Office tale of Giordano Poloni, freelance illustrator

Published by Leonardo Calcagno

Who are you :

My name’s Giordano Poloni and I’m an Italian based illustrator. Born in 1980 I earned a cinema bachelor’s degree and before starting this career I’ve worked with some advertising production companies as editor, motion graphic designer and Smoke artist.

Your current job :

freelance illustrator

In which city are you located?

Milan

A word to define what kind of worker you are :

What tools are essential to your life (app, software, etc..) I can’t help but my Cintiq and a couple of basic softwares to draw: Illustrator and Photoshop

What does your office space look like?

My office is my home, a desk and a library to take inspiration, well, there’s also a sofa where to rest when I’m not busy.

What kind of music do you listen when you are working ?

I don’t usually focus on a genre but I prefer listen to rap and electronic.

Do you have a way to organize your day to maximize your work ?

I have to admit that I’m pretty disorganized, I just have an idea about which are my deadlines for the day and I work for respect them. Times ago I often used to work during the night as I felt it more quiet, but now I forced myself to work during the day.

What tips would you give to improve productivity ?

If I had not absolutely need of internet I’ll get rid of it as I often lost my concentration to randomly surf the web aimlessly. This will be a great improvement for my career.

You’re better than your colleagues to : As I have a great admiration for my colleagues I can only say that I’m a super fast illustrator and this is a great advantage when you usually work with tight deadlines

What is the best advice anyone has given you ? The day an art director told me ” Take your time and don’t be hurried, sleep on your drawings, the day after you’ll have a bright view about what you’re doing”.

What is your best tip for saving time ?

The part that most keeps me busy is definitely the production of drafts and roughs, instead of draw them just with pencil I usually sketch with colours so I can have a better idea of why it will looks like and also give the client an advanced draft. This trick allows me, once the sketch has been approved to complete the final illustration in a very short amount of time.

What is your routine start and end of the day ?

Before starting to work I use to have a simple breakfast while look at the news on my laptop, this happens everyday.

The end routine depends on what I love more to do in that moment that should be go out for a dinner or have a beer with friends and going to the cinema.