We, as the Designer Interviews ("DI") had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to interview award-winning, most creative and innovative Roman Vynogradnyi ("RV").
Roman Vynogradnyi has 10+ years of experience in UI/UX Design, Branding, Visual Design, Interaction and Product Design. He has worked for world-known companies such as Philips, Cisco, Samsung, LG, Volkswagen, Nescafe, L'Oreal etc. He enjoys creating meaningful and impactful products that inspire and make life more enjoyable. He has been involved in diverse projects including setting up online experiences for both web and mobile as well as establishing brand identities. He is a creative thinker, a fan of clean, simple design with high attention to detail.
Roman Vynogradnyi Designs
We are pleased to share with you original and innovative design work by Roman Vynogradnyi.
Designer Interview of Roman Vynogradnyi:
DI: 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?
RV : Since my childhood, I was a creative kid, and after growing up, I realized that I want to build my life and career around art and design field. I studied at the Kiev Institute of Advertising at the Faculty of Graphic Design and at the same time began to work at the advertising agency and it turned in my profession and things I've been doing for 11 years.
DI: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
RV : I started my career at one of the biggest agency in Ukraine - DIALLA, and later worked at several respected advertising agencies: D.Babych Design Studio, 360 Branding, AV Group. There I was working with world-famous clients and grew up to Art direction position. After a while, I was very interested in technology and innovations that I can bring through the design vision so I continued my development as a UI/UX designer, but at the same time, I continue to work on the brand identity.
DI: What is "design" for you?
RV : I enjoy creating meaningful and impactful products that inspire and make life more enjoyable. Design should be simple but memorable, give emotion, solve the problem. It's not just a beautiful picture, it's a feeling, experience.
DI: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
RV : My passion has always been to create a brand identity, but recently it is also the development of websites and mobile app.
DI: What was the first thing you designed for a company?
RV : As I mentioned earlier, already during my studies I started working as a designer. I got an internship in one of the biggest at that time advertising agencies in Ukraine. And the first project I worked on was a very well known company (whose name I can not mention by reason od NDA). It was an incredible experience!
DI: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
RV : This is very dependent on the assigned task as all technology is constantly changing. Just with the help of this or that product, you can make your task faster, but the result depends only on your vision.
DI: When do you feel the most creative?
RV : I am inspired by people, their ideas. Just imagine that 5 or 10 years ago we had no idea how technology will change the world now. Right now, my goal is to be part of this, create something meaningful and solve the problems.
DI: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
RV : I spend a lot of time in a research phase, generating ideas, understanding the problem and solving it. A lot of time for detailed drawing, and visualization. All processes are important, it's a puzzle that needs to be assembled.
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
RV : This is a creative work, so so definitely feelings can change. But most of the time I'm excited and I can not stop :)
DI: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
RV : Realization of the project and my idea and feeling when you satisfied someone's need, this is the greatest blessing for me. I'm proud and feel gratitude for being able to contribute to the industry and someone's life of course.
DI: What makes a design successful?
RV : Many facts affect design including marketing, strategy, idea, and quality of visualization. The most successful design is the one that helps people, meets their requirements and solves the problems they faced. A design that brings a new positive experience and emotions. And the most important - the design must be simple and understandable for everyone.
DI: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
RV : I am a visualizer by nature, I'm paying attention the visual appearance first, and then I go deep into certain details and functions.
DI: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
RV : The design should communicate with the consumer and the main duty of the designer in this is to make this communication as simple and understandable as possible. And more beautiful :)
DI: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
RV : The design will always be a part of our life, it is constantly evolving, moving with great speed as well as technology.
DI: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
RV : In October 2017, my work was at the exhibition dedicated to UKRAINIAN CREATIVE WEEK 2017. This event brings together three leading national contests: Ukrainian Design: The Very Best Of, KAKADU Awards and ADC*UA Awards in order to promote the development of the Ukrainian advertising and communications market and reward its most desirable representatives. I also got the award from Ukrainian Design: The Very Best Of which I am very proud of because our country (Ukraine, where I come from) has many talents, and being among them is an honor for me.
DI: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
RV : You have to constantly monitor and learn new trends and even create your own. Observing the work of other designers and learning popular design platforms and magazines is my every-day ritual. Also, my works are published in the popular blogs and magazines about design and I'm glad that I can inspire others.
DI: 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?
RV : It always depends on the assigned task and project, client's wishes, from the project to the project, it can crucially vary. Even if the design is not in my style, I try to do the best quality and perform the main functions. In general, I like simple, clean, understandable and user-friendly design with high attention to detail.
DI: 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?
RV : Now I live in San Francisco, one of the most innovative cities in the world so I get inspiration from the environment, technology and the people that surround me. Every day I get a new experience, through which I develop as a designer and grow as a human being. Some of the best and most talented people of the world have gathered here and to receive knowledge from them and to share my own it is a great honor.
DI: How do you work with companies?
RV : Communication is the key to success, I try to get into the spirit of the company and its culture, understand these standard processes, their users, and their needs.
DI: What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?
RV : Many companies do not pay attention to the technical level of the designer due to what the visual part of the product and the function may not be implemented in the right way. Communication is very important, but besides this, real knowledge and experience are more important, so that designer not only talked about tasks but also implemented them and solve real problems.
DI: Can you talk a little about your design process?
RV : Processes can be very different depending on whether it's working on a brand identity or developing a new mobile application for example. If we talk about product design, there are a lot of stages. First of all, I spend a lot of time within the research phase to understand who the users are and what they are looking for, how current process is working and how to improve it.Interview with stakeholders is a very powerful tool that will help you to understand the business goals and give you a lot of information about product or brand you will be working on. Research phase also includes competitive analysis, user interview, and identify user goals. The next stage is directly working on the wireframing, prototyping and visual design part. Then we move to testing and check if everything works well.
DI: What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?
RV : Pencil, notebook, iMac, good music, coffee.
DI: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
RV : Researching - spend time learning new design trend, analyze how other designers work. You can try to make a prototype of some of the already existing product - you will learn how those or other processes work in real life. Develop yourself in many creative areas - from music to photography, it will help you in your work, you will see it. Develop yourself in different design fields, both Product Design and Branding, for example, it will help you to grow up as a professional. And after you fill you are ready to move forward - develop your own unique style.
DI: From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?
RV : Pros. It will never be boring. Interesting work that constantly gives you new knowledge and you study new areas and field of activity.Cons. This is a stressful job that has its difficulties, for example, constant deadlines. At the same time, this is a creative work that must always meet the highest level of performance at the same time understand the needs of marketing and functionality for customers.
DI: What is your "golden rule" in design?
RV : Do every project the best possible quality with feeling like it's your own project in which you invested all your money.
DI: What skills are most important for a designer?
RV : Erudition, open mindless, fast learning.
DI: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
RV : Pen and paper, Sketch, Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe XD, InVision.
DI: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
RV : In advance I plan all processes on priorities and parts, allocate them the certain time.
DI: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
RV : Very depends on project and task, from one week to a couple of years.
DI: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
RV : :) How long will it take? How much will it cost?
DI: What was your most important job experience?
RV : Each project gives some new experience and knowledge, sometimes more, sometimes less, but all steps of development are very important.
DI: Who are some of your clients?
RV : While working at advertising agencies D.Babych Design Studio, 360 Branding, AV Group, I have an honor to work for world-known companies such as Philips, Cisco, Samsung, LG, Nescafe, L'Oreal, Kraft foods, Porsche Ukraine, JTI etc.;
DI: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
RV : For me, every process is very important, with its own challenges. Research phase gives me experience and knowledge in business, and work on a visual design, for example, help me to reveal myself as a creative person.
DI: What are your future plans? What is next for you?
RV : My goals continue to grow, get more experience with new companies and projects.
DI: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
RV : I have a different experience, including of being the only one designer in a team and do design on my own, to work in the design team and hold the position of art director.
DI: How can people contact you?
RV : Feel free to contact me at:Email: roman.vynogradnyi@gmail.com Website: http://vynogradnyi.com/ Dribbble: https://dribbble.com/romanvynogradnyi Behance: https://www.behance.net/romanvynogradnyi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/romanodesign/
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
RV : Thanks for your time, see you soon!