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SUOMEKSI
     
 
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

If I only produced works for my own satisfaction, it would be very difficult to work with clients as a graphic designer. Luckily, my own projects have different styles and goals. This makes it more easy to work for others; not just fill up the world with my own art. Also with my own works, it's great to create something that doesn't remind me too much about my previous projects. One way to put it is to say that I want to fool people: create works that look like they've done by someone else. Working for other is a great way to do this.

In all of my projects ideas are everything. They are the heart of each project and I follow them when I'm making decisions. For instance, one of my comics had to look "bad" in a certain way which made me to draw it with my left hand (I'm right handed). As I often say, it wasn't me who made the decision to do this, it was the idea that required this kind of approach. This makes me seek and collect different techniques in the library of my mind. I'll never know what kind of method the next project will require.

The world is full of ideas. Eventually, only a few will ever materialise. I'm not an exception either: very rarely does the first trick appeal to the audience. In the beginning of a design process it's important to question ideas and look at the project from alternative points of view. Even though I'm capable of working alone, most of the time criticism of others speeds up the design process. I tend to concentrate to details and other people help me to see the bigger picture. I'm pretty confident on my ideas, so I'm not afraid of criticism. No reason to be, as many of my weak ideas have developed a lot better when they've been questioned by others.

When I was a kid, I loved to open up electronical devices like radios and see what's inside them. The curiosity to see what's behind the curtains and look for the "source code" of everything has stayed me since. I am a very visual person, but surface appearance alone isn't enough for me. This web page is a good example of that: what you see is not all, behind the curtains are valid W3C standard HTML code. In my opinion, artistic skills aren't an excuse to neglect technical issues. I am not a programmer, but that won't stop me for doing web design with text editors and revising free php-scripts for my use. The fact that I'm not a cook doesn't mean that I shouldn't cook some dishes at my home, or does it?