Designer insights with Holger Jacobs

Holger Jacobs is a professor of typography at the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf, and founder of design consultancy, Mind Design. Holger develops visual identities, which include print, web and interior graphics. He has more than 20 years experience and he has been profiled in a number of publications. He is also a member of The Chartered Society of Designers and The International Society of Typographic Designers. So we are proud to bring you the Designer Insights of Holger Jacobs.

Designer Insights - Holger Jacobs

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1) In your own words describe your unique style and creative aesthetic?

Intelligent (I hope), friendly but unpredictable, truthful to the content and the production process.

2) When starting a new project, what is your creative process?

I ride around with my bike and hope for an idea to come. Its often fairly random and can take a while. I am quicker nowadays (and less fit). I also often work backwards, thinking about the printing or production process first.

3) Out of the creative people you have worked with, who is it that you respect and admire the most?

Intuition and craftsmanship. I like to work with people who can 'feel' what is right for a project and don't over conceptualize. I am not very keen on developing a strategy first and then developing a design later. Its often the other way round.  Ideas develop in the process of 'making'.

4) When looking for inspiration is there a particular thing you do to get inspired?

Anything in the real world. I prefer not to look at design blogs. Its all the same and tastes like processed food warmed up in the microwave.

5) What has brought you to this point in your career? And what is your advice for people looking to follow in your footsteps?

Many years of studying, failing, learning by doing. I always wanted to apply for a job somewhere but never had the time. My advice: forget about the career, if you are really interested in what you are doing it will come anyway.