Stuart Burns, better known as SD on DesignCrowd, is an Australian graphic designer turned airforce trainee, who not only has the formal education for graphic design but also the creative eye necessary for designing graphics that stand out. His hard work and wide variety of design experience shows in his impressive portfolio. SD has been a logo creator for a range of industries including consumer goods, chemicals, metals, retail, consumer services, entertainment and advertising.
SD is inspired by music and art, and when he's not teaching folks how to snowboard on the Australian ski slopes, he's playing soccer or training for the Airforce next year. He loves DesignCrowd because he can work when he wants and it's great lead generation for additional client work! To learn more about SD and his skills, goals, dreams, design process, and more, check out our interview with SD below.
Describe yourself in 3 words.
Hard working - I spend a lot of time sketching and tweaking a design until its right, providing the client is giving directional feedback I can bounce off. I also give advice and consulting on what the logo can be used for and how it can be applied to real world objects and printing techniques.
Passionate - Being a Leo/Virgo Cusp, I believe I have the best traits of both. Creating artworks and illustrating is a passion of mine, however it goes for everything in my life. I love my family and the many cousins I have all over Australia and the hundreds of friends all over the world.
Perfectionist - When I ever I set myself to compete a job or find a solution to a problem I make sure it's done right, and if I can't do it I find someone who can.
Left logo - UBike: Using the bike element and placing image and font together. (unpublished)
Right logo - An elephant food company, so I have made the 's' into a elephant eating
food and also a hint at a carrot doubling as the lines on the trunk. (unpublished)
Describe your design style in 140 characters or less?
Adaptive. When you look at my work, you'll see vintage, retro, classy, modern & grungy, and everything in-between.
Left logo - Scissor Empire: A unique combination of 2 scissors to make a damask style pattern
that can be used throughout the shop as wallpaper and design materials.
Right logo - Shurky Jurky: Many, many man hours to reach this final solution of a vintage style logo,
but with modern elements, spice mountains, country & fitness.
Name your Top 3 Typefaces and why you like them.
I'll start by saying this, of all the fonts on designers' computers, we tend to go with what we know, few are used and many are not practical for everyday use, we tend to collect them and put them aside for later, I know I do. The ones I have listed are a collection of both practical and personal favourites.
- Ageone & Ageone Serif: I modified my 'sd' logo to be sharp and modern with this font and have branded myself with it, it has unique characters, modern and haven't seen it used anywhere… yet.
- Walkway: Has a huge range of styles. A cross between Helvetica and Blair, it has the best characteristics of both.
- Wolf's Bane: Has 8 styles. The essence of Rock & Metal music, reminds me of Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones and all the great rock bands of the 60's thru to the 80's.
AIM: Using letters of the business name to represent the
target market artists: Actors, Singles & Couples. (unpublished)
Name your Top 1-3 design tools/apps and why.
- Pencil and Paper, sketching ideas and thumb nailing is the first step when I read a brief, get the flood of ideas down on paper and go from there.
- Illustrator CS6, the latest CS has a plethora of features that make it a breeze to design quickly and efficiently.
- My Nikon D50, an oldy but a goody. Captures all the imagery that inspires me.
Left logo - Ubuntu: Client wanted a unique coffee logo. Published
Right logo - Alchemy: A music mixing company, using a little cartoon element of
music notes as the fumes out of the beaker. (unpublished)
How much training/experience do you have in Graphic Design?
I have a Cert III in Applied Design & Foundation Studies, and a Diploma in Visual Communication, learning the entire CS Suite over 3 years graduating in 2006. My lecturers during my studies were some of the most knowledgeable design people I have ever met. I continue to apply that knowledge in my designs today. I have been designing professionally since 2001 when I won all 4 of my College's art awards in my final years, then I started to get recognition and client work from friends and family, then expanded from there.
What type of design is your specialty?
I specialise in logo design, it's the face of the business and it has to be right. It should reflect the business ethos and philosophy and capture this in some way and/or be memorable, but most of the time this doesn't happen. This is why I decided focused on logos, and pick up on-going work with the client through consulting and print design.
ANDNU: House-plan elements stylised and made into a font. (unpublished)
How has DesignCrowd helped your design career?
DesignCrowd has given me access to creative minds from all over the globe on an hourly basis. I can get influences on style, font, illustration and anything else I may need to complete a job via the folios on DC. I can view and talk to designers about methods and logos to get the best result, and converse with clients to achieve exactly what they're after. I try to keep my own style or adapt my skills and ideas to a tailored solution for a client, which is why I am picky sometimes about jobs, if there is a good chance I can win or I have a great idea I will accept the invite. I may find that I have been done by another great designer with a clever idea. I am not disappointed by this, I see it as another way of thinking and design direction that can be taken when considering concepts for a logo.
Even though I am ranked #41, I have been on and off DC for the past 3-4 years, so my ranking from #4 has dropped quite a bit, however I feel that if I had made this my full time job, I would definitely be in the top 10 considering the success I had at the start, from winning my very first logo to being #4 in a few months.
Why do you prefer DesignCrowd to find design jobs?
I started using DC because of the freedom it gives working from home, being able to pick and choose work that suits my timeline expected budget, and 9 out of 10 clients are on going and return for additional work.
Gage Roads Brewing Co.: Craft Beer company, client wanted
a trident element used. (unpublished)
Briefly describe your design process.
Sketch the first ideas that come to mind, since I have been at this for over 10 years it's usually the first few ideas that make it in the end, despite pages of thumbnails. Selecting a range of typefaces that work and if something needs to be hand drawn or illustrated, then I'll take a picture with my camera and then manipulate it using Photoshop and Illustrator.
Heroes & Villains: Using just text and capturing the Good Vs Evil element. (unpublished)
What does your workspace consist of?
Pretty simple, just my laptop and cup of tea and a good book! :)
What/Who are the major influences on your style?
Being a designer that can adapt to most mediums and briefs, I get inspiration from almost anywhere, but mainly highly detailed digital art and fresh designs that are outside the box.
Art: I used to love painting and creating art works on huge canvases with a variety of different mediums through college, but have since refined my skills and direction. Maybe when I have more free time I'll get back into it.
Music plays a big part in my life, it evokes so many emotions that can be portrayed in an art piece or a logo.
People: Typography professionals and artists such as Si Scott who is my favourite, I have been a follower of his work since 2004. DC members such Elisha Leo with her crisp, clean & imaginative work and Jace Design who was number 1 when I joined DC.
Where do you draw your daily inspiration?
Surfing the web for subjects that interest me, games, sports or brands and browsing their artworks and advertising campaigns to see the varied range of design direction that has been applied.
Left logo - Lake Mountain: Winter & Summer resort in Victoria, Australia.
Right logo - Sweet Advisor: A website that has a star rating system for a patisseries in the local area. (unpublished)
What hobbies do you do outside of design?
Hiking, MTB (Mountain Biking), Futball (Soccer), training for the Airforce next year and Snowboarding. I am about to complete my 6th Season at Perisher [snowfields] as a 'Leading Hand' for the Perisher Kids Snowsports Program.
Left logo - Little Love Bugs: Kids clothing line, a logo that can made into plush toys and other materials. (unpublished)
Right logo - PETFORK: A cat holding up it's paw saying "I'm Hungry!" like a child, and also a knife and fork. (unpublished)
My Favorite DesignCrowd Designers...
Elisha's style and creativity is what I kept going back to when I started, and talking to her in the beginning about certain creative aspects really helped with what DC was about.
Elisha gave me good logo design advice and design direction, with tips on how to make a logo stand out. Getting to know the client and asking them unique questions assisted me in creating logos that were tailored to the clients. She was a fresh voice to talk to after years of study, and she is experienced in illustration logos with characters e.g. (1) Book Monkey & (2) Laugh TV, and unique type e.g. (3) 3StepArt.
Jace was number 1 when I joined DC and inspired me to really push my creativity. He was also the first designer I viewed in DC and probably my starting point for quality references. He has a great portfolio.
A fellow Aussie that has a portfolio that I love, unique and creative, ideas that are clever and for particular business allow possible expansion into real world objects and interior design. A gorgeous folio, some really great work in here. She has a nice vintage style in some of her logos.
Editor: Check out Jacqui's interview on DesignCrowd blog
Samurai has some really cool stuff in his portfolio, the Achi-Ninja character illustration is still a favourite from when I first viewed Samurai's folio.
Editor: Read the interview with Art Samurai on the DesignCrowd Blog!
Looking to win more design contests? Check out these hot tips now!
What new design skills are you looking to refine or learn this year?
I am actually looking at a career change, so there won't be any new skills on the plate. Since I'll be joining the Airforce next February, I am going to keep on producing high quality work until then.
What are you top picks for design trends in 2013?
Vintage, Retro & Hipster... Quite a bit all over TV and big marketing campaigns since the start of the year, ING, IronFish and various Home Loan companies and heaps of others are using textured animated overlays and vintage style graphics.
Thanks for your time SD! Good luck!
Let us know who you'd like to see profiled in the next designer interview in the comments below!
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Written by Jo Sabin on Thursday, August 22, 2013
Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.
