vitor lourenco
January 12, 2010
i’m a huge fan of vitor lourenco from the first moment i saw his portfolio website about a year ago.
why? like me, vitor believes in the concept of simplicity in his designs. he is undoubtedly the first designer whose style deeply inspires me. he’s worked for both yahoo and twitter where he is currently, and has had a total of 8 years of design experience at the ripe old age of … 22.
last fall, designers couch had a chance to interview vitor. all i can say is … i wish i was there in person:
A constant theme that you carry on your website is ‘simplicity’. Why do you prefer this approach over one that might be more graphical?
I believe that a good interface is the one that fades gracefully, allowing content to be in the very front row. As a designer, you must always remember that, in most cases, your users aren’t there to appreciate your mad visual skills, but to accomplish a task that is important for them in some way. I love a quote from Alan Cooper that says: “No matter how cool your interface is, less of it would be better.”
Web typography is the hot topic at most events and blogs these days. How much focus do you assign to typography in your web designs and how much influence do you think it has on a prosperous design?
Typography is one of the most prominent elements in my designs. I really pay a lot of attention to it, and I do think that great designs are made of great typography and photography. They represent the content, and that should be the main interaction points on a website. In other words, get rid of unnecessary decoration and treat text as user interface.
Speaking of the ‘right’ books, can you share some of your favorites?
Yes, my all-time favorites are:
About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design – Alan Cooper
Designing with Web Standards (2nd Edition) – Jeffrey Zeldman
Paul Rand – By Steven Heller
Thinking with Type – Ellen Lupton
feeling inspired already? you can read the entire interview here.
i’ll be the first in line for vitor’s books. twitter made a brilliant move when they scooped him up!
photograph: vitor lourenco, from designers couch.
