Clicca qui per la versione italiana dell’intervista a Lina Gustafson
What originally made you want to become a graphic designer?
When I went to high school I found out that I easily fell in love with different letters and fonts. I could never get enough of the shapes of letters. To combine letters, pictures, colors and different shapes never seemed to bore me. Then this love for letters and graphic design grew bigger and I started to discover the world of patterns.
What’s it like being a graphic designer in Sweden?
Pretty crowded, we are a lot of freelance graphic designers fighting about the same jobs. On the other hand, because we are many, we also inspire each other.
What’s the inspiration behind your work?
I only have cliché answers to this question. I mostly find inspiration in shapes and patterns that I find in the nature and in the daily life. Then I love the challenge to transform these shapes and patterns into my own illustrations.
I also get inspiration and creative energy from other talented artists that are active in various creative fields such as graphic design, illustrations, art, street art, textile art, fashion etc.
How I find these inspirations is mostly through travelling, museums, Instagram, Pinterest, fashion shows (on the internet), street art that I bump into, new and old books about nature, artists, different epochs in art etc.
People that inspire me are for examples: Henrik Vibskov, Bernhard Willhelm, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Nathalie Du Pasquier, Karl Grandin, Asger Juel Larsen, Linnéa N Kolbäck, April Rose (Rainbow Kimono), Bea Szenfeld and Maxjenny.
What do you enjoy the most about creating?
The moments when I loose track of time and space and become totally absorbed in my work. I can go on drawing for hours and hours.
What products are you launching this year?
Unfortunately I can’t tell you that much about my latest work since I have started to cooperate with a new client in a secret project. This is one of the annoying, but exciting parts of working as a print designer, you often work in secret project and you can’t tell or show what you are working on at the moment.
And often you have to wait a long time before you can see the final result of what you have created. All I can say is that I have made textile prints for a new brand within retail and it will be released this autumn in Sweden.

Cherokee prints to the right for Monki by Lina Gustafson
What tips would you give to anybody who is looking to get started in graphic design?
It can be good to start with some small assignments, and then take on bigger and bigger projects and gradually learn along the way.
Always have a sketchbook with you and sketch, sketch, sketch!

Sketchbook by Lina Gustafson
The Portfolio of Lina Gustafsson: www.linagustaf.com
Lina Gustafson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/linagustaf
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