Q1. Firstly, thanks a lot for taking the time to speak to A Web Design Blog John! A lot of web designers and developers dream of going solo like yourself, what was the motivation of starting up Lyrical Media?

Well let me firstly just say thank you for having me – I’m always really humbled to be asked for interviews and this is no exception!

Lyrical Media itself started off as I think any web design company probably does: I was working full time for another web design agency, and I wanted to start freelancing on the side to make some extra money, and get some more experience. I did that for about a year before deciding to make the big decision, which was to leave full time employment and make Lyrical Media my primary source of income.

The motivation behind the big leap into self-employment was very simple – I hated who I was working for, and I’ve always had big ambitions of running my own company!

The man himself

Q2. You’ve been running Lyrical Media for around a year now, what’s been the highest and lowest point of running your own business?

Excellent question, I’ll start with the lowest point which was about 6 months in. I got landed with a client who wanted an ecommerce site overhaul – they were difficult from the very start, but I ignored the warning signs and took on the work anyway. It was 2 months of work, and to cut along story short the only money I ever got was the initial 25% deposit. That project totally consumed my 2 month “buffer” cash that I had saved up, and the business very nearly went under. The worst part was that I didn’t have the money to take them to court – so I definitely learned my lesson there, don’t ignore the red flags!

As for the highest point – I’m currently working with Virgin Atlantic on a fairly big piece of work for them, which has been an amazing experience! They’ve got a really great team of people working for their new travel division, and I’m sure they’re going to make some waves in the online travel community in 2010.

Johns company Lyrical Media is going from strength to strength.

Q3. Do you have a favourite project you’ve worked on at Lyrical Media?

Aside from that current one, I was also very fortunate to be commissioned for some design work by international video games publisher Ubisoft at the end of 2009 – which I had a huge amount of fun working on. It’s always an honour to be specifically sought out by any company, but when it’s a big company it’s definitely something special!

Q4. Not a lot of design companies, even freelancers, are as open when it comes to speaking about their business. Do you think this is one of the reasons why people connect with your blog so well?

Another great question, and I think the answer has to be a resounding ‘yes’. I don’t think I’ve ever actually mentioned this in writing before, but the reason I decided to blog so extensively about setting up my own business was almost entirely down to Adii over at WooThemes.

I’ve been following Adii for years now, before he was even “the woothemes guy” – and he used to write a blog a lot like mine back in the day! I remember on post in particular when he first moved into some new office space that both inspired me and made me really jealous at the same time. At the time of course those offices were for Radiiate, his design studio, but those same offices nowadays are known as “WooHQ”.

I’m a big fan of open and honest blogs that might actually help people, so I try to make mine like that as much as possible.

John uses his personal site to speak about his experiences, attracting thousands of readers

Q5. You’ve got quite a following on Twitter John. What role, if any, does it play in your business?

Twitter is probably my biggest asset as a business owner, I never imagined how much of a role it would play in my life when I first hit that “sign up” button a few years ago. I won’t harp on about it too much, but the network that I’ve built up through Twitter is second to none and I’ve “met” so many great people.

When I’m next at a point where I’m ready to take on more staff – I won’t be putting out job advertisements, I’ll be asking people who I know, like, and have already established a good relationship with over a period of time – which I think will ultimately be a lot better than the traditional way, where you basically hire a complete stranger with some crap written down on a piece of paper called a “CV” that doesn’t really mean anything.

John uses Twitter to connect with the community and has over 5,000 followers!

Q6. Do you have any main sources of inspiration for your work?

My answer to this used to be the standard “CSS galleries, blah blah blah” but in the last 6 months or so I’ve really moved away from that. I think the industry has gotten to a point now where the trends set by the top designers have become far too strong. All it takes is for someone like Elliot Jay Stocks or Tim Van Damme to use a new type of texture or alignment, and a month later 50 more sites pop up using the same thing.

For that reason these days I try to get a lot of inspiration from offline sources like print, packaging, photography, architecture, etc.

Q7. What’s a typical day in the life of John O’Nolan?

This really varies from month to month, but at the moment it consists of waking up at 8, getting my girlfriend to work, and then starting my working day back in my home-office. This usually begins with catching up on emails and accounts, then getting into some client work. When the afternoon rolls around I keep going on client work if it’s big project, otherwise this is when I make time to do blogging and any side-projects that I’m working on.

My evening usually consists of catching up on industry publications and business books, as well as continuing to work on my many side-projects!

Q8. What’s been on your DVD and MP3 players lately?

At the moment I’m loving the Paramore album as well as the new You Me At Six album – thought I’ve been told that both of those lower my “street-cred”. I’m not a big one for movies, but I do love american TV series, so at the moment I’m watching a lot of Nip/Tuck, Caprica, Entourage, and Lost!

John's been listening to a little bit of Paramore lately

Q9. Finally, is there any advice you can give to aspiring freelancers that are thinking of going it alone?

My biggest piece of advice to anyone going-it-alone is to choose your clients, don’t let them choose you. Do whatever it takes to get the enquiries coming in, and then pick out the ones who you want to work with. Pitching for business and having the client choose you out of a number of different studios is the worst way to go about it, and almost always leads to problems further down the line because the client is determined to micromanage the project.

Build up a reputation for yourself and your company – the clients who seek you out specifically to work with you because they love your stuff are always the best ones to work with.

You can see what John’s up to over at john.onolan.org and www.lyricalmedia.com.

Question 1.  Firstly, thanks a lot for speaking to A Web Design Blog, we are big fans of your work!  How did you get started in design and how long have you been doing it for?

Firstly I would like to thank you and say that I am really excited to know that you like my work.  I began studying graphic design in 2003 at Belas Artes de São Paulo and since then I work as a designer for editorial and advertisement markets.  However, lately, I have been working a lot more as an illustrator than as a designer.

Question 2.  What’s a typical day in the life of Anna Anjos?

My everyday is exciting everytime. I must confess that I am a “night person”, when it comes to work. I like to wake up late and go to sleep late too. Fortunately or unfortunately this is necessary in our profession. And I like it.

Question 3.  Has graphic design changed since you started out?

The world, in general, is always changing. Therefore, the ideas and the concepts also follow this change. Is up to the designer to be alert to these changes, so he can develop a project in the best way possible.

Question 4.  Do you have any main influences for your work?

Yes. My main influence comes from the surrealism; I have a passion towards Lynch’s work! I have also as references to my work, the urban cities and music. By the way, almost every time the music that I listen to influences in my work.

Question 5.  How did you come up with such an original style, are there any techniques you regularly use?

I honestly do not know from where it comes from (lol). All that I can say is that I love what I do and I do my work with my soul.  I frequently use the nankeen pen for the first draw of my illustrations, and after that I finalize the colorization on Photoshop. I like this mix that combines the manual and the digital work.

Question 6.  What hardware and software do you use to design?

I frequently use in my works the Photoshop to the colorization, always digital. Sometimes I also use the Illustrator.

Question 7.  In your career so far, do you have a favorite project you’ve worked on?

Actually I have lots of affection for all works I have developed because there’s a little of myself in each one of them. However, there are 2 special works that were very cool to be developed: my first children’s book, where I could create my entire universe to the plot and the last children’s book which I have illustrated some week ago which is the theatrical version of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”. Since I was a child it was my dream to illustrate a children’s book; I hope that many more still to come!

Question 8.  What’s been on your MP3 and DVD player lately?

Nowadays I’ve been listening to brazilian songs (Northeast region) like, Nação Zumbi, Lenine, Siba e a Fuloresta and Zé Ramalho. I also have been listening to The Smiths, which I enjoy a lot. I like to listen songs that in a certain way aggregate something to me, and in a certain way makes feel some kind of good feeling, because this is the sensation that I try to transmit on each one of my works.

Question 9.  Finally, is there advice you can give to graduates starting out in the graphic design industry?

All that I can say is that you must always have the desire, courage and determination. This applies to all segments, not only the professional. The current design and illustration market is full of good professionals with interesting portfolios, and a lot of dedication is necessary to work in this area. I don’t even have to say that a lot more than those three items; passion is the key “ingredient” to what you do. If you dislike what you do, you cannot reach anywhere.

You can see more of Anna Anjos’ work at her website, www.annaanjos.com.