Five Questions with Calvin Lee of Mayhem Studios
So who’s Calvin Lee? If you’re a designer who’s into social media then you really ought to know…
He’s Principal & Creative Director of Mayhem Studios, an award-winning design firm located in Los Angeles, California, developing identity and brand recognition for the business sector across the United States. He also serves on the Creative Latitude Management Team and boasts a twitter following currently pushing the 20K mark. If that’s not enough then Mr Lee also features in the new book by Steve Gordon jnr titled 100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers: Insider Secrets for Working Smart & Staying Creative.
Calvin recently took time out from creating identity and branded collateral pieces, annual reports, brochures, logo design, advertising and interactive web sites to share his thoughts and experience with Web Designer magazine. Thanks Calvin.
Links
http://www.mayhemstudios.com/
http://twitter.com/mayhemstudios
http://www.mayhemstudios.com/blog
Creative Latitude Management Team
100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers: Insider Secrets for Working Smart & Staying Creative
Describe yourself in five words?
Spiky haired designer with Twitter addiction
Which design tool makes the biggest contribution to your creative output and why?
Photoshop is the most used in my creative process. The reason: I’m able to quickly and easily layout a design in a rather short amount of time. The tools within Photoshop are incredible. The ability to restack the layer order, non-destructive filters and effects. Photoshop also has the ability to drop in vector graphics without losing quality. Making changes are a breeze, really speeds up my process.
Tell us what you consider to be the most useful technique in the design/development process?
I always start any project with research, more information the better. Then sketch out small quick thumbnails of my ideas with pen and paper. This really helps me with developing the concepts and layout. I use a pen, so I can’t erase. The point is to explore, as many ideas as possible and not having to worry about how it looks. Once I have the concept nailed down. I jump on the computer.
Web creatives love designer fonts. What’s your favourite and why?
Avant Garde has been my favorite font since I was in college. It has remained my favorite to this day. Avant Garde is elegant, classic and clean. I also like how it’s a bit wider then most fonts, it gives you a much better readability.
What is the one tip that you would give to anyone trying to get into the industry?
Networking is one of the most important tools in finding work, clients and projects. Get the word out to friends, family and anyone you know. Let them know what you do and you’re looking for work. Most times, someone has a connection that will get your foot in the door.
Also sign up for social media websites like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Bizik and portfolio sites. From my experience, Twitter is the best way to network and connect with potential clients.
Great guy, always helpful and never sleeps. Though one of you can’t count for question one ;o)
Ha ha. You’re right.
Calvin is on twitter when I come into work and on again when I leave. Considering I’m GMT that’s some dedicated twittering!
Calvin is the Man, Nuff Said
Great Designer and a Great Friend. Legendary Tweeter
Thanks Dave for the interview again. I had a great time doing it.
Calvin Lee is a real addition to the Twitter community, especially for those who are interested in (web)design, typography and illustration.
I hope we can enjoy much his work for a long time in the future.
You’re welcome Calvin, looks like it’s a popular article!
Thanks for supporting us and hope to get you on the podcast sometime soon…
I love Calvin. I really appreciate all the great tutorials and information. Thanks Calvin!!!!
[...] Five Questions with Calvin Lee of Mayhem Studios – So who’s Calvin Lee? If you’re a designer who’s into social media then you really ought to know… [...]
Great tips. Thanks.
[...] He’s Principal & Creative Director of Mayhem Studios, an award-winning design firm located in Los Angeles, California, developing identity and brand recognition for the business sector across the United States. He also serves on the Creative Latitude Management Team and boasts a twitter following currently pushing the 20K mark. If that’s not enough then Mr Lee also features in the new book by Steve Gordon jnr titled 100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers: Insider Secrets for Working Smart & Staying Creative……[read entire article] [...]
[...] Five Questions with Calvin Lee of Mayhem Studios – He’s Principal & Creative Director of Mayhem Studios, an award-winning design firm located in Los Angeles, California, developing identity and brand recognition for the business sector across the United States. He also serves on the Creative Latitude Management Team and boasts a twitter following currently pushing the 20K mark. [...]
Love the article and your tweets Calvin…
This is great! What a nice interview format. We all love Calvin! So much so he’s less than 50 away from 30k already! Keep up the greatness!
Calvin, I can’t agree with you anymore on networking. Dude I really appreciate all the links you share on Twitter and contribute value to the community.
Rock on
[...] The reason I was mentioned in the magazine was because of the Designer Interview I did on the blog, you can check out the interview here! There are also some other awesome Designer Interviews in their interviews section, check out the other interviews! One of my Fav interviews(other than mine of course!) Has to be one of my bud Calvin Lee, He is a great friend and a twitter legend. So check out Calvin’s Interview! [...]
This is a great short interview. I hope to read a more in-depth interview in the near future.
Thanks again guys!
@IconNinja there are quite a few much longer interviews of me floating around on the web. Do a search for Mayhem Studios. I’m also working on a few new interviews too.
- Cal
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