Bojan Stefanovic is owner and art director of studio Logoholik. He is an award-winning visual identity specialist, Skilled in print and digital, focusing on brand identity design for the last ten years.
Designer Interview With Bojan Stefanovic – @logoholik #designerinterview #logodesign
https://t.co/PA1e1e4viU pic.twitter.com/UqsSnG076J— The Logo Creative™ (@thelogocreative) June 27, 2018
He has accumulated experience and expertise from art director positions at Belgrade’s finest design studios and ad agencies which has allow him to take complex projects from concept to design and all the way through to production and development.
Over 100 logos and identities recognized and published in more than 15 international design publications including Logolounge and Taschen logo design books.
Bojan is also a father of two, an absolute optimist.
The Logo Creative – Good to hear from you Bojan and thanks for agreeing to take part in a designer interview
Bojan Stefanovic – Thanks, Andrew. I’m game. Let’s do this!.
The Logo Creative – What was the turning point in your life when you decided to become a designer and how did you proceed?
Bojan Stefanovic – Apart from cliché story about drawing and doodling from when I remember the time one thing always fascinated me – typography and later on layout/visual form of everyday things. I worked my way through primary and high school almost exclusively on neatly designed workbooks. Used to spend my afterschool time rewriting class work. It somehow triggered A’s from teachers, they assumed I learned all that stuff in the process.
That was before DTP software arrived… When I first laid my eye on a crisp clear 800x600px res on 15in CRT screen with shining Helvetica, I knew that’s my future call. Since life in former Yugoslavia was not so perfect in my days, no budget for fancy colleges (or that was just my laziness back then I pushed my design career in slightly harder way – not through formal education, but through working with mentors – from offset print house, prepress studio, junior designer positions at design studios all the way to art director in established advertising agencies in Belgrade, Serbia.
The Logo Creative – What does your day consist of?
Bojan Stefanovic – 60% of the day research, education, promotion on social networks in order to find new clients, 20% brainstorming and sketching, the rest is actual work in good ol’ Illustrator.
The Logo Creative – What was the first logo you ever designed?
Bojan Stefanovic – It was a proposal for national TV station BK TV. Unfortunately, since it was done on Amiga computer and I never made duplicate print for my archives, it got lost. First one that I actually sold was for local print shop “Zogozizd” – goofy name comes from owner’s family names first two letters – ZOran, GOran, ZIvka and ZDravko ?
The Logo Creative – What is your favourite Logo you have designed?
Bojan Stefanovic – There’s a saying that goes something like “You’re a good designer as your most recent work”. In that light, that’ll be my recent work for Alco Electronics which was selected for last year’s Logolounge live trend report at Chicago’s How Design conference – http://www.logoholik.com/alco-electronics/
The Logo Creative – What is your favourite Logo of all time?
Bojan Stefanovic – Huh, tough question, I like them all, I’m logoholik, remember? ? from established brands Apple and Nike perhaps… recent ones, probably this gem from my colleague Roy Smith.
The Logo Creative – Can you describe or give us an overview of your logo design process?
Bojan Stefanovic – It all starts with an initial brief – some clients prefer to work through my questionnaire: some like to work it out face to face or over a phone call. Then comes research phase, usually backed with additional communication with the client regarding their business, idea, goals, market, competitors.
When I construct a decent word cloud of key messages for a particular company, brand or service – it’s pen and paper time baby ? I sketch ideas, concepts till my hand hurts usually.? From time to time it happens (I guess it comes with years of experience) that I got the right one in the first hour or so – that usually leads to a winner solution ?
Rendering is the easy part for someone who spent years working in prepress studios – You gotta know the software really good, clients do not pay me for my Adobe Illustrator skills solely, that’s assumed, they need a working solution from me.
Then comes presentation, then revision stage and finally delivery. I also throw in support stage after project is finished, if some additional minor requests arise.
Here is my full article on this issue: https://medium.com/@Logoholik/eight-ingredients-of-successful-logo-design-project-53947d86e2e
The Logo Creative – In your opinion regarding Logo Design pricing do you prefer working on a fixed rate or customer budget and can you explain why?
Bojan Stefanovic – My first task in the initial meeting with the client is to explain that there is no such thing as fixed logo price. Every project is different. From handcrafted logotypes, minimalistic but powerful icons, through more complex illustrative logos all the way to logo systems. That saying I do have a budget range for each industry/company size, nature of the business. Chris Do from the futur has nice articles on the business of design. You should look up for his youtube channel.
The Logo Creative – How long does it take to complete the average logo design project from start to finish?
Bojan Stefanovic – From 2 days to 2 months, literary ?Every project is different. In my standard business practice, I try to contain research, brainstorming, rendering, revision, and delivery in one month.
The Logo Creative – Are you a MAC or PC User and is there a reason for your choice?
Bojan Stefanovic – Both, but recently mainly on PC since I got me that nice Microsoft Surface book for the road trips (yes, you need to attend design conferences to find new clients!). The other reason for the PC is that I was always a hardware geek, hence want to be able to be in full control of my hardware, which often is not the case with premade Macs…
The Logo Creative – Which software do you use frequently?
Bojan Stefanovic – Once upon a time my best friend was CorelDraw! (got me a nickname Dr Corel back in the prepress days). During my transition to working in agencies, industry standard of Adobe Illustrator prevailed.
The Logo Creative – What is your favourite style of logo design? And why?
Bojan Stefanovic – Every one of them, literary ? If I must, well-designed ambigram is something I admire.
The Logo Creative – What is your daily inspiration when you design?
Bojan Stefanovic – My experience helps a lot (I’ve designed more than 3000 logos, FYI ?) Being an admin at www.logopond.com also bring lots of new ideas from all around the world on a daily basis. There are also Logolounge, dribbble, Behance… Besides that, travelling always refreshes my creative juices.
The Logo Creative – In your opinion what’s the best and worst part of your job being a designer?
Bojan Stefanovic – the best part is that I get paid for doing what I always wanted. Worst part? Hmm… perhaps the known fact that true designers do not resign… they die working…
The Logo Creative – Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
Bojan Stefanovic – Being an irony-loving, tech/science obsessed sci-fi nerd – Douglas Adams and recently Elon Musk
The Logo Creative – Who is your favourite Graphic Designer and why?
Bojan Stefanovic – Erik Spiekermann and Neville Brody – I love typography!
The Logo Creative – What’s your favourite design quote?
Bojan Stefanovic – “There are three responses to a piece of design – yes, no, and WOW!” – Milton Glaser
The Logo Creative – In less than 10 words what is graphic design?
Bojan Stefanovic – Problem-solving visual communication
The Logo Creative – What steps did you take to start your graphic design business? Did you have to make any sacrifices on your journey?
Bojan Stefanovic – Some ten years ago I made a bit of unusual switch – from the (well paid) art director position in established ad agency I decided to start fresh, concentrating on what I call the essence of graphic design (other designers, don’t get mad at me ?) – logo design and brand identity development. By that time, my wife was expecting our first, so everyone told me I am nuts quitting such a good job into insecurity… but things turned out pretty ok. International market was in demand for online logo designer freelancer. It’s a bit different market nowadays, but if you possess quality and experience, and double a bit in the business of design, you’ll be fine.
The Logo Creative – Do you have any regrets? Is there anything you would have changed early on in your career?
Bojan Stefanovic – Sometimes I wish I have more time to finish design schools I started a long time ago, not that I really need them to know, or can learn something significantly new, but just to feel that type of creative energy. From time to time I replace that urge by lecturing or participating in events in local design schools.
The Logo Creative – If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?
Bojan Stefanovic – Always believe in yourself, work harder on your confidence. It is your strongest weapon in the design business.
The Logo Creative – What’s the most important piece of advice you have received as a designer that’s helped you?
Bojan Stefanovic – Two things – underpromise and overdeliver. That kept my client base strong and continuous.
The Logo Creative – What would be your advice for new Logo and Graphic Designers?
Bojan Stefanovic – Perfect the skills, constantly learn and slowly switch to 3D, VR and AR ? – the future of graphic design for sure…
learn more about Bojan Stefanovic | www.logoholik.com
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