Aaron Irizarry

Introduction

Aaron Irizarry is a hard-working, fun-loving, and super helpful member of the design community. He runs This is Aaron’s Life and a host of other design related sites. I’ve been privileged to get to know him a little better the last couple weeks. The other day, he was kind enough to agree to this interview, check out his thoughtful responses.

Hi Aaron, thanks for taking the time to do this interview with MyInkBlog. Please tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in design.

Well I am a pretty simple guy, who loves creativity, baseball, Star Wars, Heavy Metal, and Zombies. I have been designing in one for or another for about 8 years, more so in the web realm the last 3-4 years.

I was in metal bands for a while and got into designing by needing to make flyers, stickers, merch, and our site. I had a creative outlet in the music… but once I started doing some design I fell in love and never looked back. I loved, and still do love the idea of creating something that can express and achieve someone, or group of people achieve their vision.

Once I started designing I realized that I could do it for a living and just started trying to do as much work on the side as I could while holding a job, and touring. Since then I now work for a search marketing company full time, and do some part time freelance stuff from home.

josh-royse-cd

I always enjoy reading your posts because of their original flair and perspective. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

The majority of my inspiration comes from personal experience, stuff I learn day to day. I also learn a lot from what I read… I try to read as much as I can, from as many different authors as I can. There is a wealth of knowledge in the design community. I would also say that I get inspired from conversations I have, and bouncing concepts and ideas off of other designers.

You are consistently helping to better the design community with sites like This is Aaron’s Life, One CSS and One Up. Do you have any future plans for those sites or a new one that you’d like to share?

I just got my new TIAL design back from the guys at PSD to WP, I am going to be doing some testing, and hopefully release it this week. I am continuing to work on some new designs for OneCSS, and One-Up hopefully over the summer we will see those role out. I am always open to collaboration so you never know what else can come up…. Any Ideas?

onecss

Your sites are beautifully designed with a minimalistic approach. Can you discuss a little about your design process and why this style appeals to you?

Thanks, I try to keep them simple so that the content is showcased, for the blog, onecss gallery, and one-up, the content is the main focus (as it is on most sites) but I really wanted to keep it simple to get things started, so that people could see the value of the content being showcased.

In the future that may change, I am not sure… but I will cross that bridge when I get to it. :)

tial

Design theory and trends are constantly shifting and evolving. What do you think we’ll see more of in 2010?

I think web apps and mobile technology are going to be a big part of the future for the web. I’m sure we will continue to talk about CSS3 and HTML 5, and I think that we will see more efforts put towards getting more fonts to the web on a more common basis through advancements of sifr, cufon, not to mention the introduction of typekit.

Good designers learn and improve over time. What are some of the important lessons you’ve learned along the way?

Never take yourself too seriously. Never stop learning. Passion is Undefeated (via gary v)

What are some of your favorite sites that you visit for inspiration, learning, and otherwise?

  • Fuel Your Creativity – Always a great source for inspiration, and creative thought.
  • A List Apart – I learn immensely from this site
  • UX Booth – I love UX, and this site always has great content
  • UIE – The Gods of UX
  • Northtemple – I don’t subscribe to that choice of faith, but they are good guys, and great designers… it shouldn’t matter anyway right?

Mac or a PC, why?

I have worked on both, and now work solely on a mac… they are stabler machines, sexier machines… but to be honest I really don’t care that much… even though Microsoft is responsible for IE… that right there should be enough for everyone to use a mac.

When you’re not behind the computer designing and blogging, what do you enjoy doing to get away from it all?

People, I love hanging out with my friends and family. I am blessed to be surrounded by great people and to have an amazing wife and two daughters… they hold me down. I love playing xbox especially Call of Duty (with @davidlink and @chaseswindler), any zombie games, and Guitar Hero.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer some questions here. In closing is there any advice you’d like to give an aspiring designer?

Hustle. Work hard put in the extra effort, and more importantly… Listen, Listen to other designers, Listen to clients, listening is the long overlooked key component in communication, and design is communication right?

Connect with Aaron

If you’d like to connect with Aaron or check out some of his sites, here is where you can find him.

Final Thoughts

Aaron is one of my favorite people in the design community. If you have a question or comment for him, drop him a line below.

About the Author

Andrew is the founder and primary contributer for MyInkBlog. He is a full time web developer for Niagara University. When he's not working there, he's a blogger, twitter'er, wordpress'er, silverstripe advocate, blessed father and husband.

Visit Andrew's Website   

Join the discussion!

15 responses thus far

  1. Mike Smith

    June 1, 2009

    Great interview. I don’t know how I missed the OneCSS site (been out for a couple months lol) but I love that site.

    If Aaron is reading this, how is the PSD to WP service? clean code?

    Mike Smith´s last post was… The NEW version of Blog Theme Machine is now live

  2. Aaron Irizarry

    June 1, 2009

    Andrew,
    Thanks so much for the opportunity to do this interview, I think it turned out pretty rad!

    Keep up the awesome work!

    ~ Aaron I

    Aaron Irizarry´s last post was… Friday Vidcast 5-29-09

  3. Aaron Irizarry

    June 1, 2009

    @mike
    the PSD to WP gang are super cool, and there code is great. We are still working on and testing the re-design of TIAL, I will let ya know as soon as it is up so you can check it out.

    Aaron Irizarry´s last post was… Friday Vidcast 5-29-09

  4. Andrew Houle

    June 1, 2009

    @Aaron – I loved this interview, thanks so much for taking the time!

  5. Mike Smith

    June 2, 2009

    @Aaron – Awesome. I need a reliable PSD to WP coder, will definitely be keeping my eyes open for the new TIAL site.

    Mike Smith´s last post was… The NEW version of Blog Theme Machine is now live

  6. kyle steed

    June 2, 2009

    Awesome! Great Interview. Aaron is one of my favorite peeps out here in the design community as well. I’ve really enjoyed getting to talk with him and even collaborate with him on a few things. I am really happy to see him being interviewed and having the chance to get more publicity, he deserves it for all his hard work.

    kyle steed´s last post was… I’m the worst designer

  7. jpablobr

    June 2, 2009

    Awesome work! keep up the good vibes!

  8. Garth

    June 2, 2009

    “You are consistently helping to better the design community” Love that about you Aaron. I’m lucky to know you. Thanks for the write up Andrew.

    Garth´s last post was… Busy as all get out

  9. Tim Smith

    June 2, 2009

    Great Interview! Aaron is awesome. I like the way he looks and things and I think his opinions and advice are great!

    Tim Smith´s last post was… Blogging is a Drag

  10. Soh Tanaka

    June 3, 2009

    Cool Interview Aaron, it was a good read and I like the articles you write on your blog :-)

    Soh Tanaka´s last post was… Guest Post – Sexy Drop Down Menu

  11. Aaron Irizarry

    June 3, 2009

    Thanks everyone for the kind words :)

    Aaron Irizarry´s last post was… Friday Vidcast 5-29-09

  12. Jeremy

    June 4, 2009

    Great interview, Aaron is definitely worth keeping tabs on. I really appreciate the well written and thoughtful articles (video productions) that he puts out, focused on teaching and helping others in the design community progress and improve. Thanks to both of you for taking the time to put this interview together, super inspiring.

    Jeremy´s last post was… To Focus On The Important

  13. Dax Hansen

    June 5, 2009

    Aaron is my new hero. Thank you good tattooed sir.

    Dax Hansen´s last post was… Partied Hard

  14. Roberto Blake

    August 18, 2009

    Aaron you do amazing work and are such a positive pillar in the design community, just know that your hard work is appreciated by your peers!
    .-= Roberto Blake´s last blog ..20 Top Tier Photo-Manipulations =-.

  15. Jerry

    December 10, 2009

    Always seems like all of the top designers are fans of Star Wars – can’t blame’em though :)

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