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As one of the top designers on Dribbble, Jan Martin attracts many followers with his visual design skills. Unlike many designers, Jan is incredibly humble about what he has achieved. “Stop following what the visionary designers think,” he says. “There is no wrong or right way. We need to create our own things and always design with our heart.”
Jan grew up in the small city of Brandenburg, about 70 kilometers south of Berlin. After graduating from the Berlin Design Academy with a degree in Communication Design, he cofounded 6Wunderkinder (literally, “6 wonder kids”) back in 2010. Since then, he has been the company’s lead designer, responsible for the visual design of the popular Wunderlist and the company’s website, blog, social-network sites and branding.
6Wunderkinder’s current headquarters are located on the top floor of a “Berliner Hinterhof” (a Berlin courtyard), with extensive views of the city. The building is one of many coworking spaces that host an array of up-and-coming startups in the “Mitte.” Despite its German roots, 6Wunderkinder has a diverse team of employees coming from over 15 countries.
Q: So Jan, how was 6Wunderkinder brought to life?
The original three founders — Christian, Robert and I — have been good friends since we were in school. Prior to starting 6Wunderkinder, we founded a Web design agency called Innovatics. This is how we met the other founders, Charlette, Daniel and Sebastian. Christian is the CEO who runs the company. Charlette is our finance lady who takes care of all our salaries and operations. Robert was the marketing and PR guy. And Sebastian is the designer behind the entire first version of Wunderlist and Wunderkit.
Jan on the patio of 6Wunderkinder’s headquarters. (Image credit: Leona Hu)
Wunderlist is an idea we had long ago. We have always wanted to create something to aid people’s productivity with a delightful interface. I still vividly remember the day when I received my diploma from Design Akademie Berlin. It was the same day we founded 6Wunderkinder.
Q: How does the design team at 6Wunderkinder work?
Collaboration is the most important thing. We give each other feedback on a daily basis. All designers on the team constantly publish work and give critiques to each other. We are extremely honest when we give feedback. If a couple of pixels are not positioned correctly, we will point it out immediately. We even use a real magnifier to examine the design quality on device screens.
The magnifying glass that the team at 6Wunderkinder uses. (Image credit: Leona Hu)
I work with a team of the best designers in the field, and every day they offer so much that I can learn from. For example, our product lead, Benedikt, oversees all of our marketing and product design. He writes often to give good advice. Recently, the flat UI style has become increasingly popular, and many designers have started to adopt this style. Ben encourages us not to follow these trends mindlessly. He thinks designers should focus on their own creation, rather than looking at what others do.
Sebastian Scheerer, Timothy Amchuba and Julius Schäper work closely with the engineers to deliver quality products for different platforms. Sebastian is in charge of the Android, desktop and Web apps; Tim works with the iOS team; Julius creates beautiful icons and images for all the products. We all work on different tasks but are interconnected at the same time. “Be a pixel perfectionist” is our slogan. We also have great relationships with the engineering teams and often get help from them. Tim was interested in coding HTML and CSS, and one of our Web developers taught him the skills.
6Wunderkinder’s design team. From left to right: Jan Martin, Sebastian Scheerer, Timothy Achumba and Julius Schäper. (Image credit: Leona Hu)
At 6Wunderkinder, we are not only colleagues but also a big family. We stay up late at night in the office together for releases, and we take vacations together. We have a annual company retreat called “WunderCamp,” where we go on a trip with everyone in the office.
Q: What is the design aesthetic at 6Wunderkinder?
At 6Wunderkinder, we pursue quintessential design and engineering. Each employee here is very attentive and diligent on things that we work on. Our CEO and company founder Christian Reber comes from an engineering and business background, but he is always interested in participating in our design discussions. Christian and our product lead, Benedikt, often give the designers valuable input. We encourage everyone in the company to be involved in our design critiques. This interactivity allows us quickly realize what we need to improve.
Q: How important is the work space to your creativity?
The work space is indeed crucial for us. We all have our own individual spaces, but we are also grouped as teams in different rooms. In our office, we have a lounge that we use for communal activities, such as weekly reviews, celebrations and product releases. We have a relaxed environment, but everyone works hard.
The lounge in 6Wunderkinder’s office. (Image credit: Leona Hu)
We stay on top of communication with each other, even when someone needs to work remotely. Soon, we will move to The Factory, a newly constructed campus where we’ll get to share space with many other startups and tech companies, such as Zendesk, SoundCloud and Mozilla.
Q: What is your typical design process?
I always start with pen and paper. I use a brainstorming strategy that I call The Simpsons (yes, like the TV show). I call it The Simpsons because I try to produce strange ideas, just like the crazy cartoon does. Also, I never pick the first idea. For example, when the character Homer walks past a banana, most of the audience would think he will slip and fall. But the creators of The Simpsons always make him do something unexpected.
I sketch some of the developed ideas on paper, then scan these drawings to the computer. During my design process, I also look at many photography libraries for reference. Usually, I’ll create multiple versions for one project. After collecting feedback from my colleagues, I’ll keep refining the one that has gotten the best feedback until the final delivery.
In terms of digital tools, Photoshop is my favorite. I use Illustrator to draw complex shapes, too. And Keynote is the tool I use for constructing wireframes.
Q: What inspires you outside of work?
Berlin. The city is full of talented creatives. Because of the inexpensive cost of living, many young artists and designers can do what they love here without concern for money. During my free time, I like to explore the city. Berlin has so efficient an infrastructure that I can easily travel across the city. Currently, I live in the neighborhood Welding. It is not as popular as Mitte or Kreuzberg because it is still under development. But that’s why I like to discover new things happening here.
The rooftop patio at 6Wunderkinder’s office. (Image credit: Leona Hu)
I also watch many documentary films to get inspired. My favorite one is Objectified by Gary Hustwit. Recently, I watched a documentary called Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Chef Jiro Ono’s wisdom about perfect sushi-making in the film particularly inspires me in design.
Q: What have been the most unique challenges that you’ve discovered in your work at 6Wunderkinder? What are the most interesting problems you’ve had to solve, and how did you solve them?
One big challenge was to start as rookies but provide a high-quality app that does what other big players already offer. Our numbers grew incredibly fast, and so did the demands of our users, which we had to grow with very quickly. Good is not good enough, even if your app is free.
Another challenge was how to handle press. Press buzz and hype can help you to develop a strong brand and gain attention in the beginning, but there is a big difference between publishers and readers. It’s easy to get in touch with publishers, but it’s hard to talk directly with your audience. Even if you are an early-stage startup, invest as soon as possible in an experienced head of press.
Sometimes it can be really seducing to get a bit more buzz. For most people, more users equals more money equals more success. But sometimes it doesn’t. Take a step back and consider which news and which announcements are really helpful to you. Not only in design does “less is more” count.
Let me quote my good friend and CEO Christian Reber on the most important challenge: “Prepare to fail.” If you want to read about insights into failing and learning, you should read his startup lessons featured on The Next Web.
Q: How do you feel about growing a company in Berlin? Did conversations with people in Berlin (at meetups, etc.) inspire you to create your product? Do you seek inspiration in coffee shops or when walking, hiking, etc.? Have you had a chance to see what the community is like outside of Berlin, perhaps in other countries?
It was one of our best decisions to found and start our company in Berlin. The city is vibrant and filled with clever, creative and hardworking people from all over the globe. You have so many freedoms that you would not find in other cities. It’s this mixture that makes the city so interesting, confident and unique. But creating a startup is just one small step.
6Wunderkinder’s design team. (Image credit: Leona Hu)
I met some designers in June in San Diego at a design conference called Valio Con. Most of them were from San Francisco. Some of them worked in big and well-known startups. I think there is a difference between talking to people who have the same problems you are facing and talking to people people who had the same problems. Which means Berlin is not the right place right now to learn from other companies if you want to become more than a startup. There are not really many startups in Berlin that have made a profit or an IPO, and not many startups will.
A corner of 6Wunderkinder’s office. (Image credit: Leona Hu)
In general, I try to avoid startup meetups and parties. Instead, I sit with my colleagues and work on our product. We made a big promise to our users and investors, so why should we waste our time just talking to others on the scene?!
Q: Because Berlin is so big, do you find the city at times too competitive, with too many design agencies fighting for attention?
I can’t tell you anything about the design agency scene, just about the startup scene. But in the case of startups, I don’t think it’s too competitive. There are enough users with many and varying needs out there. It could be competitive regarding investors; but since I’ve been on the scene, there hasn’t been a startup with a good product that hasn’t found an investor. If you don’t find any investors, you should rethink your product.
Q: What lessons have you learned in your career? And how have they changed the way you approach design today?
One of my best learnings is to be careful with trends. Trends come and go. Some are good and will return, and some will leave you feeling embarrassed in the future. I’m trying to focus on the fundamentals, which will always work, allowing me to interpret current trends but not rely on them.
For instance, I’ve stopped using Dribbble. If you design for yourself or your own company, you should always strive for unique design and visual communication. But if you look like anyone else, you will lose an important advantage. Don’t implement anything you see on Dribbble into your work. It might work for that designer, but maybe not for your product. In the end, it will help you more if you find your own solutions. If you need inspiration, go to a museum; there is a reason why those works are in a museum.
Thank you for sharing inspiring insights into your work with us, Jan! Please feel free to follow Jan Martin on Twitter and check out his portfolio.
(al, ea, il)
© Leona Hu for Smashing Magazine, 2013.
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With so many web technologies, platforms and programming languages, web designers and developers are still searching for new opportunities to engage visitors and turn them into regular clients.
There are all sorts of options for engaging users, but one of the most popular is parallax scrolling. Parallax scrolling uses a script to move elements on a webpage at different rates, creating the impression of depth.
If you like forced perspective photography you will probably like Parallax scrolling websites too. The effect can produce very heavy sites, but used properly it does create a spectacular and engaging visual effect.
The first obstacle when considering a parallax website is their large file size and the resulting increase in page load time. This is because you’re typically loading far more on a single page than you normally would.
The more you load, the heavier the page. For this reason parallax sites are best suited to situations when the user is willing to wait a little longer for information.
If you stay informed about industry news you probably know that search engines (especially Google) regularly toughen their requirements for on-page optimization. The process of searching for information becomes more user-friendly but it doesn’t always coincide with site owners’ plans and abilities.
Currently, if you prefer one-page Parallax scrolling website you’ll have to optimize it for only one keyword. At the same time regular websites can optimize each page for a separate keyword/phrase. Consequently thoughtful separation of the home page can be quite effective, but you need to ensure that the content you’re designing for is promotable under a very narrow range of keywords.
You can’t escape the mobile web any longer, and that’s as true for parallax sites as any other. If you choose to use a parallax effect, you need to ensure that you’re translating the effect to mobiles properly.
Fortunately there are plenty of different libraries and scripts that help display pages with Parallax scrolling on mobile devices in a native way, some of my favourites are iScroll 4, Zynga Scroller, Stellar.js, and Scrollability.
Parallax sites are extremely engaging and do a great job of reducing a site’s bounce rate — but that only happens if you keep the the size down and ensure that the effect works correctly on mobiles.
Parallax sites allow us to tell stories, and those stories are a great way to engage visitors. Below we’ve gathered together some of the best examples of parallax sites, all of which have avoided the pitfalls above to successfully deploy their projects.
Have you created a parallax site? Which of these sites is your favorite? Let us know in the comments.
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The Christmas and holiday season is upon us this year.
Buying gifts for someone can be a tricky task, especially for creatives who are ever-so-fussy with their stuff and are thus hard to buy for.
In this post are my ten gift suggestions for creative professionals, e.g. Designers, illustrators, artists, web developers, photographers, online marketers, bloggers or simply someone who appreciates well-designed products.
The Nifty MiniDrive allows you to add extra storage to your Apple MacBook via the SD card slot. It’s non-intrusive, secure, doesn’t stick out of the side of the computer like USB drives do, and has 64GB storage capacity.
This makes a wonderful gift for anyone who owns a MacBook, especially one of the new models with solid-state drives that generally lack file storage space for digital creatives.
The Nifty MiniDrive is available for about $49 (list price on the site is €35).
The creators of the Coburns iPad stand focused on designing a minimalist iPad stand with a clean look. Built with organic materials that complement the refined feel of the iPad, these stands would make a wonderful gift for anyone who owns an iPad. It costs $25.
Dotgrid.co is a family-run business based in London, UK. We make dot grid books for designers and illustrators. The subtle dot grid is perfect for sketching, wireframing and jotting down ideas. Prices start at around $10 (£6).
Full disclosure: I’m a co-founder at Dotgrid.co.
If your gift receiver is a fan of great-quality craft coffee — many creative professionals are obsessed with coffee or tea — a coffee subscription that delivers coffee regularly to their home or office would make them incredibly happy.
Craft Coffee is based in the US but there are similar brands all over the world such as Pact Coffee in the UK and Misto Box in Australia.
Joli Originals produces handmade Italian leather sleeves for iPhone, iPad and MacBooks.
Joli Originals is run by couple Jolien and Harold out of their design studio in Amsterdam. They’re passionate about designing and producing elegant, classy sleeves for most Apple products. Prices start at about $40 (list price on the site is €29).
Inkbug allows you to turn your Instagram photos into beautiful little prints and stickers. Users can connect their Instagram accounts to Inkbug, choose how they would like to print their Instagram photos, and then select the photos they want to get printed.
Prices start at about $30 (list price on the site is £18) for 45 prints with free worldwide delivery on all orders.
Full disclosure: I’m a co-founder at Inkbug.
Beardbrand was founded by Eric Bandholz after he realized there was no real organization to represent beards. Based in the US, Beardbrand sells products such as beard oils and grooming kits. Anything from here would make a wonderful gift for your bearded friends.
Founded by a husband and wife, Port–au–Prince Paper Makers is dedicated to creating jobs for the people of Haiti. They hand-craft papier–mâché wall ornaments that will add interest to any office or workspace.
If your gift receiver owns a camera, whether as a hobbyist or a professional, the C-Loop camera strap mount by Custom SLR is a brilliant upgrade.
It allows the photographer to mount their strap to the bottom of the camera instead of the top, eliminating the issue where the strap gets in the way of shots when rotating your camera from portrait to landscape. Available for $40.
The Saddleback desk pad set is made out of real leather and is a great way to add a bit of style and class to a workspace. The set includes a mouse pad, a monitor pad and a large desk pad. Not only does it look great, it adds comfort to a desk too. Available for $309.
I hope this list of gift ideas helped you out.
On behalf of Six Revisions and my co-authors here on the site, I would like to say that we hope you have a festive holiday season and a Merry Christmas!
Callum Chapman is a mobile and web user interface designer. He has worked with many internationally known brands as well his own projects such as Dotgrid.co. You can follow Callum on Twitter at @callumchapman.
The post 10 Gift Ideas for Creative Professionals appeared first on Six Revisions.
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We’re delighted to be able to bring you this sensational set of icons designed exclusively for WebdesignerDepot by Webalys.
The unique, icons focus on environmental issues, from solar power to wind turbines, recycled clothes to cycling.
Delivered as EPS files, you can edit the icons in vector editing applications, like Adobe Illustrator, to scale the icon and tweak the stroke width — fantastic for using the icons over-sized, when an extra thick stroke would be too much.
Free for personal and commercial use, these environmentally conscious icons are great for websites, magazines, illustrations, even books. Each icon is packed with character, and we’re particularly fond of the beaming sun, the dripping faucet and the happy whale.
The hand-drawn quality adds to their charm and the single outline style, popularized by iOS7, means they’ll work well in a variety of different design scenarios.
Love these? Then you might want to check out Webalys’ Streamline icons, featuring over 1600 icons with pack versions available for developers.
Download the files after the preview:
Have you used these icons in a project? Which icon do you like best? Let us know in the comments.
Please enter your email address below and click the download button. The download link will be sent to you by email, or if you have already subscribed, the download will begin immediately.
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