Meet Julian Spence – Great Design Comes From Two Things

Let us introduce you to Julian Spence, Houston-based (Texas, US) artist, passionate about print design, graphic design and sneakers. A creator who pursues his dreams full time.

Why have you decided to step into the design field? What inspires you and why?

I came into the field of design out of pure luck aka destiny. Growing up basketball was my first love and I chased my dream until I couldn’t take it any further, and the same drive I applied to my hoop dreams spilled over into my design career. One day during a conversation with my Mother on my plans for obtaining a degree she suggested I use my creative skills for something called graphic design which I had never heard of before besides an Adobe illustrator class I took my sophomore year of high school. So I enrolled at the Art Institute of Houston and eventually earned my Bachelors degree in Graphic & Web design. The inspiration for me was the challenge of learning new skills and also being able to create ideas that had never been done before in my own unique way. Plus, being one of the only African Americans in most of my classes pushed me to really dedicate myself, work 10x harder, and hold myself to a higher standard to prove to the people that look up to me that anything is possible.

How do you measure the success of your design?

In the beginning of my career my measure of success was gauged by if I could secure a good job after college which was not something that occurred often for majority of the students, but in my case I was able to land 4 solid job opportunities after my portfolio show which increased my confidence and made me feel successful. Now that I have been a professional in the field for 5 plus years I measure my success by using solid design principles and creating work that speaks to me and makes an impact to my audience.

What is your biggest challenge in design creation process?

The biggest challenge for me is finding the perfect way to express the desired feeling I want my audience to feel. In today’s world there is so much information and constant exposure to millions of great designs and projects at the click of a button. Finding a way to express something that other people have already done numerous times can become quite burdensome. But, the greats always find a way to turn that challenge into the work that we love to look at and read about.

What principles do you follow when creating attention grabbing design?

A quote I live and die by when it comes to design is “I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design comes from those two things.” In school one of my teachers by the name of Mr. Lofgren told me “the key to good design is the ability to create an elaborate design and then be able to strip away everything from it until you can get the same message across.” Once I started applying this concept to my work the quality and level of my projects skyrocketed. I take pride in always keeping an eye out innovative designs and trends but still keeping in touch with the roots and fundamentals that paved the way to where we are today. Using my power of creative thinking my main mission is to generate solutions to problems that uplift and inspire.