Early-Bird deadline for the PRINT Regional Design Awards is March 1, 2017. Enter now!
PRINT’s latest Designer of the Week Charles PattersonI is a product designer at InVision who’s proud of the things he’s creating for the design community and hopes to one day write a book about how product designers are going to save the world.
Name: Charles Patterson
Company: I’m a product designer at InVision
Location: I’m located in sunny ol’ London, Brixton
Website: I publish my creative work at dribbble.com/charlespatterson—still working on that portfolio site (one thousand re-designs later).
School Attended: I received a BSc (Hons) from Cambridge.
How would you describe your work?
My work is minimal, simplistic and clean. I follow the “less is more” philosophy. I asked our design director, Andrew Cullen, how he’d describe my work, and he replied with 🚀 so I’ll take that! Cheers, mate.
Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration from all over the place really—talking to my colleagues, going to design meet-ups and flying off to different countries for exhibitions. You’ll always find me scouting around on Dribbble or Behance. I solve all design problems whilst taking my morning bath. Yeah, I love a bath—get over it.
Who are some of your favorite designers or artists?
My favorite designers are my colleagues. I’m not just saying that either. Before I joined InVision in 2015, I’d followed the design team closely as they’re constantly producing top-quality work. Not only are they the best people I’ve ever worked with, they’re my friends and mentors too.
Check them all out on the Dribbble design team here. Special shoutouts to my product squad Andrew Cullen, Andy Orsow, Chris Bannister, Dejan Markovic, Billy Kiely, Noam Liss, Tomas Jasovski, Steven Fabre and Scott Savarie.
Do you have a favorite among all the projects you’ve worked on?
My favorite project is the InVision iOS app. I was lucky enough to completely redesign the app and release a v2.0. We’re always improving upon it. I really get to spread my wings since our developers (the unsung heroes, we love you) are top, top notch—they bring my designs to life.
Is there a project that stands out to you as having been the biggest challenge of your career so far?
It’s the same project as my favorite. There’s a huge responsibility around the InVision iOS app. Millions of people rely on us to both present work to their clients and also test their own personal
Designing for the design community can be pretty challenging at times, but I love it. Designers are not shy about giving feedback, which is great for us. It’s sometimes sweet, sometimes not so sweet. I’m pretty close to the community, so I make sure I listen closely and carefully. I like to think we’re all buddies.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
1. Write a book about how product designers are going to save the world.2. Carry on working at InVision smashing through projects with the team. We’re on fire right now!3. Build a portfolio site, but we know that’s never going to happen. I’ll get around to it one day … maybe.
What’s your best advice for designers today?
Always push the boundaries of what you think can be achieved. Think outside the box, explore and experiment—that’s what we designers do best, we think differently. People will try to put you back in the box but keep pushing. Push yourself to your limits; great things will happen. Believe in yourself, keep learning, question everything and most important of all, make sure you’re having fun.
