Matthew Lawson (or @MattyLawson as he goes by on DesignCrowd, is a UK logo designer from Middlesborough, after a quick stint in college, he was offered an apprenticeship at design studio where he learned the majority of his mad design skills from his colleague and mentor, Mark.

When Matthew is not busy working on DesignCrowd, where he's entered over 30 contests since joining the site in 2014, he likes to wind down by playing tunes on his guitar.

We asked Matthew to answer a few questions about his approach to design and how he got started in the game:

How do you usually start with your projects? Do you have a routine or ritual to get you in the mood and mindset to design?

Matthew : I usually like to start a job with a good and thorough read of the design brief, from there I start to develop the basic ideas in my head before shortly moving over to a piece of paper or a note book. This is generally where I produce the majority of my work before taking it over to Illustrator.

How did your passion for illustration start?

Matthew : I guess my passion for illustration started when I was old enough to understand what it actually was! I used to spend hours and hours drawing pointless doodles with my dad when I was younger and I think that somewhat sparked a creative nerve in me. However, it wasn't until I attended art college to study photography that I found my true desire to work in the Design sector.

How would you describe what you do to someone who hasn't seen your work yet?

Matthew : Often I refer to my own work and designs as minimalistic, that style of design has always interested me and caught my eye. I think that tends to reflect quite strongly in my own work, finding ways to communicate information in its simplest form, yet still make it visually appealing, is something that really motivates me.

Is there a defining influence that made a huge impact on how you work? Who are the greatest influences on your creative style?

Matthew : I wouldn't say there was a defining influence however I am influenced by many different designers. One of my current favourites is a designer I stumbled across whilst browsing YouTube and that was Aaron Draplin. He mentioned in one of his videos that what worked 20 - 30 years ago in terms of design [principles and frameworks] can still work today and this is something that I try to remember when working on my own projects, often whilst designing logos etc.

How did you discover DesignCrowd?

Matthew : Design Crowd was a tool that was actually shown to me by an old work colleague, I quickly created myself an account and got to work. At the time I was in full-time employment and worked on projects via DesignCrowd outside of work. Now I focus fulltime on DesignCrowd to work on design jobs.

How do you choose your design projects on DesignCrowd?

Matthew : So far I've participated in 30 contests. When selecting the projects I like to work on, I try to pick the ones that offer the most creativity, almost like building something from the ground up. I feel that those projects give the designer the most reign to express their ideas.

[Ed.] Great to meet you Matthew. Good luck with your future design projects on DesignCrowd!

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Written by Aby A on Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Aby A is a DesignCrowd Designer Support Consultant at DesignCrowd. She is a senior graphic designer with more than 8 years experience and was most recently the senior art director for a private museum in Manila, Philippines. You can also find Aby trying her hand at photography at www.levicorpus.com.