Samurai (yes, he prefers to be known by his DesignCrowd moniker) literally could save your life. But he's a designer, right? Before joining DesignCrowd, Samurai was (and still is) a registered nurse. He decided to switch to freelance design full time after he started winning prize money in design contests. It's a career move that has paid off, quite literally, with the designer earning $70,000 in contest winnings to date.

This designer's interests extend beyond the medical. Samurai is a keen photographer, as well as self-taught designer who keeps a sketch book in his back pocket. When he's not designing or snapping pictures, Samurai enjoys music and gaming battles of the DotA or League of Legends variety. Let's get to know one of our top designers better...

Over to you Art Samurai ...

Describe yourself.
Hmm... I'm really not good at describing myself but I guess it would be: simple, honest, insightful. Another thought I had before that - I don't change I adapt.

What is your favorite typeface? It depends on my mood but I usually find myself trying to use 'Avant Garde' on many projects.

How much training and experience do you have in graphic design? Graphic design isn't actually part of my curriculum in college [Samurai studied nursing] but I was always interested in sketching and reading tutorials online and that's how I learned about the basic stuff in graphic design (mostly Photoshop). I had been in DesignCrowd for two years and that's the same amount of professional graphic design experience that I currently have.

It sounds like an evolution? Yes, it has become a hobby learning a few things from different tutorials and I had about a decade to learn bits and pieces. When I joined DesignCrowd, I thought it was enough but it wasn't so I had to learn about Illustrator as well, so the process of learning is still on-going for me.

Briefly describe your design process. My work starts with understanding the briefing as a whole. I try to see it the way the project owners do and then try to see what the target audience, user or customer would appreciate and then try to look at the center. I sometimes take things literally but most of the time I try to think outside the box. I sometimes do initial sketches using pencil and paper but I mostly do it directly on the computer screen. I go with typography next and then go with the graphical part and then the layout and colors. Everything's done in Illustrator and then when I'm satisfied with the basics of the design, I proceed with the effects and fine-tuning using Photoshop.

Workspace

Who are the major influences on your style? I can't really single-out major influences since everything that comes to my senses partly or extensively influence my style. My style usually changes from time to time. Every time I find a new style that fits me or if there's an opportunity to improve and modify the current style, then I embrace the change and move on.

Where do you draw your inspiration? It may sound cheesy but I think the whole world is an inspiration. I even found myself using a lizard on my ceiling as an inspiration one time.

Why did you join DesignCrowd and what has happened since? When I joined DesignCrowd, the community was young, about two years old and had around 16,800 designers registered and honestly it was one of three crowdsourcing sites I joined. DesignCrowd was (and still is) the easiest place to submit designs to. [Art Samurai had submitted over 4,000 designs to DesignCrowd contests at last count]. The whole staff and crew are awesome and the growth of the community is exponential. As a designer, DesignCrowd provided many opportunities with nothing to worry about but designing and submitting. I didn't have any experience with design contests but DesignCrowd made it appealing and easy for starters (like I was that time). DesignCrowd made participation worthy by introducing participation payments - which makes about 18% of my total earnings and that is a big deal.

What hobbies do you do outside of design? When I'm not doing projects, I'm playing video games mostly online games such as DotA and League of Legends. I'm also into photography and music (though not professionally). Oh and I also try to be fit physically by way of exercise and some weight training as sitting in front of the computer is really not good for the health. I'm also a registered nurse but I put that on hold to focus on graphic design.

Pick out your own favorite design and tell us why you're proud of it. It would have to be the 3P Consulta logo because this is my very first win which made me decide that there's a future for me in graphic design and that I should continue (at least for a moment) doing it. I got ranked as time went on, made it (graphic design) a full time gig, and now I am being considered one of the top earners in DesignCrowd.

Art Samurai's favorite DesignCrowd designers: in no particular order ...

Elisha Leo
Elisha is one of the top designers I truly look up to. Her illustrations and design style is very effective and unique.
ArtTank
He's a really talented guy. I admire and respect his works. The quality is top-notch. He's actually at the top of the list of designers I refer clients to when I can't accommodate more projects or just know that someone else could get the job done better.
Jace Design
Jace has this skill and creativity that all designers would envy, from simple to complex designs he can do flawlessly well.
DamakyJr
In my opinion, he's the modern-style king of DesignCrowd. I like his style and the way he can make any kind of design look slick and modern.

Where should people go to check out your work or hire you? 

 My DesignCrowd Profile: https://designers.designcrowd.co.uk/designer/16829/artsamurai

Thanks for your time, Art Samurai!