Meet Ramy and Krishna from Roundicons.com
Ramy and Krishna are a couple of cool fellas who have been design partners for years. They are the lead designers behind Roundicons.com and Getillustrations.com. We talked about their partnership & friendship, developing new illustration styles, and keeping up with the design trends.
Hello guys. To begin, please tell us a bit about you and your background.
Krishna: Hi, I am Krishna from Bali, born and raised there. In summary, my life is pretty much about illustrations, music, everything graphics-related, movies, motorcycles, and gaming. (smile)
Ramy: Hello, I am Ramy from Egypt. I graduated from art university — specialized in communication design and illustrations. Besides design-related things, I love tasting new flavors, watching funny series — The Office US is running nonstop when I am not listening to music. And I am a gamer at night.
How long have you been working as designers? What brought you to illustrating and making icons?
Krishna: Professionally, I pretty much started in the 2nd year of my uni time, which is in 2007. I started drawing as a hobby when I was only 7 years old and never stopped. During my high school years, I figured the profession that can accommodate what I love is graphic design.
Ramy: I’ve been trained by my parents in all forms of art since I was a kid. Drawing, sculpting, even interior design (laugh). I remember sneaking into my father’s design studio and watching him for hours when I was just a little kid. He would give me a small space on the side, explain the concepts and theories and then let me draw. I worked in branding and UI design as soon as I graduated, then switched to icon design and finally back to my passion, illustration.
I love visualizing things, imagine a lot of things just draw themselves in my world. I can’t explain it, but it is like when someone tells you a story, and you just visualize it in your head as if it was a drawn storyboard. Call me crazy, but this is the reason why I do what I do. So far, we’ve never lost a client and rarely made a revision.
“The second a client speaks and describes what they want, the idea is already formed in my head- the style is defined. The only thing left is to execute it.”
How did you get to starting your own product?
Ramy: Before starting Roundicons.com, I was a partner in a web design company in Egypt, I got tired of dealing with clients on a daily basis. It was pretty challenging in a country that doesn’t have the web design culture in it. I decided to leave my position and put all my energy into creating a product that can provide me with enough income to survive. And look at that — 9 years later that is all I do and am happy!
So, is design the main source of income for both of you?
Krishna: Yes, but I also play some music in between and get paid.
Oh, cool! What do you play?
Krishna: Since junior high, I’ve been playing music, started with guitar, and then bass, then drum, and then back to bass. About 3–4 years ago, I joined a band called NAVICULA as a bass player. Our music has a grunge rock undertone, but it’s combined with many other genres of sound, such as ethnic, psychedelic, alternative, progressive, and straightforward rock. The band’s lyrics are heavy with activism messages of Peace, Love, and Freedom.
Ramy: Yes, Right now I only work on Roundicons.com and Getillustrations.com, soon there will be another exciting project, “Mason X” in the making with Scott Lewis, a super good friend. I guess you know him by his work in Iconfinder. It will be an icon and illustrations management software/plugin.
How long have you been working together?
Krishna: If I remember correctly, probably it began in 2014. I was starting in Roundicons.com and then moved forward to jam on Getillustrations.com,
Ramy: Holy S**t, it’s already been 7 years! Krishna and I have a special bond. It’s not about work. We started professionally, but then we became friends. For the past years, I’ve been visiting him in Bali every year at least twice, and we stay in touch almost daily.
Krishna, do you also create graphics by yourself or only in cooperation with Ramy?
Krishna: Just with Ramy and when needed, some graphics for the band and sometimes personal artwork on my Behance.
Ramy: His drawings for the album covers of the band are just insane!
How have you found each other? (Being you are both from opposite ends of the world.)
Krishna: It started from my Behance account, Ramy contacted me when he was in Bali, we met, did a couple of tests, and now, our marriage survived the test of time. (smile)
Ramy: Two years after the initial release of Roundicons.com I had enough income to expand the team, and I needed someone with vision and passion. I was stunned by how artistic people in Bali are! They are artists by nature- trust me. I found Krishna on Behance, we met to talk, and since then, we are together.
Ramy: “I would go and spend a few months in Bali. We would just have these amazing mornings when we sit together and jam on illustrations and icons, joking and drinking while creating new styles.”
You’re partners in Roundicons.com and Getillustrations.com. What’s the story behind these two? How did they begin and where are they now?
Ramy: The goal was to create a living by making design assets and earning royalties for selling them. I didn’t expect it to become my only source of income. It was a risk, but I am really happy I did it. Roundicons.com started back in the days when there were not many gigantic icon packs as we see now. We hit the market with our first pack, which was 2,000 icons, and that was really a big pack back then. I remember Vitaly from Smashing Magazine got really excited about it and started sharing it, and then the project boomed!
How did you get from Roundicons.com to Getillustrations.com?
Ramy: After few years of working with Krishna, I was 100% sure that he’s the one I should rely on and develop the next project with him, we became really close friends who share a ton of interests and enjoy what we’re doing together. The icon market became oversaturated, and we noticed increased requests for custom illustrations. We decided to invest our time of two years to create a library of illustrations, and we only released it when it reached four thousand illustrations. At this time, I asked Krishna to become a partner in Getillustrations.com. Now, we’re standing at almost 9 thousand illustrations with more coming.
They are both very successful projects. What would you say was the key to achieve that?
Krishna: The key is Ramy’s patience and a lot of coffee. (smile)
Ramy: Patience, persistence, and the most important- watching the market. Predicting trends, and sometimes getting to start a trend. I spend at least 1 hour every day watching what other designers are doing, what big brands around the world are using to promote their business, and how things are going to shift. The key to succeeding is reading these signs to ride the wave when it starts, not in the middle. To be seen at this very moment when a trend is being set.
A hint on what’s coming next: 3D illustrations mixed with 2D drawings and flat patterns, this is happening, and you’ll see it very soon in the market.
Ramy: From within the business, trust and flexibility are something that should exist between people working on one project. We don’t log time, we don’t work all day. We just do what we love, so it is done with passion.
What’s the process behind creating your illustrations? How do you divide it between you two? Do you have a system in place?
Ramy: No rules here. Sometimes, I sketch something and share it and then we talk. Sometimes, Krishna says “I have an idea, I want to make this or that”, and something amazing pops. Even when the whole design team is working with us, we usually give them just inspiration and guides and let them work. Then we sit and discuss, pointing out some improvements if needed. It all works in harmony, and we’re really blessed to have this fantastic atmosphere we currently have in our projects.
Your illustrations families are huge- hundreds of illus. How do you find/build your illustration style for a new pack? Where do you get the inspiration from?
Krishna: The inspiration comes from anywhere, it can be from movies, artworks, animations, album cover, shirt, elements in nature, pretty much anywhere. The most memorable for me personally was ZIMA. It’s inspired by one episode from a Netflix series Love, Death & Robots. The episode is called ZIMA BLUE. The story from it was very captivating and thought-provoking and featured one specific blue color. We used this blue as the primary color for the pack palette, and I am still in love with it, maybe because of the name, probably because of the story, but definitely because of the color.
Ramy: A lot of the styles that we do are coming from our own imagination and are just inspired by a certain style that we try to bend to our own rules and create something unique out of it. Every time we think “hey we did all styles that are possible”, something new happens to exist. You gotta watch the market. The possibilities are endless when it comes to illustrations. You can mix styles together, change in anatomy, introduce different patterns, brushes, gradients, etc. Really, there are millions of possibilities!
What would be your piece of advice for creating good illustrations?
Krishna: “Don’t stop. If you started something, finish it, and you will grow from there.”
Ramy: “Explore, draw without being attached to your first artwork. You can make a hundred of drafts to reach one amazing piece.”
What’s your current favorite technique or technology to use in your design? Or what was the last thing you got “obsessed with”?
Krishna: I always have been a tablet guy (Wacom), and I don’t think I plan to move to other tools anytime soon.
Ramy : Well, thank God for Adobe illustrator on iPad!! I cannot use Wacom like Krishna — I need to see what I am drawing. Because of this I used to draw on paper first, but now iPad is the thing. I just hope they introduce brushes on Adobe illustrator iPad version. Adobe, Come on!
What was the most challenging project you’ve ever worked on? Or the most exciting one?
Krishna: Some custom jobs can be challenging. The reason can be many things, and trying to come up with a new style for a pack is always the most exciting time.
Ramy: Challenging? Hmm, I remember one illustrations project for “Google Business” that was hard. Not because of the communication but the number of illustrations we did and the time we had to do it in! The most exciting one is Getillustrations.com — this is our love child! I can’t get enough of it! You have no idea how it feels to be creating a new style. I just wake up in the morning and sit refreshing my inbox, waiting to see the results of what we discussed and what we’re working on.
What do you do when you are not illustrating?
Krishna: Music, movies, games, motorcycle. I’m super grateful that Ramy had always supported me when we went on long tours with my band or were making records, and shooting clips. He gave me all the time and energy to create both music and visual art, and I really appreciate that.
Ramy: Travel! I soooo miss that. And then gaming and cooking.
What games do you play?
Ramy: Well, plenty of games. Mostly online MMOs — I spent thousands of hours in Last Oasis, Ark survival, and now I’m beta testing Amazon’s upcoming game New World. Getting ready for the launch on September 28th- I am super-hyped about that!
What’s the last place you traveled to? And the favorite place you’ve ever visited?
Krishna: The last place was Germany, and my favorite is Japan — it’s BOMB!!!
Ramy: The last place was Albania. That’s a pretty beautiful country and my favorite place on earth is Bali, Indonesia. I dream of moving there!
Krishna recommends
Never forget to: Breathe.
A blog worth following: 9gag
Book worth reading: Any menu in a good restaurant.
Music to listen to while working: Bon Iver, Kultiration, Lamb of God and when you tired of singing- Hammock.
Ramy recommends:
Never forget to: Enjoy life
Blog worth following: It’s Nice That; Design Week; The Onion
Book worth reading: I agree with Krishna on that- a restaurant menu! Or a cooking book!
Music to listen to while working: palmtherapysounds.com; I can’t recommend these Lebanese guys enough! It’s not a band but they magically bend all songs to get their magical oriental mood and create great remixes and mashes. Insane eargasm inspiration tracks!
As for bands : The XX, the weekend and Coldplay, Coldplay, Coooldplay! (singing voice)
Bonus: You can play with Ramy! Discord: RamyW (Ramy)#9950
Check out Roundicons.com Iconfinder profile where you can find all icons and illustrations by Ramy and Krishna.
Roundicons.com team just released a set of avatars called PeePs, which you can buy as NFT.
