Working in Digital Media Week 8
This week, we again studied the videos in place of a college lecture. Simon Legano features in one the creative videos made by Lynda.com. Simon, an Italian designer from Rome, is the founder of Tokidoki, a Japanese inspired lifestyle brand.
The son of a painter mother, I guess creativity is in his genes! After a friend of his brothers introduced him to design software, he went to design school and never stopped sketching… With a bit of luck his personal website was seen by a couple in LA and after becoming business partners his portfolio was transformed into a worldwide brand!
His style is all Japanese inspired…it kind of has a Manga-esque/Pokemon type feel to it… all cutesy colourful characters! His advice on getting ahead in the design world is to always keep improving, continue developing ideas, stay humble, make compromises and just keep working (Remembering to be aware of the competition and that there is always someone better)!
He always travels with sketch books although sketching could be on the back of a napkin or book – inspiration could come at any time or from anything… Actually, the inspiration for one of his ranges was a cactus he noticed when relaxing one day in the sunshine… this led him to design a range of friends (best sellers!!!), dressed in cactus suits for protection! ) His designs are constantly evolving, even from a year ago they have become much more colourful and funky!
A selection of Tokidoki designs!
Simon then spoke of his typical design process. Following an initial sketch, the images are imported into the computer using his iPhone (for quickness). Starting with the Pen tool and mouse, outlines are traced using bezier curves. Some designs are started straight in illustrator but more complex designs begin life as a sketch. Once the outlines are complete, Simon moves onto colour and shape. Stroke weight is very important, as well as line ends… some might be done with a round cap etc. After the basics are completed and basic shapes are in place he plays with details and shades…. Grouping and arranging etc.
Beginning the design process!
When a design is ready for production, care must be taken to ensure the colour palette is correct. Sometimes he is given a limited palette, in that case a handy tip he gave was to just create a temporary swatch at the side of his workspace. Actually that was a simple yet brilliant tip to me, I usually end up opening a palette in separate window which just complicates things and is so bloody annoying to toggle back and forth from!
For something like a 3D model the design process would be a little more complicated…For a toy, he would provide the toy maker the character from different perspectives, approve the mould, then design the packaging. This would probably be the biggest job because not only is whatever relevant info added but bar codes and all that legal jargon!
Tokidoki Cactus friends
In the future Simon would like to continue developing his style whilst making time for himself away from the computer to do some traditional painting! He probably should as the 10 years and 14 hour days he mentioned in front of computer can’t be good for the eyesight!
A talented guy anyway with a likeability factor and decent work ethic. I really like his designs! Although luck played a part in his success, if he hadn’t have gotten his name out there in the first place then he wouldn’t have been noticed! The cactus character thingeemebobees are class – actually I may order a set, although by the time I find the time i’ll have forgotten. So seeing as I ain’t the best at drawing on pen and paper, it’s comforting to know just how much a design can be transformed on screen. It was certainly relevant to the course, no doubt we’ll be doing something similar in future semesters so it’s good to know the work flow! I’d better get practicing and will check out some more of his work… pretty inspiring stuff!
