Published by Leonardo Calcagno
Who are you :
Bobby Haiqalsyah, a freelance graphic designer and illustrator
Your current job :
Currently working on some personal projects and client work as well.
In which city are you located?
Melbourne, Australia
A word to define what kind of worker you are :
Committed, I might not be smarter or more talented than you but I’ll work harder.
What tools are essential to your life (app, software, etc..)
Laptop, my mechanical pencils (one in blue for sketching, another in black for drawing over the sketches), graphics tablet, mobile scanner, sketchbooks. They all fit in my carry bag.
What does your office space look like?
My studio is a shared co working space in a renovated warehouse in the inner city, I share the space with up to 10 other people but we hardly occupy the space at the same time so it can be quite spacious at times. We all have different disciplines and offer something different to each other, we are illustrators, painters, street artist, architect, jeweller, photographer and writer.
It gets a bit dark because we’re down an alleyway and surrounded by buildings but a short walk into the main street we can play in the sun.
What kind of music do you listen when you are working ?
Depends on the time of the day really, I like to start the day with something smooth and acoustic as I slowly get in to the working day. I tend to to play music that’s more fast paced and pumping in the afternoon and mellows out in the evening as we wind down the day. However as this is a shared space different people can bring their own music list.
Do you have a way to organize your day to maximize your work ?
I sometime plan my day the night before or the morning, I have a to do list using Clear app, and for big projects I use Basecamp.
What tips would you give to improve productivity ?
Work with what suits you best, make decisions early, but be flexible enough to change something if it doesn’t work for you.
You’re better than your colleagues to :
Cook, I used to work as a chef
What is the best advice anyone has given you ?
Be yourself, which is kind of corny.. However I think for some of us we all try to emulate other people or live up to other people’s expectations of ourselves we truly become lost in all that. So if I can be comfortable in my own skin and be myself whoever I am/my role be on that point of time then I’m happy.
What is your best tip for saving time ?
Relax between your research and execution, you need time for one side of your brain to switch to the next. So take a walk, grab a coffee and let the research just settle in your head and you can get a clearer perspective with a clear head. There are time where we’re on the clock that we just jump into it and spend hours trying to find the best solution from the research but it just hasn’t been mentally resolved because our mental cup is still full.
What is your routine start and end of the day ?
Coffee, music, and emails in the morning. Making lists in the end of the day.
Aside from your computer and your phone, what gadget can you not you go ?
Some internet connection would be great, other than that I think I’m all set.