Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Author Interview: iKreativ


Living in Wales, collecting Apple gear, climbing mountains, designing in the broswer. This week we meet Scott Parry (iKreativ) from ThemeForest.


If you’re an Envato marketplace author and would like to be interviewed for the blog, head over to this form. We’d love to hear from you.


Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from, what do you do for a living


Currently living in the Snowdonia National Park, Wales UK. I’m a full-time designer and developer working from my busy home office. I do work for my own clients, freelance for other design agencies, build premium themes and release/contribute to open source projects.


When I’m not working I can usually be found up a mountain somewhere. I’m also an Apple junkie.


Which marketplaces do you belong to? What types of files do you sell?


I release WordPress themes on ThemeForest.



How did you get started? Have you had any formal training?


I’m completely self-taught in all aspects of design and development, learning mainly from viewing source and gradually progressing.


Describe your home workspace.


My office is primarily filled with Apple products (as if you couldn’t tell from the photo). In the photo: iPod Touch, iPhone 4S, New iPad, 15″ MacBook Pro, 24″ iMac, Ubuntu server and a Windows test environment.



Describe your creative process. What steps do you normally follow to create your files?


I used to design layouts in Photoshop and then code it up when I was happy.


More recently I’ve moved to “designing in the browser”, basically I open Sublime Text 2 and start coding away my ideas, adjusting layout, colours and adding features as I go. I find working this way much faster than moving back and forth between Photoshop. I then use Photoshop for creating little additions and flourishes that may compliment a design.


What is your advice to other authors regarding how to create a successful portfolio?


Don’t stop! Keep an eye on current trends, but don’t follow too much, create your own interpretation. When you think a design is ready, go outside, go game, do anything except sitting at your computer, then come back refreshed and take a final look, I’ll guarantee you will find something to improve.


If you get rejected, take the criticism and move on, but don’t stop. We all get rejected, it’s just part of the process, in the end the rejection will make you a better designer!


What do you do to market your files?


Through social media such as Twitter and Facebook and on my blog.


What are your three favorite files, and why do you like them?


Pocket



This theme just oozes quality, great typography and good use of space.


Boson



This theme just seems to captivate the visitor.


Minim



Clean, pixel perfect design and great subtle details.


Apart from yourself, who is your favorite marketplace author, and why do you like them?


This is a hard one, I like a lot of authors, but if I can only pick one then it’d have to be Mike McAlister. His designs are well thought out, carrying clean lines, great use of typography and whitespace, and always clearly content focused.


What do you do in your spare time?


Any adrenaline sport, hiking, climbing, slacklining etc…







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