{"id":39014,"date":"2016-09-19T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T13:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=39014"},"modified":"2024-04-12T02:52:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T09:52:36","slug":"featured-shop-adrianpelletier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/featured-shop-adrianpelletier","title":{"rendered":"Featured Shop: Adrian Pelletier"},"content":{"rendered":"

As someone who never saw himself having a creative career, it’s a surprise to see Adrian Pelletier<\/a> as one of our best selling shops here on Creative Market. Not only does he make the most beautiful add-ons, fonts, graphics, and templates, he also has a love for nature photography and has a shop<\/a> for it as well. Today, we’re chatting with Adrian to learn more about him and how his journey started.\n\"Screen\n

<\/span>Can you start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and your story?<\/span><\/h3>

\nMy name is Adrian Pelletier and I live in New Hampshire with my amazing wife, our daughter, and a labrador who sleeps in my office every day. We’re located in a unique area with mountains in our backyard, the seacoast nearby, and Boston within driving distance. It’s a diverse combination and probably says something about my personality.\n<\/p>

<\/span>How did your creative journey start? Is this a path you always knew was meant for you?<\/span><\/h3>

\nI grew up building houses and operating heavy machinery through my father’s business. The majority of my childhood was spent on some kind of hands-on project, which was hard but rewarding work. In short, no, I never would have predicted a computer job in my future, especially one related to design.\nFunny side story: I came home from high school one day when my parents were gone and I decided to customize our riding lawn mower. By the time they got home, I had bolted on a Toyota bucket seat, painted Caterpillar-yellow flames, and welded on a straight-pipe exhaust. I suppose there’s creativity in that, right?\n\"me-and-sarah\"\n<\/p>

<\/span>As an artist, were you self-taught or did you have a formal education?<\/span><\/h3>

\nI did earn a BFA in Graphic Design, but the assignments didn’t truly interest me. We were printing on stones and learning other foundational techniques — which I can appreciate — but I couldn’t envision how that education would lead me to a modern career. After class in my dorm room, I taught myself web design. It didn’t take long before I picked up a few local clients and have been designing and coding ever since.\nAlso, I would be remiss not to acknowledge my mother for encouraging me to draw when I was a kid. It wasn’t a formal education by any means, but we spent many hours sketching together and I’m sure that practice helped nurture my artistic side.\n<\/p>

<\/span>You’re the founder of Build Interactive<\/a>—a small creative studio in New Hampshire. How did that come about? Can you go in-depth about what you guys do?<\/span><\/h3>

\nFollowing college, I worked on the seacoast for a couple years as a Web Designer and made my way up to Creative Director. Soon after, I took the freelance leap and have been self-employed for the last eight years doing web design and development. In that time, I’ve completed over 200 client projects and worked with well-known brands such Oracle, Walgreens, Disqus and many others. Although I occasionally hire extra help when needed, the whole business is run by me.\nThese days, my services are mainly focused on front-end development but still do a fair amount of web design and branding, too. I really enjoy problem solving and, ultimately, that’s what good design and development is.\n<\/p>

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<\/span>What is the hardest part about running your own business?<\/span><\/h3>

\nThe first thing is having to wear so many different hats. I always tell people: if you want to work twice as much and have no free time, start a company. It’s amazing how much energy goes into managing the business on top of doing the actual work.\nI’ll also say that client work comes with its own set of challenges. The web industry, in general, is relatively new and I think there is still a long way to go in educating clients on the process of building a website. When most people hire a plumber to fix their sink, they rarely question the method and just want the leak to stop. Web design is different in that clients are highly involved, which is good but can add a layer of complexity.\nOne of my other main struggles is being tied to a keyboard and mouse all day. I think more and more designers are realizing the physical and mental toll that computer work can take.\n<\/p>

<\/span>With high risk comes high reward. What has been the most rewarding thing about Build Interactive?<\/span><\/h3>

\nI’ve always taken pride in my work. I don’t care what job a person has; if they work hard and go above what’s asked of them, others will notice. Putting that extra effort into my work and running a business under my own steam has been immensely satisfying. That’s also why I hand-code all of my projects and never rely on programs, like a WYSIWYG, to spit out generated code.\nI also enjoy the evolving landscape of web design and development. Coding, for example, changes at such a rapid pace that it keeps the job fresh and interesting. Web languages keep improving, browser support is getting better, and the sheer amount of development articles that are published daily is incredible. Few other industries have such a massive community sharing knowledge with each other.\n<\/p>

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<\/span>From add-ons, fonts, graphics, and templates, you do a little bit of everything. Is there a specific medium that you prefer to focus on?<\/span><\/h3>

\nI’m sure the variety in my work speaks to my nature. I don’t have a single medium that I prefer, and instead, I like trying to master multiple styles. It keeps the work fun and helps my shop be visible in many areas of the marketplace. The one overarching theme across most of my designs is a passion for the outdoors.\n<\/p>

<\/span>What’s the inspiration behind your creativity?<\/span><\/h3>

\nHonestly, it usually starts with me getting burnt out and needing to disconnect from the computer. Whenever I’m stuck on a coding problem or hitting a creative wall, I go outside. It’s amazing what a hike in the woods will do for clearing your head.\nI’ve also found that design work is the perfect complement to development. One is more logical and the other is creative so when my brain needs a break, I switch the type of work I’m doing.\nFurthermore, I enjoy looking for design inspiration in places you wouldn’t expect, like old books or even in nature. It can be easy to browse Dribbble<\/a>, Pinterest<\/a>, and other curated galleries all day but there are thousands of other designers doing the same. The key to originality is to look where no one else is.\n<\/p>

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<\/span>What has contributed most to your growth as a designer?<\/span><\/h3>

\nUnderstanding that learning never ends. I spend at least a 1-2 hours every day going through news feeds to keep up with the web industry (which moves at breakneck speed, by the way). It’s crucial for anyone in the creative field to continually try new things and utilize the web as a learning tool — not just for cat videos.\nI also use social media to follow designers doing phenomenal work. I learn a lot by seeing really cool projects and then trying to reverse engineer how they were made. It’s great motivation.\n<\/p>

<\/span>Can you explain the process that you go through when designing something?<\/span><\/h3>

\nI often start in Photoshop<\/a>\/Illustrator<\/a> on my iMac or I’ll use the Procreate app<\/a> on my iPad Pro. Not beginning with paper and pen is typically seen as a no-no amongst designers, but I’ve always disagreed with that mentality. A tablet or computer is a tool, no different than a sketchbook, and it all comes down to how you choose to use them. I find that I can do everything from quick mockups to final renders all in digital format.\n

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<\/span>What’s your most favorite project so far and why?<\/span><\/h3>

\nProbably my Retro Industrial Logos series (Volume 1<\/a> and Volume 2<\/a>). I love looking at old branding and wanted to recreate that rugged, vintage feel.\nAs far as other projects I admire on Creative Market, all of Jeremy Vessey’s<\/a> work is outstanding. He’s really nailed down the rustic, outdoorsy style.\n<\/p>

<\/span>Do you have any exciting projects that’s currently in the works?<\/span><\/h3>

\nThe latest hobby I’ve been teaching myself is time-lapse and astrophotography. In fact, I started a separate Creative Market account just for photos and videos called Nature and Astrophotography<\/a>.\nThere’s something mesmerizing about aiming your camera at the night sky and seeing the Milky Way light up your viewfinder. I was fortunate enough to capture the Aurora Borealis a couple times, which is an amazing experience. Here are a couple videos from those spectacular nights:\n<\/p>