Who exactly is this “little box of ideas” and what skills and talents are “stored” in her?

Sneh Roy:That’s me! I am Sneh and I am LBOI’s lifeblood. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science but chose a career path that fed my soul. I am a creative because no matter where I am, I am creating things. Logo design and branding is my forte and also the part of my skill set that I enjoy the most. I am an illustrator and story-teller. I design and create websites too. I write stories and poems, I cook, I am a time-management game nerd (love Cooking Dash!) and I am supermum who can diffuse a “situation” between two boisterous little boys before either of them can say “But Mum..!”

From one box to another, where do you get your inspiration and how do you store it all?

Sneh: Inspiration is a very tangible thing. If you keep your mind open, it is all around you. Believe it or not but a lot of my inspiration comes from books (without pictures). I love to read and get immersed in an imaginative world which allows me to get profoundly creative. I like to think that I have a good memory and remember most of it but for those 3.00am moments, I have a journal that I like to scribble in, mostly words.

What is your morning routine like leading up to sitting at your computer and what’s the first thing you do once there?

Sneh: I wake up, freshen up and get to my computer while Nick (God bless his generous soul) makes me his famous coffee. I check my email, my websites, twitter and facebook in that order. Just cursory checks that last for about 5–10 minutes till my coffee is ready J

You reside in Sydney Australia, without giving out too much info, what’s your percentage of local work compared to international? Certainly you must get contacted from many places all over the world.

Sneh: 70% international and 30% local, by choice. I plan to change that in the future, but for now, I prefer it that way.

Do you make sure to optimize your web projects for Altavista & yahoo?

Sneh: A few years ago we used to optimize all our web projects for all the key search engines, but with changing algorithms and rules, SEO has become much more complicated. We practice good SEO making sure that the websites we make have all the right elements to give them a shot at higher rankings in the search engines, but not specific to certain search engines.

List some people on twitter who have proven indispensible by being their own little box of ideas.

Sneh: I love people! I love people on Twitter! They are an amusing and interesting bunch and they can make a huge difference to your lives sometimes! callumchapman (Twitter) is an amazing guy, he is bustling with ideas and activities and always has a sunny disposition. leightonhubbell (Twitter) is always on a quest to better his portfolio and has some great ideas. I like how chrisspooner (Twitter) and jeff_finley (Twitter) ‘s minds work.

What’s something interesting about Sneh that not many people know that you’re willing to reveal in this interview?

Sneh: I’ve never gone clubbing, I’m fluent in 3 languages, I am severely Cynophobic, I lost 26 kilos in 2 years, I wish Hogwart’s was real, I wish I could’ve met Optimus Prime and I can listen to a song for a mind numbing 100 times or more.

Do other things that somehow relate to boxes offer any extra appeal to you? For example, dropbox for online storage?

Sneh: Some awesome people on Twitter suggested I use Dropbox a few months ago when I was complaining about not being able to connect my PC and Mac via a network. I love Dropbox! I use it extensively and if you don’t, give it a go. I must admit here that I have a thing for boxes, I love the structure and symmetry of stylish boxes.

What are some Australian stereotypes, if any, held by other cultures that make you laugh? Any that irritate you?

Sneh: A lot of people think everyone in Australia wears khaki shorts, hobnob with the kangaroos and talk funny! Well most people here never own khaki shorts in their lifetime, only see a kangaroo at the zoo or sanctuary and talk just fine J

Can you recall any time where you yourself or someone else attempted something inventive or extremely creative to get the attention of an employer and hopefully land a job with them?

Sneh: I am stymied on this one. I have always worked for myself and a lot of the people I know are all freelancers too.

What are some of your favorite quotes? Either original or from elsewhere.

Sneh: I read Robert Schuller’s “Tough Times Never Last But Tough People Do” when I was in high school (many many years ago) and that kind of became a mantra for me.

Have you noticed any styles or trends that seem to be exclusive to Australia? It seems like most of the web based career fields all use the same online resources and no doubt can lead to worldwide similarities.

Sneh: Can’t say that I have. Something that keeps popping up as a deliberately Australian thing is “sustainability” and the whole “green websites” movement that is very prevalent here.

What is the most amazing thing you’ve seen this week?

Sneh: Just tonight on Junior Masterchef, I saw an 8 year old girl Sienna create this absolutely delightful French bistro style dish of Pheasant stuffed with Pistachios, caramelized figs with an orange and cranberry glaze. An 8 year old!! That is pretty amazing!

Are there any styles or methods that you find yourself returning to over and over again?

Sneh: Because my clients are from all around the world and I am lucky enough to be working with people in all kinds of fields and industries, I have a very varied style with a lot of successful experimentation happening all the time. I do find that I have an affinity for creating things out of shapes and find myself sticking to blacks and strong type a lot.

How do you reward yourself, if at all, after solving a difficult design issue or tackling a tough problem in general?

Sneh: I like to stop work early and chill out with Nick, a great thriller/Asian horror and a nice wine.

Who are you and what do you do? Where can we find you online?

Cheryl Harrison: I am a good idea! I’m work in the communication space with a focus on using social media tools. I’m currently working as the Tactical Lead for Social Business Strategies, consulting with companies to develop an interactive strategy and establishing internal teams to implement that strategy.

And where CAN’T you find me online?! I blog at Being Cheryl, Greatest City Of All, Tapped In TV (the last two being Columbus-centric). I’m also active daily at cherylharrison (Twitter), cherylharrison (Facebook), cherylharrison (Linkedin) and cherylharrison.yelp.com Though frankly, if the network exists, I probably have/had/will soon have an account on it.

Obviously twitter plays a huge part in your daily life anymore. Who would you recruit first for a twitter army to fight the bad practices of the social web?

Cheryl: I would recruit RedHeadWriting (Twitter) because she’s sharp, snarky and offensive as hell. Our smartass redheadedness combined, we could rule the world. Or at least the interwebz.

Over the past year, location based social media has grown in leaps and bounds. Where do you see this going in the future? What are some of the benefits of location based social media vs. the notion of privacy?

Cheryl: I love the trend towards location! For individuals, location is great for knowing where your friends are, discovering new businesses, meeting new people, getting sweet discounts and just plain ol’ fun — gaming mechanics like badges for collector-types and leaderboards for competitive-types make the game a good time.

For businesses, location is great for advertising — and free, at that (the “nearby special” notification that pops up is free for small businesses to set up currently), consumer insight and taking advantage of the influence your customers have within their social networks.

If you were to write your twitter profile url in the sky, what font would you have the pilot use for the task?

Cheryl: Tahoma. Simple and understated.

However, If I were to write my MySpace URL in the sky… Comic Sans. Anyone still use MySpace? Seriously. Anyone?

Say you were given the chance to work with and help improve any top name brand for one month, which brand would you choose and why?

Cheryl: Woot.com. Not that they need me to improve their stellar brand, it would just be seriously fun. Hey Woot, did you hear that? Call me up to contribute some of your brilliant copy, cool? Send me some free wine.woot while you’re at it.

The social web is in an ever changing state at very rapid paces. Where do you see social media in 6 months?

Cheryl: Everything is trending towards localized and niche content — even broad networks like Twitter and Facebook are integrating geographic-focus features — and I think that trend will continue. It’s cool to chat with someone from Australia while in Ohio, but it’s really cool to connect with like-minded people who live around the corner and can meet up in real life.

Do you go sailing on the high seas as a social media pirate or do you stick to stealthy social media ninja moves?

Cheryl: Arrrgh matey. I have no idea how else to respond to this. Next.

It shows that you truly love your city of Columbus, Ohio. What are some of the city’s strongest assets, especially as it pertains to people in your career line?

Cheryl: Columbus has a very creative, tech-savvy culture, which is a perfect fit for me. Oh, and uh, we have a lot of readily-available craft beer… which is a perfect fit for me.

What is your favorite social media stereotype? Why?

Cheryl: The whole idea of working in “social media” has been tainted by douchebags who want to make a quick buck and scam small businesses out of a few grand to “set up a Facebook page.” I cringe every time I see another smarmy sales guy/gal who signed up for Twitter last week and is qualified to TOTALLY CHANGE THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS FOREVS!!!11!!

…some poor sap is gonna hand him/her a bag of money, too. (Speaking of which… any and all bags of money can be sent my way via PayPal or FedEx.)

In your opinion, what is one of twitter’s primary weaknesses that could dethrone it in the longrun?

Cheryl: Aside from the big “WTF is our revenue model” issue, Twitter.com is Twitter’s primary weakness.While they have been slowly unrolling features to make it better (lists was a great one) the site pales in comparison to third-party services like Hootsuite, Tweetdeck and Seesmic for functionality and usability.

Would you consider yourself an android or do you lead an iLife?

Cheryl: I’m an Apple fangirl fo’ sho’, but I use Google so heavily that it would realistically make more sense for me to do the droid thing. Mostly, I’m stubborn.

What website, with any focus you want, do you want to promote here and now because you believe it deserves more users and more people knowing it exists?

Cheryl: Haha, this is such a random answer, but when I read this question I thought of Kingdom of Loathing (kindomofloathing.com. It’s a MMORPG…kinda? With stick figures. And sarcasm. And meat as currency. And absurd character types like “turtle tamer,” “disco bandit” and “seal clubber.” It’s seriously hilarious. I used to play it alllll the time, but haven’t really touched it in a year (which is why it is such a random response) — but occasionaly when I get sad or really, really bored, I go back for a couple hours of poorly drawn laughs.

Is the Columbus beer stein half full, half empty, the glass is too big, or “wtf, who drank half of my awesome Columbus beer?!?!?” ?

Cheryl: MY Columbus beer stein is always half empty, but it’s ok, because there’s always a freshly brewed refill waiting for me at Columbus Brewing Company or Barley’s or Elevator

What job has been the one you have liked the least since entering that whole “working world?”

Cheryl: My last job as the Digital Content Manager for three local radio stations. But it was also my favorite! The disconnect was in the way that stations are structured — the on-air staff and the programming directors were awesome. I was totally invested in the stations’ brands and enjoyed communicating with listeners online and coming up with creative new ways to do so. I wish the energy had been the same on the sales and business side of the organization.

At the end of the day, how much of a good idea is being Cheryl, really?

Cheryl: I’m not sure, but have someone else claim “I am a good idea” and watch how fast I slap their ass with a lawsuit! Ha, yeah right, like I afford to file a trademark or hire a lawyer. I’m just ok.

There are likely still many of you asking and wondering why someone may want to go through all the effort. As I have already stated above, if you have something to say that requires more than 140 characters, you can get it all in one tweet. Obviously, creating one by hand would require more time and effort than typing it through the site or your favorite twitter client, but imagine the joy someone will experience when they get a handwritten message directed at them. I know my first @mention, directed at emtaylor (Twitter), made her day.

Writing it out on a piece of paper and then posting a picture of it, also provides a broad canvas that allows for creativity to flourish. You can draw little doodles, provide decorations, or anything else you can think of. I KNOW twitter is full of creative types and I don’t see why we can’t show that off more.

Just because you write out the actual message on paper or some other medium, doesn’t mean you can’t use your allotted 140 characters. Some of them would be used for the image URL, but the rest can be used for more @mentions and #tags.

I know well enough that any idea or trend that grows online is very hard to control, if not impossible to. That said, I am not setting any “method of use” for handwritten tweets, just explaining the origin and some uses that have already come to mind. I don’t know where the idea will go, if anywhere, but I would love to see it go somewhere.

Be inventive, be creative, make someone’s day, pay it forward…do SOMETHING.

Handwrittentweets examples

• gracesmith (Twitter) sent this one to all of her followers here
• domencolja (Twitter) did this one as an alternative to dribbble as he lacks an account here
• designcoyote (Twitter) sent this one quoting Judy Garland here
• rudedoodle (Twitter) asked this good question here

What about yours?

This is also a very personal interview for me. Out of everyone, Alex may be the one who I know the most, and knows me the most in return. I have known her since sometime in mid 2009. When I had the idea to include her in this post series, I knew that it would be my chance to offer a lending hand and help her out as much as I could. With that said, lets help her get her feet off the ground and get to know Alex Cook.

Please introduce yourself to everyone. What did you major in and where at? Did you specialize in any areas?

Alex Cook: Hello! :3 I’m Alex Cook, your typical unemployed, yet hopeful graduate with an interest in design, writing and film. Seriously, talk to me about movies and I’ll likely love you forever. Anyways! I recently graduated with a BS in New Media Publishing from Rochester Institute of Technology. My major includes a mix of graphic design, web development, printing, business and IT. At RIT, I concentrated/specialized in both French Language and Culture and Contemporary Publishing. Think eBook creation and designing, studying the pros and cons of the New York Times Reader, and so on!

You just graduated this past spring. What do you hope for in your near future, and what fears do you have given the current job market?

Alex: Good. Question. Since I’ve graduated, I’ve come up with such a multitude of plans, it’s borderline ridiculous. Do I want another bachelor’s degree? In graphic design? Journalism? How about a masters in human computer interaction? Who knows. I think I’d really just like to get some more design practice and experience.. we’ll worry about the job front later. (aka I’d prefer to not think about the current job market. ;p )

If you could choose for the pigment in your skin to be any color possible, what would that color’s RGB/CYMK value be?

Alex: Oh man, ideally? #333366. I’m crazy about this purple. (C: 93% M: 90% Y: 31% K: 20%) (R: 51 G: 51 B: 102) Realistically though, I need a tan. –__– #CC9966. (C: 20% M: 41% Y: 67% K: 1%) (R: 204 G: 153 B: 102)

If you had control of who follows your twitter account, what four people would you add to your followers list? Why?

Alex: Eeeee! dessadarling (Twitter). Dessa is hands down my favorite artist/rapper/author. Her lyrics and essays are a constant source of inspiration for me in writing, illustrating, so on and so forth.

disneypixar (Twitter). Yet another source of inspiration for me. To say that I never dreamed of working for Disney would be an absolute, terrible lie. If you could see my wish list of books right now, it’d be over 75% full of Pixar art books.

andrewhussie (Twitter). I follow the newest MS Paint Adventure like it’s my job (“Homestuck,” go read it! :p). He’s got one heck of an imagination, seems to write like a pro, and oh man are his drawings cute or what?!

Andddd ConanOBrien (Twitter), because everyone loves a little attention now and then, amiright?

Below, is a question and answer

Recently, you returned to Minnesota where you had an internship last year. Is there anywhere in the area that you would absolutely love to work at? Any specific companies?

Alex: Minnesota is so full of major corporations, I’m certain holding a design position at any would be more than fine in my book! (Hey there Target, Best Buy, 3M, General Mills! (; ) If dreams could come true, I’d die to work for Rhymesayers Entertainment, an independent hip hop record label based in Minneapolis. I missed out on a design internship for them due to poor timing, but shall we keep our fingers crossed for the future? And as for an area? Anywhere. Seriously, I’m so in love with the state.

What are some of your favorite bands to listen to while designing?

Alex: First and foremost, Dessa. I mentioned the inspiration deal already, but she’s just an awesome artist regardless. Otherwise, Portishead, Bjork, Cat Power, Death Cab for Cutie, P.O.S, Bright Eyes, or mostly my collection of film soundtracks and scores. Anything that I can listen but not have to put all of my attention into really. Oh, and of course, the Glee Cast station on Pandora when I need something peppy and exciting. ;3

A zombie, pirate, politician, and ninja have all made it to the Rock/Paper/Scissor final four. Who are you rooting for and who do you hope they beat to win the championship?

Alex: The zombie, of course. And it’d have to beat out the ninja, seeing as the politician clearly wouldn’t make it to the final round.. and, well, I just don’t like pirates sometimes.

Do you have any preferred styles of design or art?

Alex: Absolutely. Anything with some vector-y goodness in it and I’m more than sold. Also, anything that’s got a vintage feel, or even something that’s “totally adorable” and appeals more so to children will always catch my eye. So think vintage Disney (especially Disneyland attraction ads and signs) and maybe even my favorite collectables, Golden Books. I go crazy for these.

Although you are still very young in your career, can you recall any client/customer moments that made you go D: ?

Alex: When I was interning at a printing company, I was a customer service rep for mostly donation jobs. (why is it that anyone getting anything for free will always be disgustingly demanding, finicky, and on the occasion, insane?) I’ve had a two hour+ phone call proofreading a brochure (there were only three paragraphs!). I’ve hand delivered pieces because a client told me he’d pick up the final product, then changed his mind. My favorite D: moment though, at my first job developing pictures, is when a customer accused me of ruining her negatives and making them.. blurry?

If photoshop features or method tricks could report people for overuse and abuse, which one(s) would be able to report you?

Alex: How about.. undo? :p I don’t use Photoshop nearly as much as I should, but if we were talking about Illustrator.. Well, probably anything related to the pen tool. And live trace/live paint. And undo.

Is there anything about being a student that you’ll immediately miss? *cough* adobe product discounts *cough cough*

Alex: Adobe product discounts! I absolutely love being a student. I like learning, assignments, essays (love these actually) and lectures, I already know I’ll miss all of that. But most of all, having a set schedule and things to do daily.. even if I’m stuck on campus till 5:30 am writing XSLT for the first time, working on research papers, or illustrating an eBook.

Are there any areas where you wish your degree program(s) focused more on? less on?

Alex: I could write a novel for this answer unfortunately. My degree was brand new, ever changing and confusing. Professors were never able to give us a definition of New Media Publishing, saying it was “too new, there’s always something changing!” (You know, aka “we have no idea.”) I wish my program offered more than two beginner design classes and one basic business class, employed professors who told us more than “I don’t know what you can do with your degree to be honest,” and was simply more organized in general. Oh, and I really wish we didn’t have to literally beg professors to get into any interesting or worthwhile classes outside of our program.

If you were a design super hero, who would you be and what would be your super power?

Alex: I’d have to be Vector Girl! Using mathematical formulas and specifications of geometric elements to fight crime (ha ha!) with my paths and lines..gun. And looking all around spiffy and clean and wonderful. Gonna need a sidekick though, anyone down to be Illustrator Boy? ;D

Any final thoughts?

Alex: Thanks soso much for having me do this interview! Beats all of those job interviews that seem to be missing in action any day of the week.

And seriously, Illustrator Boy, whatchu think?!

The absolute greatest thing that all of you readers, who have been in the industry for awhile already, could do for Alex is to give her any advice you have for someone in her position. Think back to when you were in Alex’s position, what advice would you have loved to get from your peers? What do you wish you knew then that you know now? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below and I will make sure Alex reads it all. Follow her on twitter at her twitter profile cooxie (Twitter).

Your identity and branding are based off of coffee and caffeine. How much do you drink on a productive day?

Rachael E.C. Acklin: I drink about two cups, if I’m paying attention enough to finish them before I forget they’re even there. I make a small pot of coffee in the morning, and it only holds about 2.5 mugs’ worth of coffee in it, so I end up washing about a half a cup down the drain when I rinse out the pot. I used to make a big 12-cup pot, but I never even drank half of it so it was a huge waste. I don’t believe my own hype enough to drink way more coffee than I actually can handle.

Why should someone take a drink of your “coffee” and hire you for all their design needs? What sets you apart from other brews?

Rachael: A very specific thing that sets my design style and work style apart from many other designers is that I really care about my clients’ success as it relates to the project I’m working on for them. I spend a lot of time talking with them, asking them questions to help their own creativity and idea generation processes. I also incorporate every piece of feedback that I get from them, whether I can actually deliver what they want, or can explain why something won’t work and give them a different suggestion. I’m not one of those designers that is so convinced they know their craft that the client is always wrong, and I don’t get so personally attached to each design that I get upset when the client needs me to change it. I am really proud of the way I’m able to build a trust-filled working relationship with my clients because of the way I do things.

You’re planning a party at your favorite local coffee shop. Who would be some of your twitter cohosts for this gathering?

Rachael: OH MAN. There are so many fantastic people that I’d love to cohost a coffee party with: Crystal (bigbrightbulb (Twitter)), Adam (adamkingstudio (Twitter)), Sarah (leianajade (Twitter)), Kyle (kpdurand (Twitter)), and Andy (andrewghayes (Twitter)) are the first people who come to mind. And everyone else I talk to every week. THIS IS A TRICK QUESTION, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE?!

What are some of the most overcaffeinated and energetic fonts in your collection and can you describe any projects that you got to use one of them in?

Rachael: You know, I don’t really use very many overcaffeinated fonts. I like fonts that imply intelligence, strength, character, and occasional quirkiness. Recently, one of my favorite thing to do is pair a script font with a sans serif font. However, Scriptina and Georgia have become my brand fonts in the last several months, and I love how they compliment each other.

What is your favorite coffee roast and from what country?

Rachael: Dark roasts taste the best to me, although hilariously, they contain less caffeine. HA HA HA. I’ve loved and enjoyed coffee from Africa and South America, but none are my favorites. They all taste marvelously perfect and distinctly different.

You know 8-bit graphics are a bit trendy right now. Have you ever been tempted to fire up MS Paint or some other basic bitmap pixel editor and do some mockup work there? What type of project do you think this would actually be good for?

Rachael: Nope. For real. Maybe I’m not very good at following trends. However, I think that 8-bit graphics might look really sweet on a geek-style webcomic design, along with some hand-drawn illustrations.

If money was not a question, what would you purchase or upgrade in order to achieve “the perfect setup” with your office space?

Rachael: I would scour the earth in search of the perfect ergonomic chair and desk combination that works for EXCESSIVELY SHORT PEOPLE who have EXCESSIVE SHOULDER PAIN from all that awesome design work. It’s so difficult to find chairs that work for you if you’re just over five feet tall!

A ninja has just swiped your source of awesome and coffee. Do you call him a traitor to your ninja brethren or do you gather up your pirate crew on deck in order to pursue?

Rachael: First I am upset and I have a good cry. Then I gather up my crew and explain what’s going on, and tell them how I need their help. We find the ninja, find out what happened, and find a solution that works for everyone. Even horrible problems have solutions if you’re willing to work at finding them.

What lessons do you want to pass on to new designers? Are there any that you wish you learned earlier?

Rachael: First lesson: don’t take jobs just because you need money; take jobs because they fit what you love to do. Second lesson: if you have a client that you cannot make happy no matter what you do, and you’ve actually tried everything and been honest, don’t be afraid to fire that client. Third lesson: you can’t please everyone, so stop trying; find your right people and stick with them. (All of these, I wish I’d known earlier than I learned them.)

Have you ever found direct design influence in anything that one of your kids has created or drawn? If so, tell us about it.

Rachael: I haven’t been directly influenced yet, because I haven’t needed to put explosions, airplanes, dinosaurs, and aliens in a design yet. YET. However, their creativity never ceases to amaze me. It’s really fascinating what they will create with only a few sheets of plain white paper and a box of crayons.

Did you ever hear back from William Shatner at all? I recall you trying to drum up support for you to redesign his website.

Rachael: No, the Shat never got back with me. KHAN!!!!!! But it was fun, trying to get him to respond. Also, I am actually more fond of him now than I was before, despite the fact that I had no contact with him whatsoever. The internets are so awesome like that.

What are a few things from cubicle life that someone couldn’t pay you to miss?

Rachael: 1) Uncomfortable seating arrangements; 2) guilt over taking a needed break; 3) fluorescent lights; 4) lunch at my desk; 5) never knowing if I was doing a good enough job; 6) driving to work and back every single day.

Whatever happened to the Caffeinated Podcast? Is that a project that never got to take off? or is it just dormant at the moment?

Rachael: It’s just dormant right now. One of my awesome friends, who is also a ninja for me sometimes, is going to team up with me and we’re going to bring it back, BABY.

What are some stereotypes that you wish designers had?

Rachael: I wish that designers were known for good communication skills. I also wish that designers were known for caring about the client, not just the specific project being worked on.

If you could, what coffee company would you purchase some stock in and why?

Rachael: I would find a coffee farmer in the third world who needs money to make his business bigger, and invest in that. I wouldn’t even want him to pay me back, like Kiva.org, even though the work they do is phenomenal. I would rather put money into something that can become a great and sustainable thing, than to buy stock and sell it later, honestly.

Admin note: You’ll noticed a strange amount of little yellow circles. I can only imagine how much Emma smiles in person. Personally, I blame living in Cyprus. Color me jealous.

Who are you for those who don’t know and what is it you specialize in?

Emma Taylor: I’m Emma! I’m a freelance web designer living the dream in Cyprus (originally from the UK). Specialising in User Interface Web Design (mostly PSD mockups) and love clean simple designs, the interwebs, positive thinking, anything apple & my family and friends

How does it feel to share a name with the Em measurement in web design? Are you as fluid and scalable as it is?

Emma: Well spotted. Would you believe i’ve never really thought about it, now you’ve brought it up it feels pretty darn good!

If you were given the capital to start up a firm or grow your current brand, using only twitter people, who would be in your first round of hiring?

Emma: You’ve gotta love Twitter!! I’d have to go all out and mention a few of my favourite & super lovely web gals, they’re incredibly talented designers and great fun to talk to!

• gracesmith (Twitter) — Grace Smith (website)
• sazzy (Twitter) — Sarah Parmenter (website)
• amerz (Twitter) — Amy Mahon (website)
• yaili (Twitter) — Inayaili de León (website)
• designspace (Twitter) — Jackie Ellse (website)

…wow, this is harder than it looks, i could go on and on, there are so many wonderful people on the web!!

When birds stand on power lines and don’t get hurt, it’s most likely because of:

• good tim­ing, they only land between calls
• body mate­ri­als that are insu­lated from current
• not touch­ing any­thing else at the same time
• they do get hurt, they just express it poorly

Emma: good timing, they only land between calls

The fonts folder on your computer spontaniously combusts into a huge ball of fire with serifs flying everywhere, what three do you attempt to salvage first?

Emma: Firstly, i’d need to check to see if my sans serif fonts were ok (mainly Helvetica Neue)! Current fav Serif fonts: Hoefler Text — Italic, Baskerville & Archer

I remember, awhile back, agreeing with you that the best pens tend to be the most basic, is there any pen on your desk that you tend to instinctively reach for no matter how many may be available and perhaps closer to your hand?

Emma: Any that works…mostly the basic blue biro does the job.

What is the story for the origin of “Twiggle” in your personal branding?

Emma: When i originally started out as a full time freelancer nearly 3 years ago now i branded myself under another name. After a year i was unfortunately presented with a not so nice email from a legal team and so it goes i was no longer to able to use that domain name or brand. At the time I was pretty much in a state of panic and quickly needed to come up with a new brand and domain name. After plenty of research, plenty of name ideas and plenty of (most probably annoying) emails to web friends i finally settled with Twiggle Graphics! In a way although it caused a lot of anxiety and panic at the time its been a blessing, i’ve learnt so much since then, took my work and myself more seriously and have been busier than ever.

Are there any old design habits of yours that make you facepalm yourself? If so, why?

Emma: If anything it’d be coding. I’m pretty lucky to be able to specialise my services to design and creating PSD UI designs for other freelancers and agencies and absolutely love it, the only downside to this is that i find that i’m not completely up to scratch with my coding skills at times.

If you could personally choose any website to improve and evolve, what site would you pick and why?

Emma: *holding my head in shame* Mine! It’s way overdue and in desperate need for a redesign and update, but helping my lovely clients comes first!!

What is the nerdiest pickup line ever used on you, if any? If none, make one up!

Emma: lol, hmmm, errrr…

What type of projects or styles would you love to dip your toe into in the future? Surely a woman with your skills has only the sky as the limit.

Emma: I recently helped out with an iPhone app icon, it’s great fun and loved it…i definitely want to get into this more.

Have you ever taken, or been tempted to take, the font Papyrus for a swim in any of your designs?

Emma: Errrrrr, no. Along with comic sans, curlz mt and any others that fit into that category!! lol

Any personal quotes you’d like to share with the people of the internet?

Emma: Whenever i get in a little rut about something or i need a little nudge i ask myself a very simple question … What’s the worst thing that can happen? Go for it!

Have you ever considered bottling up Cyprus sunshine and selling it for a little extra money in the pocket? Surely it is a higher quality sunshine than some other places in the world.

Emma: Now there’s an idea!! lol

Final thoughts?

Emma: Thanks for asking me to take part in a fun and creative interview!! Keep up the great work

I really can’t say how much you know her, how could I? The best I can really do besides recommending that you go get to know her yourself at gracesmith (Twitter), would be to read the following questions posed to her recently, so lets get to it.

Obviously, you are a twitterholic who absolutely refuses to attend the weekly meetings. Who are some tweeple, besides myself, who you think everyone should check out?

Grace Smith: Of course you! A few others I would recommend would be:

• emtaylor (Twitter) — Emma is an awesome designer who I’ve been collaborating with for a few years now.(website)
• AtiKuSDesign (Twitter) — Michael is a web designer here in the UK I’ve had many a conversation with.(website)
• meteoracle (Twitter) Westley has literally made me LOL on several occasions with some of his tweets. One of the coolest, funniest people to follow.(website)
• andysowards (Twitter) My long time developer bud who has to be one of the nicest/knowledgeable guys in the industry.(website)

You are stranded on an island and can only bring along three musical albums, what would be the color of your tree on the island?

Grace: Red — so hopefully a passing ship might spot it and come rescue me!

Like most freelance designers, you put client projects first and foremost. If you had more free time, what type of projects would you like to do or skillsets you would like to learn?

Grace: I would love to work more mobile design, I’ve just started my first mobile app for a client which is exciting, but I would ideally like to get a chance to be involved in more projects like this.

I also have a real itch to get into designing apps for the iPad and would love to get a little team together to create an app that would be as addictive as it was useful.

Which of the following would you choose to be your ally in an upcoming Apocolypse? Pirate, Ninja, Zombie, Politician?

Grace: It’s got to be a ninja, because they’re quick, smart and deadly.

What are some ways that you rejuvenate your creative juices, especially in a field that requires creativity constantly just to keep up?

Grace: Just leaving the office and freeing myself creatively works extremely well to refresh my creativity, even for just a short period of time. I usually like to get my beloved Canon 350D out and spend 10 or 15 minutes taking and setting up shots, as I find Photography is hugely inspiring.

After the break I usually go straight for my Moleskine and jot down some ideas and have a short brainstorming session which is enough to give me that spark of inspiration to start work.

When birds stand on power lines and don’t get hurt, it’s most likely because of:

• good timing, they only land between calls
• body materials that are insulated from current
• not touching anything else at the same time
• they do get hurt, they just express it poorly

Grace: they do get hurt, they just express it poorly

What is your all-time favorite project, if you had to choose just one?

Grace: Tough question Michael! I think it would have to be the Web Warrior Tools e-book store design I worked on with Leo Babauta and Glen Stansberry around 2 years ago. It was my first time working with some extremely high profile clients online and it was both an awesome opportunity and an amazing experience, because both Leo and Glen were just superb to work with.

That project has led onto scores of other projects and clients, as Leo and Glen have referred me to other people like Muhammad Saleem and Jay White, to name just a few.

I actually talk about this experience more in my blog post: How one question transformed my business

Have you ever been guilty of using Comic Sans in a serious way, before learning the error of your ways and knowing better? Do you have any other similar design crimes?

Grace: Thankfully I can honestly say Comic Sans has never been seen in my Photoshop or CSS files!

Being a creative type, could you tell us some of your favorite styles of art?

Grace: I studied History of Art at A-Level so I’ve developed a deep passion for Art throughout the years. I have quite a diverse taste when it comes to Art, two of my favorite styles being Abstract and Neoclassical. Two of my favorite artists from these styles are Graham Knuttel, an Irish abstract artist and Jacques-Louis David, a French Neoclassical artist.

I’m especially drawn to art with a story, for instance David’s painting — The Death of Marat (considered his masterpiece), beautifully tells the story of his friend Marat, who was assassinated.

I’ve visited both the Tate Gallery and The National Museum of Art in London and aim to return in the near future.

What color, if you could, would you make “the new black?”

Grace: Blue, as it’s my favorite color.

Do you have any original personal quotes that you’re willing to share?

Grace: When I felt down or annoyed about a situation, my Father (who passed away suddenly 5 years ago), would always say to me — “if its to be, it’s up to me”. I’m not sure if that’s something he made up or a quote he had heard, but it’s always stuck with me. The idea behind is, that while I can’t always control what happens in my life, I can decide how I react and that I have to make things happen for myself.

Roses are #FF0000, grass is #00FF00, design is an art, do you know what I mean?

Grace: I sure do. Art and design surrounds us everyday, as designers we should be more keenly aware of this than most!

What are some of your favorite stereotypes to laugh at, regarding designers and the design community?

Grace: That we are all egotistical, beanie wearing, coffee addicts who hate our clients and spend most of our time deciding if #cccccc beats #bbbbbb.

You have a partially filled beverage glass. Is the glass half full, half empty, bigger than the glass needs to be, or “who stole half of my $*&%^ing drink?!?!” ?

Grace: It’s half empty and I’m already on my way back up to the bar!

What are your thoughts on Creative Commons licensing when it comes to the design community? Surely there’s plenty of resources and knowledge that is better off shared and encouraged to be shared.

Grace: I personally feel Creative Commons Licensing is a fantastic way to take your own intellectual property (perhaps images, writing, videos etc) and share it with the community. It encourages collaboration, re-use and sharing while still protecting the original copyright.

For instance I use the Creative Commons License (with Attribution) on Flickr to find images to use within my blog, it means you have the opportunity to use some amazing resources, which without this, you wouldn’t have access to. Of course the original authors specific requests in terms of their work should be respected at all times.

I want to thank Grace for taking part in this interview, I know that I had fun coming up with these questions and I hope she had fun answering them. I am also hoping that other designers will be interested in partaking in an interview with me in the future, allowing everyone to get to know them just a little bit more.

Please comment below with any thoughts or concerns. Also, if you have any questions that you’d like to see asked in possible future interviews, feel free to suggest them as well. All humorous and serious questions.…seriously considered.

With the following code, <?php function twitter_shortcode( $atts, $content = null ) { return '<a href="http://twitter.com/' . $content . '" title="' . $content . '\'s Twitter Profile">' . $content . '</a>'; } add_shortcode('twitter', 'twitter_shortcode'); ?> I can wrap a username in [twitter] [/twitter] and have it output the full link, like this (Twitter)

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