Every designer has an artist or piece of work that started it all for them. For Muhajir, this happens to be to be a logo that he saw on a shirt during his younger years. As his love for typography grew, he started Artimasa–a small lettering and type design studio. He opened his Creative Market shop in 2013 and has become a jewel when it comes to beautiful fonts. Today, we had the opportunity to speak with the talented Muhajir to learn more about him and his creative journey.
Can you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and your story?
Hello, my name is Muhajir Anwar and I live in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. I have run a small type foundry named Artimasa since 2012. I’m quite addicted to coffee and movies, and unfortunately I don’t have any hobbies to speak of.
How did your creative journey start? Is this a path you always knew was meant for you?
I remember the time when I was 7 years old and I saw the ‘Pirelli’ logo on a t-shirt and instantly fell in love with it. Of course, I didn’t know anything about typography back then, I just thought it was so cool. To this day, I still get the exact same feeling whenever I see beautiful lettering or a piece of letter mark somewhere around the internet. I didn’t know if this path was meant for me or not, but when I was in school, I had a really weird obsession with handwriting. I often got jealous every time I saw my classmates’ beautiful handwriting. No matter how I practiced and tried, I couldn’t get my handwriting as beautiful as theirs.
As an artist, were you self-taught or did you have a formal education?
I am self-taught and never had any formal education within the art and design world. This is definitely a shortfall compared to others, so I’ve spend a lot of time learning and making sure I have a firm gasp of the fundamentals.
What’s the inspiration behind your creativity?
One of the advantages of becoming a typeface designer is that inspiration is easy to find. Typography is everywhere: signage, logos, books, packaging, etc. I don’t have any specific place or medium to find inspiration. Sometimes I suddenly find it, and other times, I need to obtain it.
What has contributed most to your growth as a creative?
As an artist, I get a lot of feedback from people around me including family, friends, clients, and customers. Because of this, each and every one of them has contributed most to my growth as an artist in some fashion. I always learn something new every day from them.
Can you explain the process that you go through when designing something?
I always start by looking for inspiration, creating a mood board, and preparing any tools needed for the project. From there, I will start defining the specific things needed to accomplish the project. By this point, I should be able to see how the typeface will look once it’s complete. To me, this is the fun part because I love playing around with words and testing out every combination and possibility. When it’s all said and done, I use the rough sketches as a reference to do more clear, precise ones for each letter.
How did you and Creative Market find each other?
To be quite honest with you, I’ve been with Creative Market since the beginning of its inception. Long story short: someone posted a link to Creative Market on Facebook and I fell in love with it at first click when I saw everything that the platform had to offer. I love how it’s not just another market–it’s a creative community built to help every designer gain success and advance in their career.
What’s your favorite thing about being a part of the Creative Market community? Have you found it beneficial to you?
My favorite thing about being a part of the Creative Market community is the chance to learn and be inspired by amazing people every single day. Since opening a shop on Creative Market, I noticed a significant growth in me as an artist. It’s great to see community members openly discuss each other’s works. Because of this, I get a lot of valuable feedback that can improve my products.
What’s one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
A lack of confidence is something I’m constantly struggling with. If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be, “Have more confidence. You’re going to do amazing things, you just don’t know it yet.”
Keep the conversation going!
This chat doesn’t have to end here! Can you relate to Muhajir’s creative journey or process? Did you learn something new?
Chat with Muhajir in the comment section below.
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