Published by Leonardo Calcagno
Your current job:
Illustrator, Animator, Graphic designer
In which city are you located?
My name is Rron Bajri and together with my roommate and coworker Nertil Muhaxhiri we are Studio 34, an animation and web design studio based in Prishtina.
A word to define what kind of workers you are:
We try to be innovative and do new things in every project.
What tools are essential to your life (app, software, etc..)
We mostly use Adobe software for our projects, but we are more focused on doing things manually by using basic tools like pencils, paper, sculpting tools, brushes, etc. We do this, because we want to have more natural feel in our work, it loses the digital emptiness and it makes the final product more organic. Pat Metheny, one of my favorite musicians, once said in an interview that he keeps half of the instruments acoustic to balance out the electronic instruments. I think we do the same thing at Studio 34. Of course we do projects that are entirely digital, but it always depends on the client’s needs.
What does your office space look like?
We have a small apartment where we live and work in. The living room is our studio. In the beginning we decorated it like one of those architectural interiors you see on Tumblr, but after a while we felt the need to have a more practical workspace so we crushed the order and transformed it to what you can see in the picture.
What kind of music do you listen when you are working?
Nertil and I had a long argument, since we have different tastes in music. We gradually started falling for hip-hop together, but we decided to stop listening to music while working. The music distracted us from our work and I think we are more focused now.
Do you have a way to organize your day to maximize your work?
We plan the whole process of the projects on paper.
What tips would you give to improve productivity?
To us motivation is the most important thing. Sometimes we have boring tasks like working on something we don’t like to do, but we try to motivate each other and to think about our goals. When you have the right motivation you will also have a better product in the end. We also try to connect emotionally with every project we work on.
You’re better than your colleagues:
I don’t know, check my portfolio.
What is the best advice anyone has given you?
When I was working at a festival, I told the director what we could do better next year and he reacted in a very cool way: “No, forget about next year, do it this year! If you have something that you can do better, do it now!” I try to follow his advice in everything I do.
What is your best tip for saving time?
Delete your Facebook account and don’t chat all day.
What is your routine start and end of the day?
Eating and talking what we are going to do that day. And when we are done with working, we talk about what we could do better.
Aside from your computer and your phone, what gadget can you not go without?
Hard drive and sketch book. I forget my sketch book sometimes and often don’t draw at all, but lately I am taking it more and more with me when I go out.
