Interview with Natasha Mozz

Design is a great communication instrument. For me it’s also a way to understand the world better.

I am focused on brand identity systems and marketing campaigns. Would be very interesting to design something interactive as a part of the brand system.

Analyze everything. The key to success in design is an understanding of how it works

A good designer knows the rules and knows how to do all the right things to create something amazing. A great designer knows also how to break the rules and change the rules to create something outstanding.

Really good design is always thoughtful. It solves a problem, it translates the message, it creates some specific feel, and it helps with some kind of communication in a very logical, calculated way. It doesn’t mean that visually it should be dry, minimalistic, or uptight — not at all. It can be the craziest visual ever, but if it’s good there’s always some thinking behind it. That’s how design is different from art.

As a tool for communication —just like with any language, if it’s not working, the message will be not understood. A poorly developed brand, UX, marketing materials are a waste of money. Visually, even for people who don’t understand anything about design, the sloppy design creates the same subtle feel as dirty shoes: we don’t necessarily look at them but they damage the overall impression.

I would be happy to design a few books, both fiction and non-fiction, and also I would love to design for some music-related institution someday.

Analyzing everything, constantly learning new things, being kind to people, working hard, and enjoying life

Analyzing constantly how design works. Why something that looks nice — looks nice. Why exactly something that looks horrible or annoying is not working. What was the thinking process behind the project. In most cases, it’s the work that can be done in mind, by switching from passive to active perception, but going through case studies also can be super informative.

Most likely I would be a musician.

Among many other things — studying type design. For a year I was doing just that, and in the end, I’ve got not only valuable another skill, but also a deep understanding of how typography works in communication. How the slightest change in letter shapes changes the feel. Another thing —building my own startup. After spending a few years “on the other side” I understand much better my clients' perspectives and the real value of what we do as designers.

In the very beginning the most painful was a lack of real works in portfolio. I had to invent projects and find clients among friends and family to gain experience and works to show.

I believe that explaining the process is extremely important. Of course, images themselves should explain the idea very well, but giving additional information on how it was created, what was the thinking process, the task, the challenges, the specifics of the market, and so on is extremely valuable.

I think that design in general will be more about the tailored experience for each customer. Brand systems will be much more flexible, described rather through the behavior of elements than the elements themselves.

Normally it takes a few weeks or a few months but depends on the project of course.

Unless it’s already done — research. What is the business/product about, what is the market, target audience etc.

Trends in general are a side effect of big design processes. The biggest mistake designer could do is to chase trends. General understanding of the visual language of today is important, but the way design looks should grow naturally from its meaning, not from inspirational boards.

Most of my work is thinking so not big.

Adobe, Google Docs, Figma

The same as intonation in any speaking language.

I do believe in co-design, and most of my work is teamwork. My ideal partner would be someone with complementary skills —for example, motion design.

I really started growing fast as a designer after I’ve developed a habit of analyzing every visual work I see.

I would love to discuss art with Albert Einstein

Black, Central Park, tiramisu, spring, piano, Parachute.

I guess we will do a lot of Mars-specific design projects.

For most of my work design acts as a universal language that allows businesses, institutions and people to communicate with the world.

Developing visual language for brand systems

I believe it was a series of print ads for a radio station

Figma is the best instrument for designing anything graphic static. It's extremely easy to use and allows few people to work in the same file which is priceless for the agency collaboration

While walking — it's the best time to think through ideas and systems

In branding, the scalability of an idea is something that is easy to miss. Some great visual ideas don't survive multiple implementations or expanding to a wider range of brand channels.

If it's a brand identity, it should be based on a strong concept, it should reflect the business it's representing, it should be logical and work as an expandable system, it should be convenient to use in different situations for any team that is going to work with it.

First of all, I look if the decisions made are based on relation to the client's business and the problem that has to be solved—versus the decorative approach (choices based on what looks good or trendy) which extremely rarely works

I expect to see more interactive design and such technologies as creative coding becoming a common design tool.

First, I do research to figure out what the business of my client is about, value proposition, differentiation from the competition, target audience etc. After that, I develop a creative concept, then based on that concept I develop a visual language, test it in different hypothetical situations, and after that follows the implementation through defined brand channels