at a printer shop, and one of my main tasks was creating t-shirt stamps design.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
DA: Apple’s technology is the best I know. The amazing integration between their products, the strong quality, and the impeccable service are mind-blowing.
FS: When do you feel the most creative?
DA: When I wake up very early in the morning and turn on my computer to start working, it’s all very quiet, and I can only hear the birds' songs at the beach. It gives me all the creativity I need.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
DA: The user experience. Are they going to understand what’s in front of them? Will their experience be good? How much time will they spend when using it? Will it impress them and make them come back?
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
DA: All kinds of emotions. It can be anxiety when I am struggling with a challenging design. I can be happy and proud when I finish it with all the excellency I wanted to give. I can also be sad or angry when I feel a client isn’t honest, and I finish the work all the same. But, mainly, my emotions are as if I were an adventurer climbing a tall mountain - all very thrilling, challenging, and worthy.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
DA: I feel as if I have climbed a difficult mountain and reached a beautiful view that I’d never regret in my life.
FS: What makes a design successful?
DA: A successful design is one that can be used, no matter by who. It is also that one where you can see you’ve earned experience to keep going, advancing in your skills.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
DA: I consider the user experience. It has to be easy to understand, clean, fast, and without too much effort.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
DA: A designer is always inventing new ideas to improve a product, a system, or anything else people use. It’s important to be aware of how it will approach people. It has to englobe everyone: women, LGBTQIA+, black people, indigenous, and so on. It also has to focus on the environment, as non-pollute products, nothing that could harm our planet.
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
DA: Yes, all the time. The design has been evolving since the first pre-historical humans stepped on Earth. The future of design, I suppose, would be for people to have more and more clean and easy-to-use products, something that gives them more time, flexibility, and education.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
DA: I didn’t have any exhibition so far. My work has always been digital and around UI/UX design and brand design.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
DA: My sources of inspiration come with simply living. I watch movies, play video games and read books. I also love to see newly awarded websites so that I can inspire myself with new trends.
FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
DA: I would describe my design style as flat, happy, cute, and vectorial, especially for illustrations. I feel like this style matches my lifestyle and gives me the best results I can when I’m creating new layouts.
FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
DA: I live in Rio de Janeiro, one of the most beautiful cities in Brazil. The bright colors are very important to our culture; I think my colorful work comes with this environment. The pros of designing are the beautiful color palette I have at my disposal: so many bright and clear colors representing the happiness of my country. I suppose that the cons are related to the fact that not all the clients and companies will understand this happy, bright side of design - some of them would prefer monochromatic works and perhaps would consider it juvenile.
FS: How do you work with companies?
DA: I work remotely for companies from all around the globe.
FS: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
DA: Not everything is related to a good portfolio. I believe there are many talented designers all over the place, but not all of them would fit a fast-paced work environment, for example. Therefore, it’s important for companies to understand their own ambiance and style of work before hiring a designer, and specify it during the interviews.
FS: Can you talk a little about your design process?
DA: I am used to working in a fast-paced work environment, so I don’t have much time to think of solutions or search for references. Based on my +15 years of experience, I check the priorities and select the urgent ones to start - then, I spend about 20 to 40 minutes exploring references and understanding better what the client is requesting, before starting to work. When I start, I won’t stop until it’s ready.
FS: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
DA: I have a painting created by a street artist in Buenos Aires, one that I love very much. I also love my Apple work products; I think their design is like masterpieces. I don’t owe much things, since my life is basically work and work…
FS: Can you describe a day in your life?
DA: Well, I wake up around 5 am in the morning and start working. I stop by noon to have a quick lunch. Then, I go back to working and won’t stop until 7 pm, most of the days. Then, I go to the gym and come back home around 10 pm. I take a bath and go to sleep. Simple and plain as that.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
DA: I would say to have patience and be persistent. If you find a bump in the road, don’t give up - use it as fuel to earn more experience and learn more about your trade. Work as hard as possible to earn all the success you need in your career, and never stop learning new things.
FS: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
DA: I would say that the positive side is always to exercise your mind to create new ideas and solutions. Your mind never stops, and all can be transformed into inspiration for you. The negative side would be having to be in front of the computer for several hours every day. If you don’t take care, you can have back problems or headaches from the screen exposition every day.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
DA: Clean and simple. I guess that would be the golden rule, always. Never pollute an art (only if it’s what you’re aiming for), and make it as simple as you can.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
DA: Patience and tolerance with critiques. During a designer’s career, they won’t hear only good things. It’s more likely they’ll get more critiques and will have to redo an entire work if they must. But this is all experience and fuel the designer can use to achieve even more success in their career.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
DA: I always use Figma and Adobe Creative Collection software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. These four softwares are the most important ones for my career.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
DA: By waking up early and separating tasks by their priorities. I never procrastinate and get focused the whole time I’m working.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
DA: It depends on the object. If it’s a logo, it can be a day or four hours. It depends on the difficulty and on the number of requests that would come with the object.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
DA: “Can you create a business card for me?” — Every now and then, people who discover I’m a designer ask this question.
FS: What was your most important job experience?
DA: It was around 14 years ago, at a very small company of one man. This man is called Daniel Rothier. He taught me how to create websites and also taught me how to be very fast during my work. I will never forget it.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
DA: I’m currently working for Snappy Kraken, Stagwell Marketing Cloud, Soulbound, and Tilda.cc.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
DA: The type of work I enjoy the most is UI/UX Design. I really love to create platforms and apps, imagining how people will use them, and how I can make their lives better.
FS: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
DA: I see myself working until my hair gets grey, and then I’ll stop eventually and enjoy the comfortable life I built with my work.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
DA: I work with a team most of the time, but I have responsibilities as a Senior Designer, creating the designs myself and sharing them with the rest of the team.
FS: Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?
DA: I am directing the creation of several apps using no-code platforms, at did.lu, my own company. did.lu is an incubator of people and ideas, and right now, our staff has been inventing several ideas for games and apps, and I help them to achieve their best results.
FS: How can people contact you?
DA: People can send me an email (dehbavila@icloud.com) or a fast message on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahavila/).
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
DA: I don’t think so. Thank you very much! :)
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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