Unwrapping Design for the first time!

Author

Deniz Kumral
January 18, 2025

Please share your thoughts on this issue and what you would like to know about the next person which will get interviewed here by simply replying to this mail.

Good Morning. I’m so happy y’all joined for the first issue of *imagine drum rolls* Unwrapping Design! Y’all joined this newsletter not even knowing what all of this will be about and I hope I meet your expectations.

INTERVIEW


Now, let’s start with the first interview ever on here, Dan (@grapplingdev)! Dan is a known designer on X and brand designer + “Head of Everytin at his very own Happy Pizza Studio!

Can you tell us a bit about your journey? How did you get into design?

At school I loved Art and Graphic Design, they were my best subjects and I went all out on them, I even loved classic artists like Claude Monet etc and would try to copy their work at an early age. For some reason I joined the Army, spent 12 years there and then had a 6 year tech career before being laid off twice and deciding that if I really wanted to happy I would have to work for myself and work on what I love. So I started Happy Pizza Studio.

Who or what has been your greatest inspiration in your work?

Lately I really like the jagged edge kind of style and thats probably inspired by the skate culture. I've skated all my life and I'm surrounded by the culture a lot where I live.

How do you approach a new project? What are your first steps in the creative process?

In an ideal world I will go and grab a coffee, walk down to the beach, then sketch out some plans and scroll for inspiration. I then walk back home and start to play around with the concept on affinity designer then usually throw a bunch of different concepts at the client where we will identify pieces that we like.

What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on, and how did you overcome it?

to be honest they're all challenging haha, but thats what happens when you try to get the image in someones head, onto a piece of digital art!

How do you deal with criticism or a creative block?

With criticism, it depends, if its from someone who isn't a paying client, I don't really care haha. If its from a client then its probably deserved, my job is to satisfy them and sometimes that doesn't always go as smooth as it could do! As for a creative block I find walking to the gym and having a swim + sauna does wonders

What do you do to stay creative? Do you have any rituals or sources of inspiration?

Logo-Archive and Pinterest are my go to for inspiration if I'm lacking a little but usually a walk with a coffee will start my day of nice.

Is there a designer or a piece of work you admire, and why?

I love all the designs that OBEY do, I have a bunch of their hats and tee's because I love the art.

If you could go back and give advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Don't focus on chasing the money so much and focus on just being happy.

What advice would you give to young designers just starting their careers?

You have to tell people what you're doing, usually this is done with social media content but you absolutely have to post your work and engage with both peers and potential clients.

Is there a final thought or message you’d like to share with our readers?

Stay true to yourself.

NEWS

Framer releases Expert Platform
Framer one of the most used website builders for designers out right now has released a new platform for experts of the platform to get listed as a certified expert, share your work and land easy gigs.

“Mocha Mousse” - Pantone’s Color of the Year 2025

Pantone, a company y’all probably already know is best known for its color standardization system: Pantone Matching System (PMS). Being used by many designers, especially in the product design industry, their colors have a huge impact on the design community.
Now that it’s 2025 they’ve released their new color of the year 2025 “Mocha Mousse”.

That’s it for this issue, I really thank y’all if you’ve completely read through this. I appreciate any feedback and content suggestions y’all have. Just reply to this mail with whatever you want to tell me!

Also tell your friends about this!!