Welcome to Codes of Creativity! Made in partnership with Lenovo and Intel, this series spotlights six members of the Dazed community. Ranging from different parts of the company, each essay gives insight into their work days, creative practices and top tips to make it in their field.

Ester Mejibovski is the design director of Dazed Print and also works as a freelance designer across fashion and art.

I am a designer and art director. At the moment I am a design director working on the print magazine at Dazed. The issue comes out four times a year and my job involves laying out all the stories, checking photographers’ proofs and sending everything to print. After that, I handle the digital rollout of the issue online which includes a rollout strategy and includes animations. Outside of Dazed, I work on more freelance projects such as branding or exhibition identities.

KNOW A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GRAPHIC DESIGNER LOOKS DIFFERENT EACH ISSUE

My job starts with speaking with our editorial directors and understanding the current magazine issue’s theme. The theme informs the way the issue will look overall. The initial template works well for more classic fashion stories, where I am working with mostly photographs. When choosing the selects from the photographers, it is important to consider the flow of the story. 

The magazine also has a lot of editorial stories covering different topics and more documentary stories. Some of these stories are either too political or too abstract so can not be illustrated through photography and need the layout to interpret the story graphically. My task is to read the story and think of a visual response that illustrates the article conceptually. The goal is for the reader to know what the article is about before starting to read it. My process usually starts with me reading the story and making notes. I then make a mindmap of things that first come to mind and how the article can be laid out. The next stage is the most painful one, sketching. A lot of sketching out the layout until it is right. When the layout is confirmed, I work closely with the subeditor to make the words work with the layout. 

LEARN FROM THE ONES WHO CAME BEFORE YOU

I think it is important to assist different people and try different things to understand what area you are really interested in. I used to volunteer at a design festival during university and learned a lot about what is out there. I also looked into the people whose work I really liked and tried to work with them to understand their jobs and previous work experience. I still do a lot of research, partly because I really love what I do and love looking at other magazines and everything else that is coming out. 

Another thing that is important is to try and do as many different internships as possible to learn as much as possible. 

PLAY THE LONG GAME AND REMAIN CONSISTENT  

I think the most important thing is work ethic and commitment to both the process and the research. It’s also really important to put yourself out there and talk to different people to get insights into what they do. It helps to be proactive in assisting and learning more about different areas of design. During university, I was not sure what I wanted to do whether I wanted editorial design or motion design or art direction. I did a lot of different internships at different places, from a news startup and a graphic design magazine to a motion design studio. It took me a long time to settle on one specific thing I wanted to do and now all my different experiences and things I’ve learned come together and inform my practice today. 

YOU LEARN AS YOU GO ALONG

In graphic design, you will never know all the programs completely. I used to think I needed to be advanced in all Adobe programs but looking back the most important thing is understanding the basics of each program and being able to google the right thing you are trying to figure out. I still constantly google how to do different things in After Effects or InDesign. It is really helpful to learn shortcuts for actions you constantly have to do, whether that is InDesign or Photoshop. It will save you a lot of time. 

RESEARCH IS KEY TO YOUR PRACTICE

Another thing is allowing yourself time to research and to think. When you get a brief read it a couple of times. Make notes so you can truly grasp what the client wants. Ask questions. The start of a project is the most important time, as you need to understand what is asked and create a timeline. 

Having a unique style comes with time and it’s impossible to expect that from young designers or recent graduates, but what is important is understanding what type of work you’re interested in. Whether that is crazy digital animations or very clean beautiful editorial print-focused work or if you lean towards more fun advertising concepts. For me personally, my work has always been rooted in wit and humour. That’s what I wrote my final year thesis about and that is something I love doing the most. Coming up with a concept that is clever and witty. That does not bind me to a specific medium. I ended up going into editorial design but I could have equally taken this approach more into advertising design. I am also definitely still developing my style and that’s the fun bit about being a designer compared to an illustrator. You can try out different approaches with different projects. 

It is also true to get jobs it is important to be flexible depending on the work. Being a designer is not about your style usually, it’s about being able to solve a specific problem and finding an appropriate solution for whatever the client needs. Having your own style I think is more a thing if you’re going down the illustration route or if your sole market is designing music posters – but that is more of a rare job. I would recommend being versatile and trying to learn as much as possible, especially when you’re starting out. Being adaptable is very important. You will find your style more down the line. I think also developing your taste by doing a lot of research on what’s out there including different types of graphics and imagery. In an interview, people appreciate the genuine interest.

BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO 

When you start your portfolio I would begin with putting all the work you have together first and then making different versions of your portfolio depending on who you’re sending it to. 

If you’d like to work in editorial design, then your portfolio should reflect that. If you’re applying to an editorial studio I would not send a portfolio full of motion design or website work. If they don’t get back to you it isn’t personal, it may just not be the right fit. When organizing your portfolio I would start and end with your strongest projects. Your portfolio should be simply designed and have a straightforward flow to it. Do not overthink it. You can also make self-initiated projects to show what type of work you’d like to be doing. 

COLLABORATION IS KEY 

Making a magazine is all about collaboration. Every issue we have different last-minute emergencies. Once we had a brand special shoot and the model was wearing a watch by a different brand and no one noticed until it was the print deadline so we had to do some last-minute photoshopping to remove the watch. Another time we had a crazy cover that had a lot of VFX effects in the background of the image. We had to send the magazine on a Monday but were waiting for ages for the photo to come through from the VFX studio. In the end, it came in late on Sunday. Another time the photographer retouchers removed a mole off a celebrity and we were about to send the magazine to print but in the last moment the celebrity PR asked for the mole to be photoshopped back in because the fans would notice the retouch and it would be a big problem. There are a lot of stories like that when the shoots involve talent and big photographers. There is always a lot of back and forth. The fun bit of collaboration is learning about everyone’s process and craft and putting that all together.