Introduction:
=skm-industries is among the talented of designers here on dA with his own style which so happens to be "cute". Many might know him, many might not but here's a chance to see how his creative days usually pass.



Warning! Alot of Humour in this one




Hey there, the name's Dene. You know me as =skm-industries
The very kind ^depthskins contacted me about doing this, so I'll be giving it a good go.
I warn you all now, my average day isn't all that exciting, there are occasional days where it's all crazy, and I have mad deadlines to meet that night, AND get ready to go out and DJ AND cook food AND do some other random stuff.

So, to start, let me describe myself to you, and a little about my work area.

The Dene:
Ooh, about 5ft 10” Long brown hair and a bit of a beard, arms full of tattoos, yep, I'd fit right into a metal band!

I'm a 27-year-old freelance graphic design from the Midlands region in the UK.
Also single (boo-hoo, yeh, start the violins now )

Work area:
This is my bedroom, my work area, where I am when not socializing, DJ'ing or at work.
It's a nice enough room, small, but very tidy.
Got my PC in the corner (Spec isn't great, it's a bit old now, time to replace it soon) everything is where I need it.

I share the house with ~LiBee by the way, go say hi ^_^
She's great, takes great photos and is generally lovely, great friend!

So yeh, this is my average day at the moment:


7:30am
2nd alarm goes off, OK, OK! I'll get up now!

First things first, let's get the PC on, check DA and Emails, open PhotoShop and get half an hour or so of work in there!
Also need to check on blogs & web comics,
See, I can't get through my day without some nice ego boosting from messages and a man needs some comics in the morning! NEEDS!

8:30am:
Whoa! Half an hour always becomes an hour!
Ah well.
Back to dA and take a look at the fine work of my fellow deviants, check on the DD's, Fave some stuff, check the news articles and stuff.

8:45am:
Crap! Gotta leave for work in 15!
Shower / clothes / food GO!
See, you'd think I'd have a routine, well, a plan, daily.
No. Every day I try and get out to work on time, but PhotoShop is a demanding mistress! All the lovely options, all the wonderful things that can be done!
OK, I'm a little obsessed with graphics, I admit it!

9:30am > 5pm:
-Yawn- office work >_<
Late again...
But at least I get to read graphics mags in my lunch break and draw cute things stabbing each other or err something.
[Insert sending at least 20 txt messages to friends]

See how I avoided boring you there? ^_^

5:30pm - 7pm:
HOME! At last!
Shower / PC on! (Important things, eh...)
OK, time to get some music on! I can't live without music, honestly can't!

Currently loving; Prometheus Burning / Terrorfakt / Pizzicato Five / Punch Inc / Polysics / Monolith & Skinny Puppy

For more, see my LastFM profile

7pm:
Eat! (And check more Emails)
Check MySpace / Autonomy LJ Community (moderate where needed), reply to posts on various LJ communities, more Emails.

7:30pm - 11pm:
Right back to the graphical!
Currently working on a couple of Album designs, My website (superevildesign.com) with =greyscar handling the code, Website for a record label, new flyers for A couple of nightclubs, my business card and some for a couple others.

At this point, I usually get the urgent stuff done so I can mess around with less pressing items later, and right now, there’s a flyer and CD design I need to get done.

So lets' see, a little about my creative process or something might be cool here.

First things first, I need to get comfy, make sure my work-area is tidy, and all that.
Get barefooted! OK, that's a little weird, I'll admit, but I find it helps to be barefoot.
Why? I have no Idea.

Hmm, well, I mostly like to get the Colours and basic dimensions sorted first, gives me a good reference point to work from.
Next up is the 'assembly' stage, which, for me, is kind of automatic, my brain will point out big mistakes and such, but this part is just getting all the elements on to the page, making sure all the basics are there.

Then, once that's done, I start to get the details in there, making sure fonts are aligned and kerned properly, get everything spaced nicely, cut out any clutter in the design.

If this was an 'Autonomy' night, however:
About now I’d be getting everything ready, assembling my little bag of tricks (yeh, my CD case), and preparing myself for the fun of the evening. I usually set off for the venue at about 8:30, and meet Martyn (co-organizer) and Chris (resident DJ) down there.

We tend to have a bit of a laugh, catch up and stuff before opening, and of course, get the crates of beer!

Autonomy is great fun, and I love DJ'ing, I get to play lots of music I love at fantastic volume and there's always a good load of my friends there.

Personally, my favourite times of the night are about 1am (guest DJ slot) and 3am, this is where I have my main slot, where I get to play all the tunes I love and make the dance floor groove to the sounds of PowerNoise.

I love doing that.

The last hour is time for all the fun tracks, the cheesy 90's stuff, the Mortal Kombat theme tune, and stuff like remixes of the Imperial Death March, you get the idea...


OK, back the usual...

11pm:
Usually time to post on my LJ, Update on my day, post some fun designs, and see what all my friends and acquaintances are up to.

11:30pm:
Getting tired now, but no! I want to do more graphics!
Back to work! [Insert sound of cracking whip]

12:45am:
See, it's this point I start to wonder why I'm not in bed yet, and still I'm working, because let's face it, graphic design is way more fun than sleep! Who needs that! Sleepy people, that's who. I'm trying to stay awake and focused at this point, and it's not really working.

1:20am:
No, I can't take it any more!
Just quickly check my dA messages and Emails, reply / thank / Fav as needed. (Addict).

1:40am:
Bed


2:30am:
Wake up because of an odd sound, which is always a combination of my amp and speakers still being on, and the odd, insect like whirring of my USB hard drive that I almost always forget to turn off.
Back to sleep.

5am:
Wake up for no reason.
Back to sleep



Parting words
See, not very interesting, busy, yes. But that's all i suppose.
If you want to see a more standard interview, Check this out

To add to this kind of day, there's the occasional phone call and random, utterly, utterly random MSN conversations with people.

Hmm, I feel like I should leave you with useful stuff....
Ahh yes, some stamps, some useful, some not...


This one contains a whole load of useful links for graphic designers and digital artists


This one has loads of links to really cool music.


And this one, well, this is clearly just a cheeky self-promotional stamp ^_^

Oh, and here's a link to some really useful templates if you design, or are interested in designing CD's DVD's, or other media packaging.
[link]


Well, that's it from me I think.
Thanks very much for reading my ‘day in the life’ of being a creative.

_{NOTE: This article is written an informal method and comes directly from the deviant. Little edit is made to grammer because of the informal atmosphere to it. All views expressed are of this deviant and not necessarly those of mine or deviantART. Thanks.}