We spoke with Owner/Creative Director of Burnkit - Dylan Staniul. Telling us how categories for design terms are out of date, to embrace deadlines and enjoy the pressure of coming up with new ideas. While also how design is not art.
What career advice would you give your 16yr old self?
“Don’t think about your career, 16 year old self.” Perhaps some are ready at 16 to understand what a career is, but I wasn’t. My advice would be to have as many different experiences as possible. Those experiences will nourish you as a designer in your maturity. Design school will focus your talents and present you with precedent and technique, but it won’t teach you creativity. That, will have been baked into your constitution far, far earlier.
What are some of your earliest creative memories and what lead you into design?
What lead me into design was my first visit to a graphic design studio. I was a university undergrad at the time and considering Fine Art, Architecture, or even Classics (history) as a next move, but I wasn’t really sure. But the visit to that studio was a revelation. I hadn’t considered graphic design before and suddenly an entire youth spent drawing felt like it could be applied to something other than fine art, or illustration. It was a good day.
What role does digital design play in your studio in 2016, and how do you apply traditional graphic design skills in a digital age?
I think as categories these terms are out of date. There’s little separation between traditional and digital anymore. At Burnkit, we look to harness the best that digital provides in order to express the brands we create. But whether the applications are analogue or digital doesn’t particularly change our approach to the creative.
What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt along the way?
1. The first and last idea you have are usually the best. The time and energy burnt in between is the price you pay. I haven’t figured out how to get around this.
2. Don’t be afraid to show your process. Let clients see behind the curtain in order to include them in the journey. Then it’s their problem too.
3. Embrace deadlines and enjoy the pressure of coming up with new ideas.
4. Design is not art. It can be inspiring, brilliant, even revolutionary, but it is not art. Confuse the two at your own peril.
At Burnkit, we look to harness the best that digital provides in order to express the brands we create. But whether the applications are analogue or digital doesn’t particularly change our approach to the creative.
What advice would you give students starting out?
Aquire the skill of selling your ideas. And don’t confuse being a good salesperson with selling out. Experiment and find out what works for you. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got the best idea in the world, if you cannot convince others that it’s the answer to their problems then it’s worthless.
Website:
