Interview with Graphic Designer Emma Butler

Emma Butler is a Graphic designer from New Zealand. Her aesthetic is full of fun details and is retro-inspired. She mainly focuses on illustrative typography, and loves working with video. Take a peek in this interview and see Emma’s fresh take on graphic design!

We’d like to know more about you. Can you tell us more about yourself?

I’m Emma – 23 years old, born in NZ and currently residing in Canada. I like road trips, blue shoes, freshly sharpened pencils, and designing things.

Have you always been interested in graphic arts?

Yes – after my career as a professional cage-fighter didn’t work out, graphic design seemed like the obvious choice.

What is a day like for you? What usually keeps you busy?

Currently I have the pleasure of working for an awesome design company in Edmonton, so my days are full of anything from video editing to poster design, to advertising and branding. (And if it’s a Friday, afternoon red wine drinking).

Your images seem to have a retro-fun feel, how did you develop your style?

I really can’t say – it just comes out that way! I’ve always been inspired by the design work of the past – especially vintage advertising from the 40’s – 50’s. And I’ve always had a thing for old signage – you know, the kind that was painted on brick walls using some insanely cool font (or Brush Script, as was so popular in the past!). There’s something appealing about that look that seems to permeate my style, without me realising it.

From start to finish, what is your design process?

It’s different for clients, but for my personal work the process is something like this:

Get brilliant idea at random moment / spend some time researching a style I’d like to go with / hydrate / brainstorm / sketch ideas / pick the sketch that looks like a winner / hydrate / move onto the computer to digitalize that idea / hydrate / refine, refine, until I’m happy with the design / share design with the world!

What part of creating a design do you like best?

The brainstorming / sketching. I love seeing the ideas spill onto paper, then slowly take on the form of something I’ll actually go with. The best is when it leads to a direction that I hadn’t even considered in the beginning – it’s fun to watch a design evolve that way.

I personally liked your non-minimalist movie poster series, what was your experience like in creating this series?