We talk to lovely Russell from Studio Solstice. Originally from Perth he drove (!) to Melbourne and started up his own studio. With passion for both illustration and design he's a talented fellow, with his current work deriving from 4th-14th Century art, this kid can do it all...
What are your personal and professional goals for 2014?
1. Not Die (As a person and professionally). Knowing how much my focus jumps around I don’t have any milestone goals for 2014. My last goal was to drive over here to Melbourne and see what happens, which is basically what I'm doing now. I'm in this transition stage now where my personal and professional projects seem to be blurring together, so I might let this just happen for a while and see what strange goal path comes out of it. Oh yeah, and to read more.
How do you manage clients as well as your personal projects?
I guess working for myself means I can set my graphic design hours, which gives you a 24-hour work day. Which is good, but also dangerous because ideas for illustrations always come at the most inopportune time and it's so tempting to just pick up a marker and start drawing. I guess time management is always the key, but as anyone that has worked with me would know, this is not my biggest strength, but having started being a full time designer for myself, I’ve had to work on that.
