Sitting Down with Jono Hunt

Our interview series continues with a true pro in the design world. Jono Hunt, also known as Iconaholic, has been doing graphic design for many years, working on a wide range or products for various companies big and small. Huge thanks to Jono for taking a few minutes out of his busy schedule to chat.

Culture Milk: Hey Jono! Thanks for taking a few minutes to answer some questions. Can you tell us where you’re from and what you do?

Jono Hunt: I live in a town called Chesterfield in the north of England (just over an hour from Manchester). I design icons & user interfaces for a living.

CM: Sounds great. How many years have you been designing? We know you’ve been in the game for a while. Did you have formal training, or are you self-taught?

JH: I’ve been doing it for about 10 years, and had no formal training. Like quite a few designers doing this, I started out doing it as a hobby which then progressed into a full time job.

CM:  Seems like most professionals these days are mostly self-taught which is unlike most other fields. What are some of your other interests outside of design? 

JH: Food. Beer.

CM: Can’t argue with that one bit. Shifting back to the work side of things, what are the essential tools you use to get your job done? Also, what type of Mac setup do you have?

JH: I mainly use Illustrator and Photoshop. I have an 27” iMac i7 with 16GB RAM, an old 20” Apple Cinema Display which I use a second monitor, with a Magic Trackpad and an Intuos4 tablet. I literally can’t do any design work at all without a graphics tablet. If it breaks, I break.

CM: Anything you’re working on currently that you’d like to share?

JH: I’ve just finished an iPhone app that I really enjoyed working on, which should be out in a few weeks (I previously worked on the Mac version of it *clue*).

CM:  What are your thoughts on communities like Dribbble? What do or don’t you like?

JH: I have mixed feelings about it. On one side there are some amazing designers and designs on there. On the other side there’s the often commented on scenario where well known designers will post a simple button and get a crazy amount of attention/likes for it. I don’t think it’s dribbble.com’s fault, it’s more the way people use it. I dislike it more than I like it, so generally stay away.

CM: How about family life? Do you have a partner, spouse, kids, etc? How do you balance freelancing vs family life?

JH: I have a wife and two young boys which means any time I’m not working I’m usually dressing up as Dora the Explorer, wiping something, or scraping something up off the floor.

CM: Most designers and developers get inspiration from someone. Not necessarily style, but someone who really got them interested in the field. Was there anyone like that for you? 

JH: No one person got me interested in design. But not too long after I did get into it I got to know of, and then became friends with Everaldo Coelho. He’s a true artist, who can do just about anything. He eats, sleeps, and breathes art and design, and is really inspirational to a lot of people I think. Did I mention I also hate him? :P
(There are lot’s of other amazing designers I could name who inspire me, but I’ve not known or been aware of them as long as Everaldo.)

CM: Jono, thanks so much for taking the time to share all this great info with us, Jono. We really appreciate it!

JH: Cheers! :)

You can find Jono’s work on his website and you can also follow him on Twitter. He’ll make you laugh, we promise.

About Nate Boateng

Nate is a devoted husband, dad, and part-time media student. Nate's fanatical about technology, good design, UI/UX, good coffee, music, and film. He dabbles in photography, video editing, and the like. You can find him on Twitter at the handle @nateboateng.
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