Revisited: Larissa Meek Interviews

Today I’m lucky enough to be joined by Larissa Meek, an incredibly talented (and beautiful) designer. A former Miss USA and a Bikini.com model, Larissa knows a thing or two about looking good. But more importantly, she knows how to make her artwork and designs look just as good as herself.

Q: Larissa, it’s great to have you back. Can you believe it was all the way back in December 2006 when we had our first interview? I know I really can’t. Can you catch me up on what’s been going on since then?

Wow! Time sure has flown by! Well, I’ve been excitedly busy with AgencyNet work since then. Lots of great projects such as www.oxygen.com and www.mojohd.com (to name a few). AgencyNet opened and office up in NY City, in the heart of SOHO where we have been expanding our offerings and team members. I think we were around 20-ish (people wise) in ‘06 and have grown to encompass around 50 team members as of today. I feel extraordinarily blessed to work on many exciting brands and for a very forward-thinking agency.

Otherwise, I was also promoted to Associate Creative Director and have been playing with ideas for a redesign of larissameek.com in my free-time and have been exploring some personal methodologies of digital art.

Q: With this being DUI (Design under the influence), what influences you the most when making artwork and design decisions? Everyone is different, and this is a common question I want to make a staple here at DUI for all of the future interviews.

I love to keep tabs on the illustration industry. I subscribe to fructose and computer arts and I find it is a wonderful litmus test for current design trends. Beyond magazines, I find inspiration in just about everything from daily life, game design to random blogs.

Q: You’ve made a couple really cool wallpapers since we last spoke that really got me to consider if I should take you off my desktop or not (kidding!). Where did the ideas from these come from?

Because I don’t have as much free time as I used to, when it comes to exploring art ideas, I find that creating digital art is a nice solution to being creative and having time for paint to dry. I make my digital work wallpapers because I want to share them and hope that others will share them as well. Mostly, they have been personal creative outlets and I figure that offering them as free desktop wallpapers is a great way to get feedback.

Q: You did a presentation titled “Getting your designs approved: 12 Simple Rules” at the Future of Web Design Conference (FOWD) in London earlier this year. What was that experience like and what was the main focus of the presentation?

The focus of the presentation was to provide some simple tips and best practices to help designers get designs approved. It’s all about planning before submitting your designs and knowing what steps to take to get the best results. FOWD 08 in London was my first time there and it was a blast! I met a bunch of great talent in the business such as Elliot Jay Stocks, Jina Bolton, Andy Budd, Jon H people. It was exhilarating and I would love to prepare more live sessions in the future. It’s a wonderful opportunity to give back to the community.

Q: AgencyNet. You had only been working there a few months at the time of our last interview. How’s it been ever since? Much more settled now I’m assuming?

Things at AgencyNet are ever changing, just like technology. Nothing is ever stagnant. We are all about creating inspiring situations and allowing digital artists and developers the freedom to explore and grow. It is quite the contrary from setting down - we are constantly adapting which keeps everyone on their toes by embracing every new technology and pushing the interactive boundaries every chance we get.

Q: At last we left each other at the end of the Devlounge interview, you told me you would be passing along your available Miss USA friends numbers over to me. Unfortunately, I never got any. What gives?

All of the Miss USA Girls fell during the evening gown competition, thus bumping their heads.. and sort of forgot about my requesting their phone number for a “very close friend”. Some were inclined but forgot shortly after getting tripped up during the evening gown competition which was quite embarrassing.

Big thanks to Larissa for participating yet again in an interview with me! And, even bigger congrats to her for being promoted to Assoc. Creative Director at AgencyNet. Best of luck Larissa!