Steve Fraschini
UI/UX Designer from Paris
I am Steve Fraschini, also known as Novagraphix, a 32 years old Paris based Ui/Ux Designer running now as a Freelancer. At first, all the factors which allowed me to do this beautiful job today and fall in love with creative and digital world was pretty simple: Because he is an illustrator, I spent a lot of time when i was child in my father’s workshop watching him draw with passion on his drawing board, my grand father and uncle taught me a lot about computers and astronomy and my lovely mum sacrificed herself to offer me my first computer at the age of ten (an Amstrad 6128 +). Then i built my own PC and played with Flash, Photoshop and Sound Forge at the age of fifteen.
When your friends or parents ask to you what job do you do, how do you answer?
My dad asked me once:
“I don’t know much about how the new technologies and internet works, but what exactly is your job in this? ” Me: “Dad, do you remember this movie “Minority Report”? When Tom Cruise doing crazy things and leads an interface of a virtual screen with his hands? I craft things like this”.
After that, I could better explain him the relevance of my work in the UI/Ux part to help Tom Cruise acting with ease on his screen.
What is your background, how did you train?
I’m a self-taught since 2000. Graphic design and music were both my first love, but I followed my passion for producing music and keep graphic design as a hobby, even equally important butmore in a second plan, at the age of eighteen. I studied at the SAE Institute Paris to get a degree in sound engineer and started my career two years later becoming a beatmaker in the french hip hop industry with one of my best friend under the nickname “Medeline”. 10 years passed, with a lot of rich and beautiful experiences, with its successes and failures and we produced for many interesting artists from France to Italy. Then a succession of life circumstances happened and I started from scratch a new life. I get a webdesigner degree and run in a web agency during 2 years. I always practiced and work on few projects as a graphic designer before, so it wasn’t an unknown field to me. Now, i’m a full time feelancer and i love it.
What the web can do to make this world a better place? How did the web improve your life (if it did)?
The web has opened up considerably the range of possibilities in a human terms, in our relationships, cultures and open ourselves up to the rest of the world. We are all connected in some way today. The world needs to get closer than ever in order to better know each others and to break stereotypes and frontiers that constantly separate us. Internet does it in many ways, that’s why we are living a beautiful age of technology.
Beside, we should not forget that we are privileged to have this kind of tools at our home. Thinking of all those people worldwide who do not have the opportunity to learn or go to school. Knowledge is our legacy to this world and internet is a sort of gateway where cultures flow constantly. It improves and influences my life when i started to interest me about tribes culture for example.
Nothing can replace a travel to learn stories about that, but those people are everyday a life lesson. They live in simplicity and self-sufficiency but to put in a nut shell, our civilisation crushed and erased them slowly (Deforestation, industrial water pollution…). That’s a serious question about our definition of being “civilized people”. Technology is progress, but human life is much more important to respect (I can only recommend this delightful photo reporting by the photographer Jimmy Nelson to better understand what i’m talking about: http://www.beforethey.com/ ).
Can you show us three examples of interface that in your opinion improved human life?
- 1. A hand, for peace.
- 2. A mouth, for kiss.
- 3. A sushi with soja sauce, for my own pleasure (don’t worry, you’ll understand this next).
On quora.com, time ago there was a long discussion in answer to the question “what is the most intuitive interface ever created?”; according to Felipe Rocha it is the nipple, in your opinion instead? (http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-intuitive-interfaces-ever-created)
Nature and universe. Definitely. It’s fascinating how all things interact with each others in space and we are governed by their laws, even on earth all our scientific knowledge depend on it. We can‘t reproduce gestures without gravity force, the weather change our mood, our living conditions, tell us what time it is, the air we breathe… We all interact everyday with nature, but we don’t see it because we are too much focused on ourselves.
How is your work day type?
It depends on the kind of mission i’m working for. If i work at home or at an agency with a team, I usually trying to break the routine of my workflow in order to inspire me in different ways and maybe inspire my colleagues. Since I am freelancer, my time has become more valuable and I take full advantage of my days to better work with my customers. I also keep more time for my side project, an important part to me to extend and renew my creativity flow. So I usually get up at 7am when my wife goes to work, and If I haven’t worked too late (because I like to work at night) other than that no later than 9am. Music drives the mood of my day with a fresh coffee and i usually spend one hour on the web to explore what’s new on Behance, Dribbble and read the latest interesting articles about design or other topics on Medium. I also pay attention for what’s happening to Curiosity on Mars. Then, i’m ready for work.
What is the most stimulating and challenging project you have accomplished?
Actually, two side projects i’m working on: MUSEO as a personal project and MYFONTS for a redesign concept. The first is in his prototyping phase but to sump up, it’s all about collecting and creating your own music library as a “Museum of Music”. The second is an experiment design thinking about create an interaction betwen users and font platform.
What is, among the existing digital services, the one you wanted to do?
I’m actually planning to work with Werkstatt, a french digital agency that i love the approach of design. Their project http://i-remember.fr/ is a platform of a new kind of digital services. It’s a brilliant concept around an immersive experience and for helping Alzheimer cause:
“Metaphor of the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on the brain, the site will disappear if it is not given memories”.
Try it and you won’t be disappointed.
Many designers commit the mistake of starting a project directly from Photoshop, is there a perfect design method? What is your approach to the creative process?
No matter what’s your process if you understand the real meaning of your work and if you pay attention on the quality first. Because focusing on those points can improve your skills but also being seen as an added value for your customers. The experience taught me the importance of essential tools as: grid, good design proportions to organize datas, wireframing/sketching before starting a project and the love for pixel perfection. That’s my tools of the trade and it could be your best design method to start a career. I always keep in mind that my design needs to be useful for people but also pleasant and easy to interact with. Think about the user experience and the background of your customers, it’s essential and crucial to develop a solid work with the right emotion.
The “design” is an important part of our analogic life. What is the role of the designer in our digital life?
Telling a story through their work, because we all associate stories in each things of our lives.
Do you believe it is important for a designer to have a deep knowledge of matters as User Experience, Interaction Design, Product Design, and Front-end development?
One word: essential. When you are working with a dev team, you need to have a strong design background in order to easily be understood and to clearly argument about your design choice. Understand constraints of a project is also crucial in order to solve problems and craft a better product at the end.
In which way do you make a difference between User Interface and user experience?
Here is my twisted analogy: User Interface is “The sushi i’m going to eat at my favorite japanese restaurant”, user experience is more “how are you going to interact with? What is the more pleasant, attractive and easy method to pick up this sushi? with chopsticks or with a Fork?” and must of all: “is the result will be tasty at the end?”. I usually don’t forget a “tasty” product and that’s the same for all products in our life.
What is your relationship with the developers? There are people that have a relationship of continuous confrontation and other of deep friendship, where do you collocate with respect to this question?
I’m an open minded, patient and easy guy to discuss with, that’s why most of the time i have a really good working relationship with developer (even to drink a blond beer outside after work) and other team members during a project. Communicate and exchange with people you are working with is an important asset in our job, and i like to share experiences with those people, we learn from each others. I often describe in every details my vision and defrief after to see if (s)he understood it.
How do you think that your career and job will evolve in the next 5 years?
In a good way i hope. I just keep continuing to be creative, satisfying my customers and pursue my dreams, other than that i can’t predict the future, even if i’m wearing a pair of Nike Air Mag sneakers and talking about the weather with Michael J Fox sitting on his Dolorean. Just work hard, enjoy life and let fate decides.
A famous quotation of David Carson (noted American graphic designer) says: “Graphic design will save the world right after rock and roll does”. Will the User Interface Design save the world, before, at the same time, or after the graphic design?
In all its forms, i see art and design as a “Weapon of Mass Inspiration”. They are both born to send a positive message: to set you free. The beauty of things stimulate and send the right electrochoc to your soul and your heart to become better and good everyday in this world, and both never lie for this reason. I mean, like crying during a good movie of Darren Aronofsky, enjoying deep and smart Nolan’s movies or feeling so good at listening the latest song of Coldplay “Magic” for example, it changing your mood in a good way and you realize that you are human after all with all his fragility. Like i said before, it’s all about emotions and stories, people love to feel good and free with themselves. It’s a therapy for some of us and art in his global form is a culture, and each culture can save the world in many different ways. So yes, because Interface Design is a part of it, it is already saving the world.
What do you think about Dribbble? Is it a good way to get a job? What’s the best way to find a job as designer?
The quality of your work can get you a job. Dribbble is just a gateway to obtain it. There is great job opportunities but must of all it’s a beautiful plateform to share, exchange and talking about design with people who love their job. Dribbble is a great landmark to see what the design industry are working on with respectful and talented designers. The community is very active in a good way so it stimulates me to show my better work.
What book would you advice to a Junior Designer?
I can only recommend two books: The first one is “A book apart, design for emotion” written by Aaron Walter (Director of user experience at Mailchimp), talking about stories on Twitter, Google, their product and the personality they implemented to their brand to bring emotions at their customers. The second one is “The Alchemist”, my favorite one, written by Paolo Coelho, to find the purpose of your life and follow your personal quest.
Always as far as advices: what tools for the design? What tools for the projects management ?
A stack of « Grid Paper » sheets to wireframing, a notebook to bring everywhere and sketche your inspiration and thoughts at any time. Otherwise, Photoshop CC, Sketch 3 and Illustrator CC for the design part,Skala Preview if you are working on an app project and Axure (for team) orBalsamic (in solo) to wireframe for websites or apps.
(PS : Thanks to Frank for letting me the opportunity to speak on Medium. Cheers from France !)
Dribbble : http://dribbble.com/novagraphix
Behance : https://www.behance.net/stevefraschini
