This installment of our ongoing artist interview series is a bit of a departure but I like going outside the box. When you find good work and interesting uses for Copic you gotta roll with it. I “bumped” into Interactive Designer/Photographer Michelle Childs a few weeks ago on Twitter. We had a mutual friend, I discovered her well-curated blog and so I added her to my list. She followed me back and quickly pointed out that she used Copic Markers all the time. I was surprised to find out what she used them for since “interactive design” is not on the list of demographics of typical Copic users around our office. We love learning about how people are using them so I had to ask for an interview. Michelle was gracious enough to answer some questions about her work, process and artistic background.

First give us a bit of background information- Where are you from? Where did you go to school and what are you artistic interests?

I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. I have a Bachelors of Science in Fine Arts from Towson University and studied Photography and Art History in Florence, Italy where I studied Renaissance art and black and white photography techniques. As for my artistic interests, I am drawn to the simple beauty in everyday things. From the strength of a concrete overpass to the decay of an old house, the shapes, colors, textures and sharp contrasts are my eye candy.

Tell us a little bit more about what you do. How do you describe “Interaction Designer”?  Who do you do work for? Are you freelance or with a firm?

To me, an Interaction Designer is someone who makes the complicated problems simple by designing intuitive, thoughtful solutions regardless whether its online, offline, environmental or service inspired. As an Interaction Designer for Pinpoint Logic, a user experience design company, my background in visual communication gives me a unique edge when it comes to understanding business problems and crafting an informed design.  My thought process is very visual and I spend a lot of time doing sketch notes and whiteboard exercises to help navigate through the problems and define solutions.

It’s cool to see Copic Markers used in such simple and functional application. You are actually blending and adding tonal elements in your prototypes. Will you describe your process with the markers?

I use grid paper, nothing fancy, and pencil in the outer frames of the prototype. Then with the Copic Multiliner SP 0.7 pen, I start outlining. I often switch to a smaller gauge pen to do any type treatments. I have various line styles to denote headings, copy, links, etc. Once the outlines are inked, I then use Sketch Markers to add depth and dimension to the modules. I use c1, c3, n1, n3, w1 and w3 of the grays to indicate static, active and inactive states of the windows. Through the use of the markers I have created a set that works quite well in most paper prototyping situations.

Sketching out the windows and user interface elements help me visualize the interactions and decide whether my initial design thoughts were correct. Paper prototyping takes less time than trying to create the screens on the computer and allows me to get the answers faster; whether its from myself, from a team member or a user. Its amazing how quickly you can determine if a user interface will be too visually cluttered just by layering a few sheets of grid paper. (more…)