My design process #LifeHacks

26 October 2017

Create Jobs alumnus, Rhyan, was recently shortlisted to take part in the #Lifehacks Graphic Design Competition, in partnership with NME. To find out more about the competition and see the other entries, click here.

How I approached the #LifeHacks Competition

When I started to design the #LifeHacks flyer, my initial approach was to prioritise 3 things:

1. The task
2. The target audience
3. NME, Create Jobs + #Lifehacks values and background

Prioritising this had given me inspirations and a concept to work with. My main inspiration was mainly the previous #LifeHacks event (2016). I noticed that last years event was focused on the people and creatives - achieving and working towards their career aspirations. This, of course, meant finding the easiest way to do this possible.

My second inspiration was London itself - the lifestyle, the people, the youth culture, and the Autumn term time.

Finally, my third was the culture & history of NME and Create Jobs.

The developing process

The process was simple but challenging. However, the refinement of the idea was even more so, because I struggled to find the correct placements for the illustrations, logos and information. I eventually overcame this due to professional feedback from Simon Freeborough, the Creative Director of NME, and a few trusted friends.

The Final Design

My final #LifeHacks flyer is a piece full of my authentic illustrations based on the lifestyle of London and diversity of people, particularly the young creatives. I related it to the #LifeHacks event by adding illustrations based on the event and its target audience.

My style of work is all hand illustrated and coloured, then manipulated via Photoshop and Illustrator. My final design also represents positivity, unity and the sky in the background suggests that ‘the sky’s the limit’ in this creative industry, especially for young people. Creating merchandise was also another asset of my design!

Overall, I am really proud of my work and really honoured to be a part of such a huge project. Special thanks to Create Jobs and NME for giving me this opportunity!

If you like my work, then please go follow my Instagram and Twitter for more artwork & merch :)