What type of graphics do you make, and which type is your favorite?

I make covers, banners, profile headers, icons...um...anything you can think of, really. If someone requests a graphic I haven't made before, my response is usually that I can try to make one and see how it turns out XD

Honestly, I don't have a favorite type of graphic; every graphic can express something in a beautiful way. Covers allow me to try and creatively express an entire story through a design, while banners can do the same for characters/quotes/chapters. Profile headers are, surprisingly, a challenge: it's always difficult to try and represent a person with a photo.

I love doing all different styles of graphics, from simple/minimalistic to manipulated ones!

How long have you been designing graphics?

Actually, I've only been designing graphics for about six months!

How did you start?

I draw digitally using Adobe Illustrator (which is something I've been doing for about a year and a half), so I suppose you could consider that the actual beginning. I wanted to make a cover for my story, Stolen Minds, and so I started out with the Wattpad covers app. After that, I transitioned into FontCandy and did some typography. Eventually, I started making graphics as fan art for stories I really liked, which was great practice. Sometime after that, I started using Pixlr/Phonto/Picsart, which are the apps I still use now! I did the cover for Genesis when I entered it in Scikick's contest, and many people really liked the design. At that point, I started considering doing a graphics shop, but @SarahPerlmutter's support really helped me get the shop going. The Deathless Trilogy's cover was the first cover I had made for a well-known book, and that sort of promotion really helped draw people to my shop. Ever since then, I've been taking requests! I still do graphics as fan art every now and then, but my main focus is the shop :)

What is your favorite part about graphic design?

Oooh....hard question! I love the feeling when you make a pretty graphic that represents the story you made it for; it's a sense of accomplishment and pride. I also just really enjoy helping others get their perfect graphic: seeing how happy I can make people by creating graphics is truly an amazing feeling.

Where do you get your inspiration?

EVERYWHERE! I regularly stalk cover shops (which includes everyone in this guild) and also find inspiration in covers for published books. My favorite graphic artist on Wattpad is @seventhstar; her graphics are just absolutely incredible!

How long does a graphic typically take you?

That really depends...profile headers (if you don't include all the thinking about what photo is best) take only around 10-15 minutes are so, while covers take the longest (the longest time I've ever taken to make a graphic is probably around 2.5 hours). Honestly, a good portion of my time is spent just looking for the right photos XD

What advice would you give aspiring designers?

As cliche as it sounds, never give up! Good graphics take time and effort and a ton of practice, but you can make it there eventually!

Also, I love helping people out with graphics, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Wow...I just used exclamation points to end three sentences in a row XD

A fun fact about yourself:

Um...this is rather difficult...I can't think of anything lol. My favorite color is grey. Does that count as a fun fact?