The Joyful Crafter: December 2010

Wonder who made our Watchamacallits by Peach n Co. lay-out?

Allow me to introduce you to a lay-out designer, Alexis San Diego. Alex is only 23 years old from Bulacan, from an average type of family. His father runs a small business in their hometown while his mother is a stay-at-home wife. He has 3 siblings - a brother and 2 sisters who now have their own families plus 3 cute nieces KC, JC & Eula aka The Tres Marias. At the moment Alex is searching for a permanent job in one of the largest companies in the country while maintaining his freelance job in lay-out designing.

What makes Alex's lay-outs different from the rest is his artful combination of colors, typography and graphics. He is able to transform a seemingly complicated website to a simple and elegant one with his lay-out designs. His ordinary items inspired themes, often with a welcome image (flash or not), will surely encourage more visitors to your site or customers for online shops like mine.

No wonder that even during the holiday rush month where people are busy worrying about buying presents to give to their loved ones and preparing for the Noche Buena, Alexify is still packed with lots of customers.

Read the interview below to get to know more about Alex and how he smoothly comes up with customer's lay-out designs, fast.

Peachy: Please tell me about yourself. What course you took up from college and anything else you enjoy doing other than lay-out designing?

Alex: I took up BS Computer Engineering. Other than creating lay-outs, I enjoy singing and movies.

Peachy: How did you discover your talent in lay-out/theme designing?

Alex: It started when people told me that my works were good. I never doubt a person's admiration because I know they have the "eye" for a good work.

Peachy: When and how did Alexify came about?

Alex: It started last September 2010 when bespren Aizie aka Papster encouraged me to make Multiply Themes. At first my themes were showcased on her site until eventually after positive feedback from clients I decided to build my own.

Peachy: What is a typical day for you like?

Alex: A typical day would be walking, sleeping late, reading emails, creating clients themes, eating, taking care of Eula, attending to household chores, cooking, computer and lots of computer... Ü

Peachy: If you have other work than Alexify, how do you find the time to do lay-out designing? How many times a day to you spend on this?

Alex: Let's say I'll have to attend to a particular event or chore, I set a schedule for a particular lay-out and makes sure I stick to it. But since I don't really have a regular job to go to, I really don't see this as a problem right now as I have all the time to squeeze in client's themes. I think I get to spend more than 10-hours a day for it - - and I really feel sorry for my computer for this. I know it also needs rest.

Peachy: What is your inspiration in creating your own designs?

Alex: Main inspirations would be ideas from webpages, as well as graphic works by various designers. I also find inspiration from things like pillows and curtains; structural designs such as buildings, malls and houses; print materials such as leaflets, brochures and magazines.

Peachy: Are there any other graphic designers you admire?

Alex: Yes. One of which is Eljonized. I love the way he mixes weird colors and makes it look nice. So as Angel of AsianVogue, her theme is one of my favorites. And of course Aizie, for her kikayness and super extra-elongated-patience for picky clients.

Peachy: What is your design process like? (ex. Do you draw your lay-outs first?)

Alex: I just open Adobe and Chrome, that's it. hahaha! I design the wire frame first, add some color then gather or create the graphics that would go along with it.

Peachy: What is your favorite theme amongst all that you have done?

Alex: That would be my personal theme! ☺

Peachy: What is your favorite tool in doing your lay-outs?

   Alex: Adobe Photoshop CS2

Peachy: Lets talk about the business side of things. What are your typical customers like? Is there a certain age group, etc?

   Alex: Most of my clients belong to the mommy-age-group. A lot of them are business oriented housewives.

Peachy: Your business is mostly focused on pre-made themes. What are the advantages and disadvantages of making pre-made themes?

   Alex: ADVANTAGES would be: 1. Premade themes are created to project a finished look so that the interested client have a clear idea on how their site would look like. 2. It's faster to finish. 3. Revisions are minimal. While there are DISADVANTAGES too and that would be: Some clients may love the theme but would ask to replace certain portions of it - which is some cases acceptable while on most times not.

Peachy: Have you encountered any bad experience in the business? How did you deal with it?

   Alex: Yes. I met an irresponsible payer who left me unpaid. I tried to talk to her but when I was left unanswered, I just erased all her hosted files.

Peachy: What advice can you give out to beginners starting out on this business?

   Alex: We are entrusted with this God given talent, the eye for art... We are to use it wisely and with love.

There goes my interview with Alex of Alexify. Check out his site for more interesting and great Multiply and Blogger themes. Who knows he might just be the perfect lay-out designer you're looking for ☺

I believe in the saying, "Practice makes Perfect".

And so I am about to show you my 3rd attempt on dolly making or most commonly known as mini-MEs made of polymer clay.

I wanted to be so good at it just like Rocky of Rockybeads, Gin of Genty's Clay Creations, Jenn of Purpleluggage and Thina of Claythinz, to name a few. So initially I thought of getting myself into another clay workshop, one that specializes in creating mini-ME miniatures unfortunately I couldn't find one.

Since I couldn't stop myself from laughing every time I look at and re-read my previous posts on my dolly project attempts 1 & 2, I was determined to improve - - even if it means doing it alone. So here are the mini-MEs I've come up so far...

I still think the eyes are a little big... or are they just too plain? Nevertheless, I am happy with my latest creations! Not only was I able to give them hair variations but I never fail to get compliments from people who sees them and finds them really cute. ♥

I sure did improve, eh?

Clays used: