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Artist Interview - Bal Icme

01.09.2018
HKDI
Feature Story

Bal Icme (Balinku) is an independent art director, designer and illustrator based in Prague. She balances artistic vision with the graphic sensibility to create thoughtfully executed solutions tailored to each client. Her work ranges from identities, craft and digital design to photography and art direction. She loves bold colours, rough textures, patterns, and some elegant lines. Her style is bold and joyful with a hint of surrealism.

Prague, Czech Republic
www.balinku.com 

What information does a solo creator need about a project so that they can optimise their performance from start to finish

Usually I am very solution-driven. I care a lot about the brief and refer to it over and over again. I always ask a million questions of my clients — about mood-boards, inspirations, competitors, deadline, budget and so on. After I have understood it clearly, I do a kind of management plan. I like to mentor my clients. I like being a ‘what if’ person and try never to fall in love with the project and thereby lose objectivity.

What skills should a solo creator apply to minimise any waste of time or energy?

I think that having the communication skills to talk with my clients is very important to understand every detail of the project and avoid wasting my time. It is pretty hard actually if you do not have an account project manager because you need to do all the work yourself — managing meetings, writing and replying to emails, etc. Good communication skills make projects go smoothly and stay on track.


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