Graphics

Meet Our Authors: IanMikraz

Illustrator and Envato Elements Author IanMixraz produces a range of graphics, templates, and fonts and has attracted a following for their quirky illustrations and fun typography.

In this interview, we catch up with IanMixraz to learn about their creative process, illustration trends, and how they see the future of illustration in a digital era.

What’s your artistic background and how did you develop your creative style?

We have no artistic educational background, we are self-taught and have learned from the internet, and design books. The development of creative styles goes through a fairly long process and we continue to learn by seeing many good illustrations on the internet.

We don’t think too much about niche markets, instead, we make what is interesting and what makes us happy. Sometimes we draw inspiration from what other great illustrators make.

What does your creative process look like?

Our creative process involves looking at current trends and what is interesting, then we research for inspiration, filter out what themes will be created, and then create and put the item for sale.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

We get inspiration from comics, TV advertisements, YouTube, cartoons, and much more. We often see inspiring work on Behance and Dribbble.

How and where are your clients typically using illustrations?

We often see our work being used on social media advertising banners, t-shirt designs, and some YouTube content.

In a sea of talented illustrators online, what’s your advice for creating unique work that stands out from the crowd?

It’s hard to make work that stands out in a short time as it’s a long process to create. We combine many inspirations from several illustration styles to make our own illustration characters.

And of course, making as many illustrations known to our customers as possible will make our illustrations quickly known to others.

An Illustration by IanMikraz
Author Credit: IanMikraz

What is your advice for budding illustrators?

You mustn’t be satisfied with your work, you must continue to learn, and appreciate each illustration that you create.

What are your go-to digital tools, programs, or techniques for creating your illustrations?

The sketching part of the process becomes a very important stage, so paper and pencil are the basic tools for this. After that we add the sketch into a digital program, Corel draw and Adobe Illustrator are the applications that we use. We try all kinds of drawing techniques like flat designs, gradations, lines, etc.

An Illustration of sushi by IanMikraz
Author Credit: IanMikraz

What are some of your favorite illustration trends at the moment?

Flat design trends and cheerful colorful illustrations are sought after by many people, and cartoon-style illustrations are still the best.

Why do you think illustration has become so dominant online?

An illustration is easier to understand and more interesting to see. A lot of fantasy things are brought to life through illustration. The evolving digital era requires content that is suitable for online digital media.

How do you see the future of illustration in the digital era?

There is a very good future for illustration and illustrators because of social media.

Feeling inspired by IanMikraz? Head over to Envato Elements and start creating today! Or, for more creative inspiration, check out some of our other Q&As with talented designer M-e-f and graphics whizz Barsrsind.

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