Inspiring Designers - Dann Petty.

Where did I find them?

Twitter! I have been following Dan for a while, mostly because I was doing research for tutorials and he offers design courses. Then I dug a little deeper and really enjoyed his content. He posts helpful tools and encouragement for designers regularly. He’s a freelance web designer and regularly posts works in progress.

Dann Petty

What do I like about them?

He’s got a pretty big audience which means he has eyes on some pretty cool things, all of which he re-shares. I have found designers, tools and quotes from Dan that I like to save for inspiration. I also discovered we share a similarity in how we become inspired - we put down tools and go do something we enjoy that isn’t designing.

Typically a long surf. It’s hard to get inspired sometimes behind a screen, you usually see the same thing over and over and it’s hard to spark a new idea because of that. If you want a new idea, get away from the screen. I think the best inspiration comes when I’m not trying. It’s why my best ideas happen in the shower I think, haha. My mind is free.

Dann Petty Interview

He also has a great You Tube channel where he posts helpful tutorial videos: Dann Petty Youtube

And if you’re a freelancer then you’re in luck because he has created a mini series focussing on freelancers and their daily lives which will definitely include some helpful tips! freelance tv

What do I like about their work?

It’s fun! I like that a lot of his work has this feel of the product jumping out of the page, there’s a real layered feel about most of his stuff. Nothing ever feels flat or static.

There’s also a magazine type feel to a lot of it.

When I first started out designing in college I absolutely Baseline Magazine, it really taught me about layouts and how to break that mould sometimes (probably why grids have never really been my favourite). I loved being able to have objects in areas that might not quite align where you expect it to, and I liked to incorporate that in interface design. Dans work has that feel to it, like here:

I also love that he has dipped his toes in lots of areas of design. His ability to adapt to different mediums and create compelling designs is inspiring. I also appreciate that he's not afraid to take risks and try new things in his work. It's clear that he has a passion for design and it shows in everything he creates. I sometimes feel like I need to focus on just one type of design say typography, film, ux etc…but like Dan, I kinda wanna do a mix of all of that. So it’s safe to say he’s a firm continued inspiration for me.

My Interpretation

As per the last post, I have created a design that is inspired by Dann. This is actually also a small sneak preview of something that is coming soon so be sure to follow us and keep your eyes peeled for this exciting new project coming soon! In the meantime, I have attempted to create a feeling of depth and movement like Dann.