Gordon Reid – 7 Design Questions Interview

Designer – Gordon Reid
Website – middleboop.com
Blog – middleboop.blogspot.com
Twitter – @MiddleBoop

1. How much time do you dedicate to learning design every day?
I count myself very lucky to be able to work on exciting and challenging briefs all the time and I often find that with every new project I learn new techniques and shortcuts that I wouldn’t have known before so I guess you could say I learn as I go. On top of that I do dedicate time to go through tutorials and often find helpful hints and ideas there, time wise I do this whenever I get an hour or so.

2. What other designers do you have contact with on a regular basis?
Thankfully through running the Middle Boop blog whereby we interview and feature a lot of designers I am in contact with some of the best designers from around the world. I also hook up with a lot of very talented individuals including Radim Malinic (Brand Nu,) Seb Lester, Rob at Sawdust, Norm at Waste and Neil Bunn as well as having worked on on projects with Simon Wild and Mike Harrison.

3. Who are the top 2-3 designers that you respect and why?
I really love the works of Hvass & Hannibal because they just create these amazing worlds within their design full of colour, shape and form. There really is no one else like them and what’s great is that they have been able to work for a lot of great clients without seemingly having to compromise their work.

I also really admire the work of Kate Gibb whose love for Screenprinting and collage and amazing work for bands such as Chemical Brothers and more recently Kate Nash has always inspired me to keep doing what I love doing. Oh and she’s also lovely to chat to and a self confessed lover of the Middle Boop blog which makes me happy.

Last but by no means least, I have always been heavily inspired by the works of practitioners at the Bauhaus and modernist/ post modernist designers such as Paul Rand and Lester Beall. Without these guys the whole industry would be a very different place.

4. What’s your favorite website or design you ever made and why?
Wow this is a tough question, I’m not sure I have one particular favourite piece but I am very happy and proud of my Digital Arts cover this was quite a big step for me in terms of more commercial design, it was a really great brief and had a fantastic response. I am also very proud of the work I did for the band Deerhunter this was exhibited in the world famous Rough Trade stores and was cited by a lot of people as one of the best gig posters they’ve ever seen, so that was really great and opened a lot of doors for me.

5. Have you ever been published in a book or magazine? What books or magazines?
I have had the great fortune of being published in many books and magazines all over the world, here is a list of the publications that have recently featured my work or interviewed me

IDN
Digital Arts
Digital Artist
Advanced Photoshop
Computer Arts
Maxim
Chew Magazine
Blanket
I also have some of my T-shirt designs featured in the book Torso and have contributed a new illustration for charity for the Memories Project book.

I also have articles and interviews in the upcoming Digital Artist and a tutorial in the next Advanced Photoshop both due out next month as well as an interview on tips for freelancing in this months Computer Arts.
When I was a student I would have never have imagined that one day I would be featured by so many publications that I have read so it really is a privilege to have so much interest from these people.

6. What’s your favorite color in hexadecimal? How often do you find yourself leaning towards it with design projects?
I guess recently I’ve been using a lot of golds and reds, normally with my work I like to combine bright, odd colour palettes early on to really make the piece of work stand out, so something like 996 600 and FF3 333 or thereabouts will be seen in a few pieces.
I try to keep everything as fresh as possible with my work but certainly these two colours if used well can really make a piece look vibrant and exciting.

7. What’s your most recent project we can look at?
The most recent piece that I can release is the piece I’ve just contributed for Steve Rack’s group exhibition called Toe Fluff, where each designer is asked to customise a character in which you can do anything as ling as it stays within the size and shape of the ball of fluff in the centre of the image. All of the proceeds from the show are going to charity and I’m very happy to be a part of it.