Interview with Illustrator Nik Ainley

Armed with a college degree in physics, Nik Ainley has become a well-recognized and talented designer with an impressive roster of clients. I talked to this UK-based designer about the challenges of freelancing full-time, using a technical application as a niche and how to leverage the press to boost your business.

Tell us how you got into design?

I’m a pretty late starter, only really getting into art and design at the age of about 20 or 21. I was at university at the time studying for a completely unrelated scientific degree when for some reason or another I obtained a copy of Photoshop (version 5.5 I think). I fell in love with it immediately and soon was devoting way too much of my spare time to playing around, learning new stuff and getting into design in a more general way.

Do you freelance at all or hold down a full-time job?

I’m a full-time freelancer and have been for a year and half or so now. Before that I worked full time as a web designer for a large company, and did some freelance work on the side. Once I was getting enough business I decided to go full time, and have loved it ever since.

If you freelance tell us how you started and what the biggest challenges have been. How have you overcome them?

I think the biggest challenge is self-discipline. Suddenly you are working without the structure of a 9-to-5 job within a company hierarchy. You have to do everything yourself, and the buck really stops with you. I find making sure I don’t get distracted, and wander off during work for a sandwich or out to the pub especially difficult. I seem to have reached a fairly good balance though, and having bills to pay certainly provides a decent amount of inspiration to work!

What is your typical day like?

The nature of freelance work is such that there really isn’t such a thing as a typical day. It can vary hugely from how much work I have one, from not doing any work in a day to working for over 12 hours straight. Generally though I get on my computer, check email and all that nonsense, browse various sites (mostly design stuff) for news, then do whatever work I need to do. I often work quite late, and through the night as the less possible distractions the better.

You specialize in Photoshop. What other programs do you use? Is it a good or bad thing to have a niche such as yours–why or why not?

I use a few other programs regularly for stuff that Photoshop either can’t do, or isn’t that great at. Illustrator and Cinema 4D are the big two I use (although I’m certainly not an expert in either) but I also dabble in Poser, 3D studio Max, Bryce and Xara 3D depending on the effect I want.

Although being mostly a Photoshop artist is a bit of a niche, it’s such a flexible program that I don’t feel too limited by it. Photoshop is capable of a huge range of effects, from photo-based work, to vector art, to 3D style stuff. It’s this flexibility and power I love and enables me to fulfill a wide range of briefs.

How have you landed larger clients?

I’ve been lucky in that every client I’ve had have approached me after either seeing my work on my website or in a magazine. Having a fairly high traffic website really helps, and doing profiles and interviews for magazines is a good boost. Those aren’t really things you can ask for though, you just have to hope the magazines take enough of an interest in you. Doing tutorials for magazines also keeps you in the industry’s eye and certainly helps let people know that you know what you’re talking about.

What advice do you have for beginning designers?

Practice, practice, practice. Endless hours messing about in Photoshop was how I learned and anyone with a bit of spare time can do the same. You have to love it though, I never felt like those hours were work as I enjoyed it so much. Forcing yourself is never going to work.

Tell us about your involvement in the 60 Unite for Children UNICEF project. How did you get involved and what specifically did you do to contribute?

That specific project I was invited to by the guy organizing it. I’m not sure how he came across me, although I suspect it might have been through Depthcore.com as quite a few of the group were invited. I produced an image based on a 3D studio max render a friend helped me out with, based on a sketch by my brother (who is also a professional illustrator, and specializes in character design). My 3D modeling skills are pretty basic so my friend knocked up a model in Rhino, which I rendered in 3D and then seriously tweaked in Photoshop. The image stands out from the rest of my work due to this heavy 3D involvement, it’s something I would like to try again one day. I tried Rhino a few times, but it gave me a bit of a headache!

Do you think all creatives should take time out to mentor beginners? Why or why not?
I don’t think all creatives would be suited to this, I certainly don’t think I would be a particularly good mentor as I get distracted so easily. I’m very happy to answer people’s questions though about technical stuff. It really depends on the beginner and how they want to learn. I didn’t know anyone at the time who did this sort of stuff and so just made my own way of doing things up. If you learn from someone else you might end up either inheriting bad habits, or producing stuff that echoes their way of doing things, rather than your own person style.

Well said! So what is your favorite design/campaign? Tell us about creating this piece and how you executed it.

I find it very hard to pick a personal favorite, when I look back at my work I tend to just see all the mistakes or things I could have done better or what I would have done with more time.

A picture of mine that is generally one of my favorites though is actually the oldest one I have listed on my site and is called “Peculiar”. The way I did this is completely different to how I would work nowadays, largely down to my limited Photoshop knowledge at the time. I started off with a great sock photo of a sheaf of old papers and basically used loads of filters and lending modes to produce the end results. Nowadays I tend to steer clear of filters but back then I relied on them heavily.

I like it though partly because it was a breakthrough piece for me in terms of quality, but also because it perhaps most exemplifies the type of look I want to go for in my work. Unfortunately it’s not a commercial look and so have never been asked to recreate it for a professional project. Just as well really as I don’t really remember how I did it!

Kristen Fischer is a copywriter living in New Jersey. Her latest book, Ramen Noodles, Rent and Resumes: An After-College Guide to Life, is currently on sale. For more, visit www.kristenfischer.com.