{"id":26979,"date":"2015-10-02T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=26979"},"modified":"2024-04-09T05:21:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T12:21:28","slug":"coffee-failure-an-inspiring-interview-with-illustrator-karan-singh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/coffee-failure-an-inspiring-interview-with-illustrator-karan-singh","title":{"rendered":"Coffee and Failure: An Inspiring Interview with Illustrator Karan Singh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Successes & failures are inevitable — we can’t escape them, and we can’t escape how they shape us as designers. To Karan Singh<\/a>, an Australian illustrator and artist, success & failure are inexorably linked: with resilience, a bad situation can lead to success. We chatted to Karan about learning from failure, the importance of sketching, and how to remain relevant as a designer.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Your work is based around flat colours; geometry; loops — it’s intrinsically digital, I would say. At the same time, there’s always the sense that a human is behind the work: how do you ensure that your work never becomes sterile?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nTo me, the computer is just another tool — no different to a paintbrush. At the end of the day, it’s all about what you’re communicating.
\nI always like to sketch my ideas out before heading onto the screen — it’s a great way to quickly flesh out ideas in their rawest form. You begin to see, quickly, what works and what doesn’t. When I hop on the computer first, I often find that I get distracted with subsequent steps when the idea is barely there — I start playing with colour schemes before the composition is established. Before I touch a computer, I like to lock down the concept, the composition — whether it all communicates what I want it to. Sketching forces you to be more deliberate with your choices. Why did you choose that colour? Why is that positioned how it is?
\n\"Karan\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>I came across an interview<\/a> you did from 2011, and the difference in the work you’re producing then and now is really striking. How would you say your work has changed since 2011?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nThese days, I’m really focused on getting an idea down and conveying it in a really simple way. Looking back, I think I tended to overdo it. I’d become obsessed with the idea of more being more — that the more detail I’d put in, the better the piece would be. Ultimately, however, I found that this would only cloud the message.
\nNow, I enjoy the challenge of stripping my work back. There’s nowhere to hide — when you strip it all back, you can’t hide a bad composition, or a poor color scheme, or a diluted message. Everything’s just there on show.\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>There are presumably also downsides to stripping everything back though…<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nOh, there are definitely downsides to it, yeah. Back in 2011, I would spend a week adding details to a piece, but now I just spend that week taking them away. I’ve found I can become very precious when I have fewer elements to work with — I really obsess over the finer details now. Hey, at least the obsession is still there!
\n\"Flower\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>When, in life, are you at your absolute happiest — that point of utter bliss?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nIt’s probably sitting down to eat something that I’ve been dying to eat — just getting ready to stuff my face. And then probably the saddest is after I finish that meal, and hate myself! [Laughs]<\/em> It’s a rollercoaster of emotion, eating.\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>What’s been the biggest failure of your career so far?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nWow, so many failures to choose from. But thinking about it, I don’t know if I would change anything — I would continue to fail, because that’s how I learn everything. I much prefer getting things right the second time than getting them right the first time. I’m pretty clumsy though, so I’m not sure if this was a choice.
\nThis is a really weird analogy, but bear with me. So, a couple years back, I got this espresso machine for my birthday. It was awesome — I love coffee, and just wanted so badly to learn how to use it. I literally did everything wrong when I started using it. I burnt the coffee. I couldn’t figure out how to froth the milk. I’d switch it on and weird noises would come out. Basically, it got to the point where I had done pretty much everything wrong that I could possibly have done. But that got me to the point where if something didn’t go right, I would say “Oh, well I know why this isn’t going right, because I remember that other time when I didn’t do it right.†That’s how I learnt to use my tools too – a mistake here, a tweak there, until you get it. Each mistake has a lesson in it — each one gives you a better understanding of your situation. That, and I wanted to stop drinking terrible coffee.
\n\"Balloons\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>The flip side of that: what’s been your biggest success?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nWell, I’ve got this espresso machine… [Laughs]<\/em> No, I’m just kidding!
\nUm, biggest successes… I would say that my biggest successes usually come out of horrible places: The worst situations usually produce some of the biggest progressions. Learning from terrible situations — taking advantage of them; looking at them in a different light — is probably the biggest success that anyone could hope for. It’s pretty amazing to learn what you’re capable of when the odds are stacked against you.
\nLooking back at the past 5 years, I can think of two significant low points — horrible experiences that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone. Creatively, these scenarios gave me time to take stock and create work for myself. That’s where a lot of this pattern work I’m doing now came from: from my exploring & playing during these times — times when I used illustration as respite. So in terms of successes, for me, it’s just all about resilience: looking at a bad situation and trying to understand how you can adapt and make the most of it.\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Are there any other personality traits that you feel have been particularly beneficial to your success?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nI think it’s a natural curiosity: a desire to do things, and to do them often. That’s one of the best suggestions I would have for anyone — if you want to improve at something, just do it often. Share it with people, get critiques, set goals, aim for things. It’s all about what you put in. I know how clichéd that sounds, but it’s true.
\n\"Pill\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>What scares you most about the next five years?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nI think I’m afraid of not staying relevant — of getting complacent. There are kids starting out and they’re so damn talented, you really have to work to keep up. I want to keep exploring, keep playing, keep pushing things.
\nIt’s also about evolving, I think — if I’m making the exact same work in five years as I am now, I’m not still going to be relevant. I doubt anyone would want to work with me; nobody’s going to want to show my work. I’d hate to become predictable or create work in a formulaic way. I think what I really fear is just complacency: I never want to get to a point and just say “Yep, this is it!†It’s so important to keep pushing. Not just in your work — in travelling, in meeting new people, in interacting with the world around you. I really like to challenge myself to do new things; to see how I can explore things further.
\n\"Baby\n<\/p>\n

<\/span>Lastly: What kind of a legacy do you want to leave behind? Do you want to be remembered?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\nOh wow, I don’t know — I haven’t ever really considered that, I’m so busy trying to be happy now. I’m just trying to make the best of this right now. In terms of a legacy, if people appreciate my work, then fantastic, but I’m much more focused on just making the most of this situation, and being happy while I’m here.
\nI’d like to think a legacy is just a byproduct of being a talented, hardworking person. When I think of all the artists that I look up to, I don’t think any of them aspired to be remembered. They aspired to make work they were proud of. They wanted to express themselves, and people responded to it. I think it’s really important to cater to yourself — make the work you want to make, not the work other people want to see you make.\n<\/p>\n

\n

Conor O’Driscoll<\/a> is a designer, a writer and an interviewer based in Bath, UK. His Twitter feed<\/a> is a collection of excruciating puns and ill-informed opinions on design.<\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Successes & failures are inevitable — we can’t escape them, and we can’t escape how they shape us as designers. To Karan Singh, an Australian illustrator and artist, success & failure are inexorably linked: with resilience, a bad situation can lead to success. 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