Designer Interview | Anastasiya Melnikova

Today we have Anastasiya Melnikova with us, who has answered some of our questions and shared with us her insights when it comes to designing. She has a unique take on it. She is as good of heart as her designs. You can check out Anastasiya Melnikova's portfolio.

We hope you like this designer interview series as much as we did. So, what are we going to do now? Let's get started!

Hi! Anastasiya, Tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born in the Republic of Yakutia, in the Asian part of Russia. Homeland of Yakut shamans, reindeer, and long winter! One of the reasons I am not a great fan of cold weather.

After school, I went to Moscow, entered the University of Culture and Arts, majoring in "Graphic Designing." Yes, I do own a degree in higher art education! I can paint with acrylics, oils, water colors, and draw graphics.

What made you want to become a designer? Also, tell us a bit about your journey as a Vector designer.

I have always been a very creative child. I still enjoy singing, dancing and painting! At the age of 14, my dad bought me a computer, and I learned about Photoshop and Corel Draw. For days in these programs, I hung around for days and tried to draw in a vector using lessons from the Internet. But I had no idea of ​​studying to be a designer. I didn't even know a word like that. At the age of 18, I heard that my classmate was studying interior design and the idea came to me - I can become a designer too! This was the beginning of a long journey.

I started working as a designer in my 4th year of university, but I started drawing illustrations much later. After a couple of work years, I got depressed, I realized that I didn't want to be a graphic designer, I started to draw a little and put my work on Behance, and once my first customer wrote to me, offered to draw icons, then we switched to sets of water color illustrations, and a year later I tried vector illustrations. And that I found a job in the Department of Information Technologies of the city of Moscow as a web illustrator and graphic designer. For almost two years, I worked in an office and, at the same time, drew for stocks. Now - I am a freelancer.

How would you describe your design style?

Mostly, I draw in a flat style, but I have developed techniques that I like to use over the years. I love working with silhouettes of light and shadow, and I pay a lot of attention to the color composition. I am always looking for a good color combination to look at the picture and feel the pleasure of color! This is my chip. And for me, it is very important that I like my work myself and not be ashamed to show it in my portfolio!

PS, Now I have started experimenting with 2D graphics in a new style for video games.

Where do you find inspiration for new designs?

When I need fresh ideas, I go to Behance! Also, I communicate with colleagues from different areas of design and illustration whose works I like and ask them to share their experience or give advice on what might help me in my work. This does the trick for me most times.

What pieces of work you most proud of and why?

I am proud of almost all the works that I painted for stocks because I made for myself, set the bar for quality, and came up with ideas and colors. Each time I set myself new goals to learn something or try a new technique at work! There are some other works as a girl in wedding dresses.

What made you want to become a contributor to Iconscout?

An invitation came to my mail at the moment when I quit my office and decided to freelance, and I thought that I had accumulated a lot of illustrations and I want to draw more for stocks. Iconscout was perfect for this! And I tried it, and it turned out amazing. I would urge you to join as well.

What are the benefits you have received from uploading your work?

I had a ready-made base of illustrations, and after a while, I was offered more favorable terms. Now I get more percentages on sales! I was also added to the best illustrators on the site. Recently, we did an individual project with Iconscout. I drew a series of illustrations on the topic of VR/AR to order for Iconscout in a new style. It was cool because I got a little tired of working with flat illustrations and wanted various projects! And the topic of technology is my thing!

I also like that Iconscout upload images to the site themselves, do the SEO of the tags and the description - it saves my time!

What advice do you have for future Iconscout contributors?

Make high-quality items that you enjoy! Pay close attention to color and detail. Also, consider the illustration's context! An illustration is a visual representation of a tale. It needs to be significant. And remember to paint on a regular basis! These are the most important things to remember, and voila, you can be a wonderful artist as well.

What would you say about the members and culture of Iconscout?

I've already met a lot of individuals that work on the Iconscout service, and I'm always at ease speaking with them. I can ask them anything in person, and they will respond and assist me in resolving my issues! I enjoy how there is interaction with actual people! I also appreciate the fact that there are possibilities to enhance your sales environment and discover new goals and sketching styles!

How do you see your future with Iconscout?

I'll keep drawing flat pictures to increase my sales, and maybe we'll do a lot more fascinating individual projects! And, very soon, I will begin researching the "Iconscout Contributor Bounty Program" in order to boost my passive income and bring additional potential consumers to the service via social media!

Well, thank you guys for hearing out, Anastasia. You wish you could be a contributor as well. Oh, don't worry, we are here at your rescue. All you have to do is click on the button below and fill out all the details!

Don't forget to visit Iconscout and find millions of icons, illustrations, 3D, and the newly Lottie Animations too. You can even visit Iconscout blog section for a variety of blogs even designer interview to inspire you on your journey.

If you have any suggestions or work on anything, you can write to us on our Community Forum on Discord.

We hope you enjoyed it. We will be back with another blog soon! Till then, Happy Designing!