Today I am proud to introduce another full time member of the HV-Team, Justin Lowery, who will be writing photoshop and illustrator tutorials for us. Justin has a new tutorial for us coming this next week but I wanted to start off letting our readers get to know him a little bit with this interview. Read on, ask questions, and enjoy!

Justin, thanks for taking time out of your day to answer a few questions; firstly we would like you to introduce yourself to the readers?

Sure. I’m Justin Lowery, and I’ve been working as a professional graphic designer, web designer / front-end developer, photographer, and writer for over a decade. I work with people, organizations, and companies from all over the United States and around the world. I have a tremendous passion for helping people, changing their lives, and shaping the way they view themselves and the world around them.

How do you find the creativity to keep pumping out your amazing work and tutorials?

I read obsessively. In a typical day, I consume probably a few hundred articles, and countless hundreds of images and design pieces in a constant search for inspiration, knowledge, and ideas. You need to “stay hungry, stay foolish,” as they say. Learn constantly from the work and writing of others.

Also, participating in the design community is key. I’m on Dribbble, Forrst, BeHance, Cargo Collective, Flickr, Deviant Art, and pretty much every other community I’ve ever heard of. There are some absolutely brilliant designers and artists out there, and in the communities you can find a never-ending flow of ideas and inspiration.

What would be your favorite piece of work that you have designed so far?

That’s a very hard one. I’m not sure I even have a favorite. I like my own site, because I have total design freedom with it. Also some of the 3D and motion design pieces I’ve built with Cinema 4D and AfterEffects came out pretty well. A few of my recent identity projects have really come together nicely as well. It’s nearly impossible to choose a favorite, however.

You have signed on to be a member of our HV-Team, what made you want to join the team and write tutorials?

Well, I actually went to college for education, believe it or not. I figured there really wasn’t much I could learn from going to school for design, because I literally would teach the design professors things all the time while I was there. (I actually ended up doing design and consulting work for the college before I graduated, and worked in the advertising department for two years as well.) Instead, I figured teaching was something that would never lose its value, and could be applied to nearly anything imaginable. So I took that, and graduated with a double major in secondary education with two teaching fields. I love helping people unleash their potential. Writing and teaching both accomplish that. Tutorials combine those two of my passions.

What made you want to get into the Graphic Design business?

Well, it’s more design in itself than the business. I actually do pro-bono work all the time for charities, ministries, and other non-profits that I think have worthy causes. Design changes the way people perceive the world around them, and in turn affects people’s behavior towards these causes. If you have bad design representing your organization, people are going to think poorly of it, and that’s going to show in the way they treat it. They’ll give less, volunteer less, care less, and sometimes even ignore the organization entirely.  The end result is that these organizations don’t have the money or manpower they need to change the world, and that’s wrong. I wanted to change that. The business side of design came about as a mere necessity of life. I love design, and it happens to pay the bills, so I decided to use it do that while I work on more meaningful things in my spare time. Of course, I try to choose meaningful paid projects as well, and have been blessed with the opportunity to work with some truly incredible clientele over the years.

What would you recommend to our readers as the best way to build their career?

Do awesome work. Put your heart and soul into it. Show people. Get dramatically better at what you do. Do better work. Show more people. Rinse and repeat. Use your work to do good for others and for the world. When people see those things in you, they’ll want to work with you. People like people who have passion for what they do, and who do it well. I handle the work of a small agency as a result of this. It does work.

In a practical sense, get your work out there. Follow a ton of designers on Twitter, Dribbble, Forrst, BeHance, Cargo Collective, and Flickr. More importantly, get your work on all these sites and more. Show only your best work. It’s more important what you don’t show than what you do. Less is always more. I try to show only a dozen pieces in my portfolio at any one time. Talk about what you do. Be super passionate about it. People will want to work with you when you’re glowing with enthusiasm and energy for what you do. If you love what you do, it should show, and people will be able to see it. When you nail those things, the work will take care of itself.

And my last question; If you could work with one company and head their design department who would it be? Why?

I would most likely start my own company. I probably have too much passion for what I do to work under someone elses limitations for very long. That said, if I had to choose, hmm…that would be hard. Apple is always a good choice as companies go. I love the work they do.

Realistically, though, I doubt I’d ever work for a corporation per se. I’d much rather do something more meaningful. Perhaps something like the Red Cross or another large-scale charity organization. I really have a passion for helping people, and getting people to help each other.

If I had to choose a realistic organization that I actually have qualifications and a solid chance of working for, I’d probably work with an small to medium-sized agency that strictly services charities, ministries, and other non-profits, like churchmedia.cc or something similar. I really can’t stand the whole money-at-the-expense-of-people mindset that most companies have, so it would definitely be a non-profit-oriented agency that does truly meaningful work on a regular basis.

Well, thanks again Justin and we look forward to seeing your tutorials in the coming months!