OH FAQ!

Every creative process is a bit different. But you can expect more or less this kind of progress:

Each new project starts with a free, personal chat (live or via Facetime). We will discuss your needs, why you are looking for a designer, what kind of budget you want to spend, what kind of deadline you have in mind and what kinds of assets you need. I will also ask you questions that help me understand your taste, vision and goals. Once we know we have a good click and all necessary information is agreed upon, we can proceed.

In order to start designing for you I require a downpayment of 25% of the final product price. Once that is paid- I start researching and designing for you!

I will start doing my creative research and putting together first drafts. Depending on appointments we made during our talk I will keep you updated on the progress, and show you first drafts to choose from.

You will give me your feedback on the first drafts, which will help me choose the one right direction to develop further. After I have worked on the chosen direction, I will send it to you for final review.

After the second review you will either be super happy and accept my design, or you might still have a few remarks. During a feedback round we will discuss them and I will make sure the final design is up to your satisfaction.

As I work out the final details of the design, I will send you your invoice. After I am paid I will deliver the product! Easy isn’t it?

We celebrate a great process finished!

I design because it's fun, it brings beauty to the world, but also has a very practical pragmatic side.

It’s important part of the process and sometimes the hardest. Not all feedback is positive. 
But I welcome it all. I always say, knowing what you don’t like helps as much as knowing what you do like. There is an absolute ocean of options out there. There’s no good and bad really, only the question: “Does it work?”. And if it doesn’t, we discuss why, and look further.

The feedback moment helps narrow the options down to the final version, and hopefully leads us straight to the end of the process!

After we talked I will start gathering inspiration. It includes not only reflecting on my own ideas, but also researching what your competitors are doing, what works and doesn’t and why. I will research what is interesting and attractive for your audience and see if this can be worked into our design.

Then I will start the fun part: gathering visual inspiration for the final design. I take a lot of inspiration from past art styles, but sometimes research goes elsewhere as i try to put myself in the shoes of the user of your client. I try to understand what they expect, how they feel and how we can speak to the best. Sometimes I will even do creativity exercises, to warm up my creative muscle (yes it’s a muscle and it needs training!).

Then I put together a huge messy pile of inspiration sources and try to find patterns and connections between them. That’s how I will combine all the inspiration into one design.

At this stage of the process I have found myself through the piles and piles of inspiration material. Now I will start working in the frame of design you need: maybe a size of a postcard, a flyer, or the outline of a product package. 

Here I will focus on measurements, printing requirements, any kind of safety issues or practical demands I need to work into the design, before i get to the “pretty” part. Design is a cherry on top of functionality, so I have to make sure it works, as well as looks good. 

I will then draft three sketches of the visual design, and send them over to you for feedback.

You will give me your feedback on the first drafts, which will help me choose the one right direction to develop further. After I have worked on the chosen direction, I will send it to you for final review.

LET'S ALWAYS BE HONEST

It can happen that what I’m creating doesn’t fit your taste or is turning out different than you expected. 
Don’t wait to share your feelings with me! I learn as much from what you like AND from what you don’t like, so your feelings can help me get on the right track. 

It’s better to spot these issues early, so they can be fixed before a lot of time had passed and work has been done. 
I build in two feedback moments into my creative process, so hopefully we can discuss your feelings openly and I can find solutions that fit you better. 

We have to be vigilant. Maybe our tastes and opinions don’t align. Or maybe you need more time to figure out what you need and why. In these moments no matter how many more feedback rounds or revisions, the design just won’t get better.

These things happen. There are a lot of designer and clients, and if we (unfortunately) don’t have this click, it’s okay to go our separate ways. But we do have to accept that I did put time and effort into research and creative work for you, even if the final product did not get to fruition.

This is why I ask for 25% down payment at the beginning of the process. It is non refundable. 
But if we go our separate ways there are no extra costs.

Long story short: I do. But as little as I can, and only when it's the right tool for the job.

AI generative tools are transforming the creative industry, offering speed and convenience for generating visuals, concepts, and designs. However, they are not a full replacement for designers.

I use generative models to visualize creative ideas as drafts, give custom variations and styling to existing assets. I don’t use it as my primary design tool, because I like to have creative control over my process, and I understand the environmental footprint of excessive generating (and that’s huge, read about it in question 4. Is using AI good or bad?)

AI can be a fun tool to create concepts and sometimes to make design assets quickly however they cut out a lot of steps that make design a meaningful job:
understanding of color psychology and composition, social and cultural context of certain visual choices, strategic thinking, understanding authors rights and respecting other peoples creative work and mental property.

  1. Trial and error in prompts: AI models interpret text literally but aren’t perfect in understanding nuances. Users often need to experiment with phrasing, style keywords, and other input adjustments. That takes time a lot of time to perfect.

  2. Randomness in outputs: AI often introduces variability, meaning even the same prompt can produce different results. That’s very little creative control, and can be very inefficient when you need specific results, like something really fitting your brand.

  3. Limitations in AI’s understanding: AI struggles with intricate details, like symmetry or realism in hands and faces. Very often that adds extra time in editing.

I would like you to know and consider what goes into using the generative technology.

Design and generating assets have dramatically different environmental footprint. AI image generation is energy-intensive mostly because of server-side processing. While it can seem to be efficient for users, the underlying infrastructure dramatically increases its energy footprint in ways that are invisible to us directly. Designing, photography, videography on the other hand rely on localized power use, which is comparatively lower in energy demands.

Let’s compare designing and generating energy use  to something familiar, like running a laundry machine. A standard washing machine cycle (front-loading, energy-efficient model) consumes approximately 0.5-1 kWh per load, depending on the settings and water temperature.

TaskEnergy ConsumptionEquivalent in Laundry Loads
AI Image Generation (1 hour)10-50 kWh10-50 loads of laundry
Photography + Editing (1 hour)0.3-0.6 kWh~0.5-1 load of laundry
Designing Graphics (1 hour)0.15-0.4 kWh~0.25-0.8 loads of laundry

Generating images with AI for an hour has a significant energy impact, comparable to doing 10-50 loads of laundry. This highlights the energy-intensive nature of the server infrastructure supporting AI tools. Tasks like photography or graphic design, being more localized, equate to fewer laundry loads, typically under one load per hour.

For speed and ideation, AI generation excels. I can create drafts or inspiration boards quickly. For highly polished, customized results, AI generation often complements manual work rather than replacing it, leading to a combined workflow where tweaking and editing remain key. When you are using AI generative models just for fun, or for quick social media content, ask yourself:  Is it worth the energy, money and computing power? You might not feel the effects of it right now, but trust me.

The bill is coming.

"To be honest first of all, I'm selfish. And I know that working with people makes me grow as a person and learn the fastest."

AI can replace people, only when we stop seeing the value in human contact and human experience. Life should be a bunch of interesting experiences that make us better.
Designing is an experience, creating is an experience, modelling is an experience. Working together creates connections between people and helps them understand each other. Talking, planning, going through a challenge of organizing something and seeing it through. Those are extremely important parts of life and of work.
Writing a prompt and getting a pretty result (as much as sometimes is handy) is not all that.

Even more interestingly – it is proven to be experienced by the audience too.

Studies have shown that experiencing live art—witnessing the creative process firsthand or seeing something created by a human being—evokes a deeper emotional response. This connection stems from our innate ability to empathize with others, to feel the energy and effort of creation, and to value the unrepeatable magic of a shared moment.

When I create videos and photos, I aim to capture this essence: the authenticity of real people, their emotions, and the unique energy that flows when we collaborate. Every project becomes a shared experience, a meeting of minds and hearts that infuses the work with a sense of purpose and humanity.

This is something no algorithm can replicate.

To be honest first of all, I’m selfish. And I know that working with people makes me grow as a person and learn the fastest. So I would never give that up for more “efficiency”.

For me, art is about more than just the final image or frame. It’s about the journey of creating it together. 
That’s why I work with people, and for people. The outcome is just a cherry on top. 

Because what we create together is not just a piece of art, it’s a story, a memory, and an experience that speaks to the soul, as well for the makers, models, production team, as for the viewer after. Even with all its bumps and bruises, I believe it’s what being alive feels like. 

So let's make human work, in human conditions, for other humans to enjoy!

Need answers ASAP?

Reach out and let me answer any questions you might have:

I NEED ANSWERS!