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

Okie, here we go! I make covers, icons, vectors, album covers, banners, blends, and headers~ all in variation from simple to minimalistic to manip (apart from vectors, which are minimalistic art lol). And I made gif banners + alternate covers. Whilst I do enjoy making all of them, I'd say my favourite type of graphic to make would be book covers, since I've been doing them the longest, and I'm most familiar with them. However, blends/(gif)banners and icons fall closely behind! They're all a lot of fun to make.

How long have you been designing graphics?

I started properly designing graphics in November 2015, so I've been at it for about 6 months? Before that, I dabbled around with covers, but I didn't make them on any sort of app. I smashed together a collage of pictures and some text on a pages document (for those of you who don't know, pages is a text application like Microsoft word), and voila, a cover (lol).

How did you start?

I started because I didn't know I could request covers from people, and because I wasn't keen on integrating myself into the social aspect of wattpad too much, so I decided to make my own covers. Before that, I detested photoshop, and didn't understand it. We once had a course where this teacher who didn't know how to use the search bar for his files tried to teach us how to make a mandala in photoshop. Our whole grade protested so much that they shut the lesson down after a year lmao.

I've always been more into fine art/non-digital art, and it was only until I watched a couple of youtube tuts, realised that a good cover attracts readers, and that photoshop really wasn't so bad that I started designing.

What is your favorite part about graphic design?

The creativity and liberty of it is probably my favourite aspect of it. There are so many apps with so many tools for photoshop that the manipulation and creating of graphics is practically limitless, and I learn new things every day when I use photoshop, because there's so much to dabble around with.

Thankfully, I'm past the point where I find 'layers' pointless, because they are the undo button for photoshop, and truly lifesavers. But hey, there's a first time for everything, right?

Where do you get your inspiration?

I read a lot, so I get a lot of my inspo for covers from real life designs. Otherwise, I get my inspiration from other designers here on wattpad, and covers that pop up on my feed. A lot of the time, if I see a cover-worthy picture, that's enough to give me inspo. Otherwise, for fan-related art (i.e marvel icons, etc) I take my inspiration from the shows/books/films, etc.

How long does a graphic typically take you?

Wow, this depends. A miple/manip cover usually takes me about 30 minutes to an hour, but blends and banners can often take me up to 2-3 hours. Vectors are a freaking nightmare: the one in the banner above, The Day He Fell, took me a solid 5 hours of total concentration. And I once made a file for a character that ended up being a gif of 200 frames long, which took me seven hours and caused photoshop to crash twice, so I had to split it up in the end. Icon packs take me up to an hour, usually, which is pretty okay.

Obviously, these times can vary, but those are the average times.

What advice would you give aspiring designers?

Patience is a virtue! Seriously. You need to be patient, you need to be ready to scrap your work, and start on a new page. Also, if you're stuck with an app for design that you have no idea how to use, youtube is always a great way to go for tutorials, and keep on going pack to youtube if you want to try something new but have no idea how to do it.

Also, don't stay holed up in your little cavern. Put your graphics out there so you can get some advice from other people and feedback. A great place to do this is the 'graphic stalkers' thread in the MDC. People are welcoming there, and will give you opinions. And remember, look around for inspiration, or to get the idea of what a good graphic looks like. Colour schemes are really important, you don't want a rainbow on your cover, generally.

Also, start small. Don't go for making gifs straightaway if you don't know how to use photoshop, or whatever other app. Familiarise yourself with your told first and remember to experiment!

A fun fact about yourself:

I am a total Sherlock geek, if that wasn't obvious by my icon, so come hither and talk to me if you understand the pain of being obsessed with TV shows. Also, I speak 3 languages, and I want to become a forensic pathologist.

lmao

- Sarah xx