From: sirakb@bahlbi.com
Date: Wed Sep 23 2009 - 11:05:51 EDT
Interview with Sam Yosief, Young Eritrean Graphic Designer, ?I was
surrounded by exceptional young and gifted Eritrean creative
professionals..?
YPFDJ Media is conducting a series of interviews with Eritreans youth
who are working to better their community, country and themselves
through education and chosen career. Here is an interview with Sam
Yosief, a professional graphic designer, who visited Eritrea to work
at the Eritrean Ministry of Information, using his profession
voluntarily.
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http://youngpfdj.org/index.php/articles/interviews/102-i-was-surrounded-by-exceptional-young-and-gifted-eritrean-creative-professionals
YPFDJ Media - Please tell us about your childhood and educational background?
Sam - I was born in Ethiopia from Eritrean parentage and lived in
Addis Ababa till the age of 12 years old, then I left Addis in the
early 80s to come to England . From an early age I loved drawing and
making things, I was a very inquisitive young boy who also loved
football and music. My education background includes completing
secondary education and my passion for the arts never left me,
subjects like craft design technology and art class where my favorite
not to forget I also took music as a GCSE subject.
After completing my secondary education I decided that a foundation
course in art and design would be the best root for me, I received a
diploma in art and design with distinction. While at college I had
real passion for graphic design and decided that I would enroll for a
degree course, I got accepted at the University of Westminster and
graduated with a BA Honors.
YPFDJ Media - What was it that got / influenced you into graphic design?
Sam - I could not imagine my self not doing any thing else except
drawing or painting or making things that inspired me. I was always
good with my hands and it was a natural progression just wanting to
know more about the arts as a subject.
YPFDJ Media - You recently visited Eritrea to contribute in your
profession, how was it? What did it involve?
Sam - My visit to Eritrea was filled with great excitement and knowing
it was not going to be like any other visit, I was not going there to
be a tourist or go sight seeing unlike other times, this visit was
purely on a professional level as a graphic designer. I could not have
wished to be in any other place; I was surrounded by exceptional young
and gifted Eritrean creative professionals and found it enlightening,
morally uplifting and full of energy. This experience has no doubt
shaped my view of what great potential there is for our country on all
levels.
In order to deliver the post as a graphic design teacher I had to
understand and assess the needs of those students who where assigned
to take the class. It involved a four day case study and research to
evaluate how best to go about delivering and putting a course
structure in order to further develop their understanding of what it
meant to be a graphic designer and what it involved to play that roll.
I could not put a price nor replicate this first time experience, what
I have gained in this first visit as a professional will no doubt be a
blue print for many more wonderful visits to come in the future. What
I gained was not only on a professional level but on an intellectual,
human and emotional level; it really does open you up to the
possibility of what this great country has to offer. Not only do I
want to recommend this to others but help to make it a possibility
that others can make this visit and be more enlightened and take that
experience to grow as an individual.
YPFDJ Media - How would you describe your work, your style, your
approach to design ?
Sam - If I was to describe my work it would be partly on an
experimental level, always trying to push the boundaries to see if I
can approach a design brief from a different angle, one that awes me
to do what I want but still making the client happy. There is no such
thing as style but there is a final line as far as what works and what
does not work as a piece of design, it?s a fine balance between
aesthetically pleasing but at the same time it delivers the message
with clarity.
YPFDJ Media - What is your favorite part of the design process and why?
Sam - One important concept you have to grasp is to understand the
brief; once you understand what you are supposed to deliver you start
to sketch out initial ideas and take the best 3 or 4 and present it to
the client, once a piece of design is chosen you further develop the
idea to a finished level and if all goes well you take it to the
printing stage.
YPFDJ Media - What tools or programs do you use for your designs?
Sam - The tools that you use for graphic design are a sketch pad and a
pen or pencil as far as programs all you need is Adobe Creative CS3 or
CS4.
YPFDJ Media - Where, or from what, do you get inspiration for your work?
Sam - There is no specific area where you can get inspiration from,
but there are some that I tap into, which include my education, the
ability to tap in to my imagination, friends inspire me, humor, music,
art , life, traveling, books, magazines, cinema, dance, nature, and
culture.
YPFDJ Media - Could you tell us a bit about creating designs and tips
on idea generation?
Sam - The most important part of any design process is to understand
your client and having a good rapport, learning what are his or her
needs, can my design improve his or her image as a business, will it
make him or her stand out from the rest. Once that has been
established the rest comes down to generating ideas and hopefully one
design will be picked to develop further.
YPFDJ Media - Who are your Mentors or people you look up to?
Sam - As a student my mentors where my teachers and one or two graphic
design gurus and their work inspired me to the point of imitating
their design work. One special person was a man called Navel Broody a
British designer that was making big waves in the design world, he
studied at London Collage of Printing LCP, and others include an
American David Carson who was one of the most influential graphic
designers that the United States had to offer.
YPFDJ Media - Thank-you for participating in this interview! Any final
remarks?
Sam - My final remarks would be if there are any young Eritrean
looking to get into this subject, its important that you enjoy
drawing, painting, the arts is a broad subject, and it would be
difficult to know what you?re good at until you enroll on a foundation
course in art and design. It takes about 6 years to become a qualified
graphic designer. If you happen to be qualified in any subject, make
it your priority to share your know how with your fellow Eritrean back
home, its more rewarding than you could ever imagine.
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