Brand Nu, Radim Malinic

Everything is a Work in Progress

Radim Malinic of Brand Nu is an art director, graphic designer and illustrator originally from the Czech Republic, now based in London. The ideas behind Radim's work are split into three main categories: inspiration, influence and information. Inspiration comes from colour. How can a colour communicate a certain message or emotion? For example, orange is the colour of ambition and success, and is typically used by Nike in their shoe box designs. Influence comes from experience. Experience comes from work and everyday life. Last of all, information comes from science, one of Radim's interests. His talk took us through what he called 'process 101' which aimed to help us form ideas within our own creative practices

Process 101
Search
- Ask questions and look for reasons.
- There has to be a balance between want and need. What a client wants is not always appropriate, therefore you must work on initiative to produce a pitch which focuses on what the client needs most.

Direction
- This is what Radim called the difference between good, great and amazing.
- When you have an initial first idea, do the opposite of this. Try to avoid cliques and not to be too obvious, put a different spin on the 'original' elements by telling the story in a different way.
- Try not to follow trends, develop your own unique sense of style, be true to yourself.

Skills and Knowledge
- This requires an understanding of what makes you different and stand out from other artists/designers.
- You also need to have an understanding of what you are creating your work for. Understanding your audience, the subject of your work, etc.

Meaning
- Creating work for the right reasons.

Making Ideas Happen
- Act on moments of inspiration, you never know when they may be useful in the future.

Point to remember:
"Miracles can happen on any size wave".
"Face a fear every day" - challenge yourself, work outside your comfort zone, otherwise you will never develop your skills as a designer. This will help you to produce more informed and well developed work.