Interview With Designer Rob Palmer From Branded07

By Web Design | 5 comments | Interviews | Tags: Branded07, Branded07 Design, Branded07 Interview, Branded07 Rob Palmer, Design Interview, Graphic Design Newcastle, Rob Palmer, Rob Palmer Designs, Rob Palmer Interview, Web Design Newcastle

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Today I have interviewed an amazing graphic designer called Rob Palmer. Rob has his own very uniquely designed website (branded07), compared to many other web design portfolio’s and blog’s out there today. His website is featured on many design galleries, and he scored number 20 in our 30 Most Influential People In Web Design post at the beginning of the month.

Did you study anything when you were younger?

I took Art, Design Technology and Computing at GCSE along with my other subjects!

What interests you in the web and graphic design industry?

New trends and design ideas. The fact that I am in one of the fastest moving and growing industries and also making my own mark in my industry.

How did you come up with the name Branded07?

I originally wanted to call my site ‘Branded’ but the domain was obviously taken! And it was the year 2007! I know, pretty un-inspirational!

Branded07 has a very unique and elegant design. What inspired you, how long did the design process take, and why puffins?

The design process went through about 12 different re-designs and took approximately 3/4 year to finally settle on one of the designs. (Far to long I know!) And why Puffins?! Well I have always loved to draw and sketch animals, and in about 11 out of the 12 different branded designs I included some form of animal mascot, 9 out of those 11 were birds. I have always loved the Puffin, so unique, vibrant and subtly fearless, yet quirky and fun. This is the way I wanted to portray my work.

Forget online inspiration. What inspires you away from the PC?

I love taking day trips into the hills or to the beach with my wife and dog, I enjoy the gym and love my city (Newcastle) It holds such a great atmosphere and has so many amazing architectural masterpieces. I also love to play the guitar (but time is my worst enemy for that one!)

Is there anything that annoys you with web design?

Internet Explorer 6! (You have to work in the industry to get that one!) Also badly built websites, not so much badly designed visually, but there is no excuse for bad coding.

Branded07 is not just your portfolio, its a place where you blog and post design tutorials. What is the future for Branded07 and where do you see it heading?

I have recently posted an article about the future of B07. I feel it has served its purpose over the last couple of years and has done me proud! I am planning on re-visiting the design and a possible re-brand of the site is around the corner! I have a few people lined up already who have agreed to act as my visual guinea pigs for testing out some ideas, so this will hopefully start rolling out back end of 2009 ready for 2010!

Have you got any advice for the readers of WebDesignDev?

I think the only piece of advice I could offer is to work as hard as you possibly can. Doing well in the industry does not come easy, and I am still (hopefully) only at the beginning of my journey. The web and digital is ever evolving and you need to be running pretty fast to keep up!