“A designer should be able to do everything” – Russia today Publication in CHAT: Russia On August 17 and 18, Samara hosted a hackathon and festival of creative industries, Creativity on the Volga. Anyone could attend an open lecture and listen to presentations by experts in their fields. One of the speakers was Dmitry Sullivan, creative director of Avito. A correspondent from Volzhskie Novosti talked to him and learned the intricacies of working as a graphic designer in Russian online services. – Why do you think it was necessary to organize such large-scale events as Creativity on the Volga in the field of creative industries? – The development of creative industries does not depend on the location, but only on the desire of people. I think that for many creative people such an event is something inspiring. They come to exchange ideas and gain new experience. Samara is a large modern city, there were many studios here that were a reference point for me at the beginning of my creative path. For example, the Turbomilk studio. It is a beautiful city, why not hold a festival here in the summer? – Why are so many people going into the creative industries today? – The fact that there are many people in the creative sphere is a response to commercial demands. They need creative employees. There are many people, but few good specialists, so we need further popularization of the creative industries. The Avito team actively supports the development of the creative sphere and we are happy to welcome talented and ambitious specialists to our team. Together we will offer innovative solutions. – What trends in design can you notice? – A lot is happening in the world of design, for example, artificial intelligence is actively being introduced into work. There is also a tendency to use a lot of graphics, movement and 3D. Every brand wants to have individuality, so companies have started using all sorts of tools to differentiate themselves. Avito produces a lot of graphics using 3D. There are many areas related to objects: real estate, transport, things. And everything needs to be visualized, so 3D graphics suits us best. – What problems do you face in this area? – Firstly, on Avito, each area, be it real estate, goods, services, works or cars, naturally wants to have its own “face”, but at the same time remain a single recognizable Avito brand. The difficulty lies in finding a special approach to our business and clients. Secondly, there is a personal problem. Due to the fact that there are now many different courses, short-term and not only, a large number of people have appeared who make an excellent portfolio, speak well of themselves, but do not always know how to work in a team or argue their decisions. It turns out that a person has created a beautiful “showcase” for himself, but at work he is still green. And a team is important to us, where everyone can share their experience and teach others something. Because working as a designer at Avito is what will move our business forward. Working as a designer or UX researcher at Avito is an opportunity to improve the lives of users every day, implementing your ideas in different products. And also an opportunity to become part of a team where your creativity and experience will be used to create innovative solutions. — Is a neural network a competitor to a graphic designer? — A neural network is, first and foremost, another tool. I think that artificial intelligence can compete with those who do streaming work. But if the task is to generate some original content that does not currently exist, on which AI cannot learn, it will not take away bread. In our practice, there are examples of using artificial intelligence to speed up and simplify work under tight deadlines. For example, in the spring, we faced a large-scale task of replacing schematic icons in tooltips with colorful, attractive images. We turned to artificial intelligence, which generated 1044 images for us in a short time. This is much faster than searching for stock photos. In addition, we managed to save about 350 thousand rubles on images. — What does a communication designer do? — A communication designer connects a business with consumers. This could be the evolution of branding - how a company communicates with the outside world, what it looks like, what its voice is. That is, communication design is communication with the consumer through different channels — illustrations, graphics, brands, product development, etc. — What works are you especially proud of? — One of our projects is a brand for candidates who have passed an interview on Avito. Designers complete test tasks for a certain position, but there are those who do not accept our offer. We give them a black basketball with the brand "Avito Design Team". This message says: "The ball is in your court". That is, even if we are not working very well together now, we still want to stay in touch. And, for example, in six months you can come to work with us again. — Where do you get your inspiration? — A well-posed problem already has a solution, the main thing is to "pull it out". Personally, I no longer have a problem with a blank sheet, but here's what I can advise. First, do a competitive analysis, see what your neighbors are doing. Secondly, get inspired by examples outside your field. Very often people try to look at links related to their field, but I recommend doing it a little differently. If you are making an impression, go to a car museum. If you are creating a mug, go to an art gallery. Or go to the forest – you can find inspiration in nature there. You should try to look around, you will find many solutions. You should be interested in visual culture and culture as such – watch films, visit exhibitions. Little good comes within four walls. For inspiration, I recommend reading Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” and Ed Catmull’s “Creativity, Inc.” – Do you agree with the phrase “steal like an artist”? – Every creative person has a scene when they look around, at their idols. That is why it is important to follow the path of inspiration from other people’s works, but at the same time develop your own language: sooner or later it will be found. – What are your principles of work as creative director of Avito? – Trust the team. Hire people who understand something better than you, so that we can learn from each other. Hire people with ambitious goals and different opinions. There is nothing worse than when the entire team agrees with one voice: there should always be an element of disagreement on something, which gives birth to cool ideas. - What is special about a creative team? - Creativity always depends on a person’s mood, their mental, physical, and spiritual state. It is important for a team of professionals to be healthy not only in their heads, but also in their bodies. That is why I am against people working around the clock. In the end, they will simply create problems for themselves. We must also give people the opportunity to develop - we do not work with “real estate”. That is why we try to give employees tasks in areas that are relevant to them, so that they develop and expand the limits of their abilities. This helps to increase interest in work and increase motivation. - What are your requirements for a potential employee? - In addition to professional skills, we also consider the so-called soft skills: the ability to negotiate, to use “radical directness” in their work. The ability to communicate with colleagues and to defend your decisions with arguments, to be flexible in your work and result-oriented. All of this is of great value. - How old are your employees? - From 22 to 38. There were examples when people decided to change their profession after 30. For example, I was a manager and became a visual designer. But since they had a basic technical education, it was not very difficult to master a new profession and become an excellent illustrator. Therefore, age does not play a big role here. - Can you give some advice to aspiring designers? - Knock on doors! Many times. There were examples when guys applied for a vacancy five times and got the job only on the sixth. Listen to what they say to justify the refusal. Train your hand, find a mentor and try this job again in three months. The main thing is to keep searching until you find yours! Source link Source link
