Leading UI/UX Designer on the Importance of Design in Technology & Going Freelance
Ionut Zamfir shares his career story and future plans on Squelo.
Ionut Zamfir is a leading User Interface Designer from Bucharest, Romania. He started his career at the age of 22, worked for all major agencies in Romania and switched in 2011 to work as a freelancer. He is opening his own agency in Romania this year.
You work as a freelance Designer. What was your decision to work freelance and what are the pros and cons?
Yeah, I started to work as a freelancer in 2011. I used to work for a local agency before that and the problem with the full-time schedule was that I always had a fixed schedule, I was working for the same projects over and over again. I just felt I wasn’t evolving, so I decided to switch to freelance. It was probably the best decision that I made. I have my own schedule, I got the chance to work with amazing clients and met great people from all around the world. To be honest, I don’t see any cons here, except the fact that sometimes I miss the office community.
What is your view on the role of Design in technology?
I think Design is super important. My opinion is that the design part of a product is what will actually sell that product. I strongly believe that a product with a bad design will be hard to use or communicate the idea behind it.
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
When it comes to inspiration, I always check websites like Dribbble, Behance Network or Pinterest and I also follow couple of cool Instagram profiles, like iOS Inspiration, for example.
3 pieces of career advice would you give your younger self?
1) Start learning design today
2) Follow the right people for inspiration
3) Constantly work on new ideas and concepts
What’s your passion?
I like movies, long walks and creating cool stuff with wood (inspired by Groovemade on the last one).
Your personal goal for 2016?
Oh, I have so many, but the most important of them are: creating a really cool design firm with an awesome team (working on that) and build a really cool product (to be revealed soon).
Connect with Ionut on Squelo.
Follow him on Twitter and don’t forget to check out his really cool Website.
