Interview with Roman Vynogradnyi

Roman Vynogradnyi ("RV") interviewed on Thursday, 14 February.

Could you please tell us about your experience as a designer, artist, architect or creator?

RV : I studied at the Kiev Institute of Advertising at the Faculty of Graphic Design and at the same time began to work at the advertising agency and it turned in my profession and things I've been doing for 11 years. During this time I have an honor to work for world-known companies such as Nescafe, L'Oreal, Kraft foods, Philips, Cisco, LG, Porsche Ukraine, Samsung, JTI etc.;

How did you become a designer?

RV : Since my childhood, I was a creative kid, and after growing up, I realized that I want to build my life around art and design field. I started my career at one of the biggest agencies in Ukraine and later worked at several respected advertising agencies which work with world-famous clients and grow up to Art direction position. During all this time branding and advertising was my passion. After a while, I was very interested in technology and innovations that I can bring through the design vision so I continued my development as a UI/UX designer, but at the same time, I continue to work on the brand identity. This experience gave me the opportunity to become a multifunctional designer, so I can develop a whole product design from branding to user experience design.

What are your priorities, technique and style when designing?

RV : 1. Research. I spend a lot of time within the research phase to understand who the users or clients are and what they are looking for, how current process is working and how to improve it. Interview with stakeholders is a very powerful tool that will help you to understand the business goals and give you a lot of information about product or brand you will be working on. Research phase also includes competitive analysis, user interview, and identify user goals. 2. Mock-ups. The next stage is directly working on the wireframing, prototyping and visual design part. 3. Testing on our users and check if everything works well.

Which emotions do you feel when designing?

RV : For me the most interesting phase - research and visual creation. As I mention before research and interview are a very important process. This phase includes psychology, understanding of users, and the creative part, searching for visual ideas like this can look like a result. And another phase - visual creation - of course always will be interesting for me as for creative person. Another the most inspiring part is when you see how real users use your product, how it brings them pleasure or benefit.

What particular aspects of your background shaped you as a designer?

RV : I think that very important to develop yourself in many creative areas - music, photography, read great books and watch well-filmed movies. Be interested in business and psychology, this will greatly help in working with clients, you will see it.

What is your growth path? What are your future plans? What is your dream design project?

RV : At this moment my goal is to grow as a designer, learn new technologies and share my experience. I would like to work on a project or technology that will change our world.

What are your advices to designers who are at the beginning of their career?

RV : Always do researching - it should be your daily process, so spend time learning new design trend, analyze how other designers work. You can try to make a prototype of some of the already existing product - you will learn how those or other processes work in real life.

You are truly successful as a designer, what do you suggest to fellow designers, artists and architects?

RV : Do every project the best possible quality with feeling like it's your own project in which you invested all your money.

What is your day to day look like?

RV : In addition to the main part of the work - designing, I spend a lot of time learning some new trends on design websites, I read magazines and news that relate to the design sphere. In addition, I always try to take a break during my working day, for example, for a short walk, the best ideas often come up at such unexpected moments.

How do you keep up with latest design trends? To what extent do design trends matter?

RV : Of course, I follow the trends, but at the same time, I developed my own style. Fortunately, my style - simple, clean, minimalistic - is exactly what is now in the trend and it will look good very for a very long time.

How do you know if a product or project is well designed? How do you define good design?

RV : I'm paying attention the visual appearance first, and then I go deep into certain details and functions.

What is your biggest design work?

RV : Of course, I'm very proud of my work Ptaha, that has already received many awards, including design. I'm also glad that I had the opportunity to work with many worldwide companies, such as Nescafe, L'Oreal, Kraft Foods, LG, Samsung - it was an incredible experience. But I'm not going to stop at this, now I'm working on the very interesting product, which includes both work on branding, and the website, hopefully soon I can present this work!

Would you tell us a bit about your lifestyle and culture?

RV : Now I live in San Francisco, one of the most innovative cities in the world so I get inspiration from the environment, technology and the people that surround me. Every day I get a new experience, through which I develop as a designer and grow as a human being. Some of the best and most talented people of the world have gathered here and to receive knowledge from them and to share my own it is a great honor.

Would you tell us more about your work culture and business philosophy?

RV : have a different experience, including of being the only one designer in a team and do design on my own, to work in the design team. I try to get into the spirit of the company and its culture, understand these standard processes, their users, and their needs. Many companies do not pay attention to the technical level of the designer due to what the visual part of the product and the function may not be implemented in the right way. Communication is very important, but besides this, real knowledge and experience are more important, so that designer not only talked about tasks but also implemented them and solve real problems.

What are your philanthropic contributions to society as a designer, artist and architect?

RV : Nowadays we have access to a huge amount of information. I'm always happy to share my experience, and I do it through the articles about my work processes and projects. I will be glad to do more in future and share my experience - take part in conferences and design events.

What positive experiences you had when you attend the A’ Design Award?

RV : For me, it is a great honor to receive an award in such a prestigious competition. Appreciate it!

Roman Vynogradnyi Profile