Polly Vadasz is a graphic designer who creates beautiful pieces of work that are translated onto bags, phonecases, stickers and amongst other things. I own her “This bag contains’ tote and the phone case with triangles on it. She is someone who works super hard to get her brand out there and I really admire how she is able to do this. She is the same age as me and has been able to set up her own successful business. She has collaborated with Youtubers and always seems to have some exciting project on the go! I caught up with her to learn more about how she works and how she feels about starting University.
What made you start your business? How has this impacted your life?
I started it up for fun, when someone on Instagram commented on one of my early doodles, saying they'd buy it on a product if I ever made it into something. After getting a good response from the phone case I made myself, I decided to sell some to those who wanted one... and so it began! :) It's impacted my life on so many levels. Designing in my spare time improved my creative skills hugely (leading to my A* in Graphic Design at A level *fist pump*), I'm financially stable enough to be positive I'll be able to afford good cheddar cheese at uni, and have met lots of wonderful shop owners through the small online business community!
What creative people influence your practice?
I did a blog post about my favourite artists a couple of months ago http://pollyvadasz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/my-top-3-influential-designers.html and they definitely inspire how I design, from content to illustration style. I do however get a lot of creative vibes from the people I follow on Instagram and twitter.
How much of your process is done digitally/how much time do you spent doodling and documenting ideas?
I think it's an 15/85 split. My initial workings are always on paper, be it a quick layout plan in pencil before I fall asleep, or a couple of hours fine liner work which I then scan in. But I'm very much digitally based. I spend HOURS smoothening the fine liner work, moving it around and colouring. That's where a lot of the ideas happen too, as I edit.
What has been your favourite collaboration/commission?
It would definitely be the banner and phone case I produced for Velvetgh0st. Those fruities are probably still my proudest piece of work! She asked for a bright, summery banner and I think it was spot on. I'd always wanted to animate foods, and it really kicked off that craze for me.
What's been your favourite product you've created?
You're really asking me to choose my favourite child here! I think the most excited I've ever been when seeing a product for the first time would be the set of 4 monochrome notebooks (Life Together, Solemnly Swear, Wavy and Blog Some Shit). I was jumping up and down, stroking them for a whole day and still LOVE seeing them all laid out together. My most used product, however, might be the Wavy MacBook skin. The Wavy design is both a love and hate, because it's SO SIMPLE yet looks absolutely gorgeous to me. I spend days creating some of the designs, but that was about a 20 minute job in total. I'm hesitant to bring out more skins because I want to keep this one on forever!
What are you most excited about when you start at LCA?
I'm most excited about getting back my confidence (/ability) in Graphic Design. I've been contacted regularly over my gap year to design various pieces for a wide range of businesses/individuals, but hit massive blocks with a lot of them half way through so had to give freelance up out of fear, which was REALLY upsetting. I lost the design process that teachers had drilled into us and found it very hard to start projects, not to mention develop initial ideas into professional looking branding. I'm just not good enough yet, and cannot WAIT to be. I miss working to briefs someone else has set!
What is your favourite typeface?
I'm so glad I got out of the phase where I wouldn't use pre made typefaces because it felt like cheating (okay, it's still very rare that I don't draw my own, but I'm getting there). Gill Sans Light is gorgeous in capitals! I had to download it for my laptop, but the app Phonto has it, and I use it to watermark my photos. It's the perfect font to pair with hand lettering as it's so simple and doesn't take your eye away from the centre piece.
What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on... 5 projects. Don't even. They're "back to school" themed and need to be out within 3 weeks and stressed isn't the word. Thank goodness I have Charlotte (a fellow Graphic Design student at LCA, now Sighh employee) to support the design process. It's reassuring and motivating to know that background projects are still moving forward while you're working on others!
What made you start your business? How has this impacted your life?
I started it up for fun, when someone on Instagram commented on one of my early doodles, saying they'd buy it on a product if I ever made it into something. After getting a good response from the phone case I made myself, I decided to sell some to those who wanted one... and so it began! :) It's impacted my life on so many levels. Designing in my spare time improved my creative skills hugely (leading to my A* in Graphic Design at A level *fist pump*), I'm financially stable enough to be positive I'll be able to afford good cheddar cheese at uni, and have met lots of wonderful shop owners through the small online business community!
What creative people influence your practice?
I did a blog post about my favourite artists a couple of months ago http://pollyvadasz.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/my-top-3-influential-designers.html and they definitely inspire how I design, from content to illustration style. I do however get a lot of creative vibes from the people I follow on Instagram and twitter.
How much of your process is done digitally/how much time do you spent doodling and documenting ideas?
I think it's an 15/85 split. My initial workings are always on paper, be it a quick layout plan in pencil before I fall asleep, or a couple of hours fine liner work which I then scan in. But I'm very much digitally based. I spend HOURS smoothening the fine liner work, moving it around and colouring. That's where a lot of the ideas happen too, as I edit.
What has been your favourite collaboration/commission?
It would definitely be the banner and phone case I produced for Velvetgh0st. Those fruities are probably still my proudest piece of work! She asked for a bright, summery banner and I think it was spot on. I'd always wanted to animate foods, and it really kicked off that craze for me.
What's been your favourite product you've created?
You're really asking me to choose my favourite child here! I think the most excited I've ever been when seeing a product for the first time would be the set of 4 monochrome notebooks (Life Together, Solemnly Swear, Wavy and Blog Some Shit). I was jumping up and down, stroking them for a whole day and still LOVE seeing them all laid out together. My most used product, however, might be the Wavy MacBook skin. The Wavy design is both a love and hate, because it's SO SIMPLE yet looks absolutely gorgeous to me. I spend days creating some of the designs, but that was about a 20 minute job in total. I'm hesitant to bring out more skins because I want to keep this one on forever!
What are you most excited about when you start at LCA?
I'm most excited about getting back my confidence (/ability) in Graphic Design. I've been contacted regularly over my gap year to design various pieces for a wide range of businesses/individuals, but hit massive blocks with a lot of them half way through so had to give freelance up out of fear, which was REALLY upsetting. I lost the design process that teachers had drilled into us and found it very hard to start projects, not to mention develop initial ideas into professional looking branding. I'm just not good enough yet, and cannot WAIT to be. I miss working to briefs someone else has set!
What is your favourite typeface?
I'm so glad I got out of the phase where I wouldn't use pre made typefaces because it felt like cheating (okay, it's still very rare that I don't draw my own, but I'm getting there). Gill Sans Light is gorgeous in capitals! I had to download it for my laptop, but the app Phonto has it, and I use it to watermark my photos. It's the perfect font to pair with hand lettering as it's so simple and doesn't take your eye away from the centre piece.
What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on... 5 projects. Don't even. They're "back to school" themed and need to be out within 3 weeks and stressed isn't the word. Thank goodness I have Charlotte (a fellow Graphic Design student at LCA, now Sighh employee) to support the design process. It's reassuring and motivating to know that background projects are still moving forward while you're working on others!
Thank you so much to Polly for taking time to answer these questions! All the best with the new projects you're working on. I look forward to seeing what they look like.
Visit: http://sighh.bigcartel.com to see more of her amazing creations.
Polly is also on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pollyvdsz/
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