Sergio Ordóñez Suánez is an illustrator and artist who creates great characters, logos, mascots, and other designs, done predominately in Photoshop. He took his self-honed skills and turned them into a successful professional career. He has some great advice to share with us about developing as an artist, working with clients, and pursuing your passions. Let's jump into the interview.
1. Welcome to PSDTUTS! Please introduce yourself, give us a brief bio, tell us where you're from and how you got started in the field.
Hello fellows, my name is Sergio Ordóñez Suánez. I'm 29 years old and Spanish, born in Málaga. Mine is not the typical history. I don't have any academic formation related to the art or design industry. I bought my first computer when I was 20, discovered the internet at 22, and Photoshop at 24. I started designing seriously at the age of 26.
I'm licensed in psychology but never got the chance to practice. My destiny prized me with a knee injury while I was preparing myself for the entry tests to the scientific police of my country—the perfect excuse to initiate professionally into the design world. That's how SOSFactory was born.
2. How would you describe your work, your style, your approach to design and illustration?
When I was young, I liked to create comics, graffiti, Disney characters, Manga, and surfer-style characters and logos. My style is a mix of all that. I do what entertains the child inside me.
I don't have preferences for any particular style. I get easily bored with what I master. The fact that I developed more the cartoon style is because my clients demand it. I'm a very practical person. What amuses me is to learn new things, more than the result.
3. Could you tell us about your career, a favorite project you worked on, a toughest project? Any current or future projects you'd like to share with us?
I started as a comic colorist, but soon I realized that slavery wasn't for me. After that I worked six months as a part-time graphic designer in my city, but again slavery still wasn't for me. So, I decided to start selling my own designs in forums and art communities. First I charged US$15 per logo, then US$50, a year later US$150 , two years later US$250...and finally after four years, I'm able to choose my clients.
My favorite work was the one I did for Funrise Toy Corp. Their brand manager hired me through Deviantart. He asked me for some character tests. The contract lasted two years. I worked for game lines such as POG, Dr. Dreadful, Hedbanz, and others. They assigned me big budgets that allowed me to lead a team of more than 10 artists, all of them Deviantart users that I admired. Unfortunately, the company was laying off staff, and my contract was terminated. I learned a hard lesson: never depend on just one client, even if it seems to be great.
I just finished some work I'm very happy with. I made labels for a series of alcoholic and energetic drinks for Spirits USA. It was a very hard assignment, due to the amount of designs required and the short deadlines.
Click on the image above to see it full-sized.
4. Tell us about the apps you use? How integral is Photoshop to your work? Any tips you'd like to share?
I use Photoshop for almost everything. Sometimes I also use Illustrator, mostly to modify the typography of my logos or for vector illustrations. Photoshop is the king of design, an all-terrain art vehicle: it's useful for Web design as much as it is to paint or draw. It's the perfect match for my Wacom.
Tips? Practice with Photoshop until you're able to do any task unconsciously, as natural as breathing. From that point you'll start enjoying it. Every time I use it, I'm more conscious of its power and versatility. I could give you hundreds of tips, that's why I created my blog: SOSNewbie, to share them.
Web Design in Photoshop. Click on the image to see the design.
5. Could you tell us about your process? What does your workflow look like?
All my work is commercial, so productivity is a must. I have a very defined procedure for each area, whether it is a logo, Web site, or mascot. For example, for my mascots I start with a sketch on paper. After that I retouch them with Photoshop until I get something decent. When the client approves it, I use Photoshop again to clean and color it. Only after the client approves each step, do I move onto the next one. That way I save a lot of time in corrections. If you're interested in the details you can visit the Freepowerboards Case Study.
6. Could you tell us a bit about making logos or mascot designs in Photoshop? Any tips on idea generation? Or how you create such compelling characters?
The creation of logos or mascots is complex. I wouldn't be able to sum it up in such a little space, but I plan to collaborate with PSDTUTS on some tutorials. In fact, writing tutorials is one of the things I enjoy. Here you can visit a tutorial about the design of a vector mascot.
The key to being creative is not to think about it. I used to be blocked a lot in the past. I intended to create from zero, and that's impossible. I consider playing videogames, reading design magazines, comics, books, watching movies, looking at the work of other designers, all as part of my job. We have to feed our mind, create references in your head to use them when you need them.
When creative block appears there's too little you can do. The best thing you can do is prevent it. Besides feeding your mind, you also need to get a relaxed life style. If you enjoy your work, creativity will appear.
7. Could you give us a glimpse into running your studio, working within a team and with a variety of clients?
I'm a freelancer and I work from home. For a while I've been questioning myself about whether to create my own studio, but I'm not sure if I want to sacrifice this freelance lifestyle that gave me a lot in my personal life. On the other hand, I'd love to increase my team to be able to take on bigger projects. I suppose time will clarify this for me.
I have partners that help me with my tasks, normally in a temporary way, depending on the current work. Everything is made via Internet (sadly). It's not easy to find good artists that are serious, available, that know what they're doing, and work well within in a team. Luckily, I still have time to visit art communities and forums.
Currently I work with Miguel Angel Ruiz and Carlos Nema; they help me a lot in the character creation tasks. Lucas Savelli helps me with HTML/CSS coding. Nicolas San Martin helps me with my English issues; he's the one in charge of translating this text and others. I would like to find somebody to assist me in logos, color tasks, and Web design, but no luck yet.
With my clients I have a love-hate history, but I guess that happens everywhere. Some of them are wonderful: they give me total freedom, criticize constructively, pay well, and on time; it's a pleasure to work for them. But there are others that really get on my nerves. I recommend them to the competition at the first chance I get.
There are two types of jobs: the ones that give me economic stability and the ones that I really enjoy. With the ones I enjoy, I try to experiment. The key to be a successful designer is to find the balance between both types of orders. If you have more of the first ones, you become a robot. If you have more of the second ones, you'll always be conditioned by your economic instability, which will lead to some bad decisions.
8. Thank-you for participating in this interview! Any final remarks?
I just wanted to thank you for this opportunity to share my experiences. I'd also like to encourage those who try to get into this competitive business to go for it. There's a trick that always worked for me—do what you enjoy! Bye!
Where to Find Sergio Ordoñez Suanez on the Web
- SOSFactory: http://www.sosfactory.com
- Sergio's Blog: http://www.sosnewbie.com
- Deviantart user: http://www.sergitosuanez.deviantart.com
- Popular tutorial written for Smashing Magazine: Drunken Monkey Photoshop Tutorial
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )ZaFaR April 29th
COOL! GREAT INTERVIEW WITH TALENTED PERSON, LIKE IT, KEEP IT UP!
( )Fabio Sasso April 29th
Amazeeng… very good interview. Thanks Sean!
( )Pablo Matamoros April 29th
Wow! Great work!
I’m also happy of finding an Hispanic like me being interviewed for an English publication. Not often Hispanics are recognised in the technology/design world.
( )Photoshop Brushes April 29th
love the colours
( )Grafiko April 29th
great logo and cartoon design, love his work allready, can whait to see you tutorial’s
( )Joefrey Mahusay April 29th
It’s really inspired me. Thanks Sean.
( )Jesús April 29th
Que buenos. Increibles ilustraciones paisano.
( )Un saludo de España.
Juanjo Vargas April 29th
Qué tiempos en que coincidÃamos en Infected-FX
( )Congrats to SergitoSuanez (his own name). You’re so big
Zach April 29th
id love to have him, or someone else if he can’t, come here and do some drawing/sketching tuts prior to photoshop/illustrator. that would really be appreciated.
( )LOSWL April 29th
Great Interview!!, I saw the drunken Monkey tutorial before and wow!!…It is very detailed, anyone that loves to illustrate should study it. Great to see a designer that started out with natural talent and made it.!! that is partially my story too, but i am still working the slavery route
) thanks for PSDtuts that have sparked my creativity 
) so I am doing my own thing on the freelance tip too 
]
( )Nate April 29th
LOL, this stuff is pretty amazing. I really need to get back into sketching
( )Andrew D April 29th
Great work, and I loved the interview, thanks
( )Soelberg April 29th
Awesome interview.. Really interesting =) And all these amazing illustrations.. I just love it!
( )goldenthunder April 29th
Serious talent! Thank you for sharing!
( )D. Carreira April 29th
Great interview! Thanks!
David Carreira
( )Mics April 29th
Thank you! I’ve always been a fan
( )Salva April 29th
Ya habia sido testigo de su buen trabajo pero la entrevista me ha encantado.
( )Un saludo!
Daniel April 29th
Very nice interview! thanks a lot sean.
( )arnaud April 29th
I love his mascots
( )Shane April 29th
Looking forward to Sergio’s future collaborations with PSDTuts. Thanks for the interview.
( )Lamin Barrow April 29th
Great interview Sean, I’ve really enjoyed it. I find Sergio’s work to be quite fascinating and inspiring. Thanks for the post.
( )Ben Griffiths April 29th
Great interview, thanks!
( )Fodcj April 29th
Amazing work! Can’t wait to see more from him on here.
Cheers
( )Razvan April 29th
Good interview, I like Segio’s illustrations!
( )Johan April 29th
Cool and different. Thanks to all involved!
( )Constantin Potorac April 29th
Great interview Sean. I really appreciate you for interviewing great artists.
( )BogDinamita April 29th
man he sure is good
( )Snorri3D April 29th
NICE ONE!
( )Has.n April 29th
nice interview!! thanks a lot!! its very interesting
( )Daniel April 29th
Good article…
Daniel
( )Jeuc Royae April 29th
Love the artwork, but a shame that he is centered so much around adult material and sexual innuendo. While that may not bother some, it does bother others. Guess I am in the minority on this opinion, and thats just fine.
( )liam April 29th
I’ve been a fan of Sergio Ordóñez Suánez for a while now, and its great to read this. Nice interview.
( )Race X April 29th
Thanks for these great suggestions… Really Inspiring work!!!
Love it
( )Terry April 30th
innuendo? sex? where was that?
i’ve seen his stuff before and let me tell you, he’s definately found a market for his style.
and doing it almost all in photoshop?
awesome.
( )Photoshop Brushes April 30th
what innuendo sex?
( )Seraphim Collective April 30th
Great article! I’ve been illustrating for 20 years, but I’ve just added it to my services. My dream was to one day be a Comic Book Artist, but that’s not the case now. I would just love to do concept art for the entertainment industry; drawing character, creatures and whatever else that gets my imaginations exploding.
( )Anton ruiz April 30th
I love the style, very good choice Sean.
I envy this type of guys, congrats!
Hoping to see his next tutorial.
Cheers
( )Anton
Zach April 30th
@Juec Royae – That was something I noticed to, that even though he has a cartoon-like style, his material is not exactly for children. Now I’m not saying that his work isn’t good, because its great, I just was a little put off by that as well. It’s ashame that companies whose target shouldn’t be kids try to advertise, subtly, to kids.
That’s just my opinion, and I’m still a fan of his work, he is a fantastic artist.
( )Némida April 30th
Fantástico!! Ãnimo en todos tus proyectos!!
( )Rajaie May 1st
This is guy is good, real good. Maybe one day I’ll be as good as him
( )Danny May 1st
Wow this guy’s illustrations are really good… Hope he can do tutorials on how to create those
( )Jad Graphics May 1st
Great work! You have an amazing style and it is very cool!
( )SachinKT May 1st
Great interview !! really inspired me.. drawing/sketching i love it…
( )Constantin Potorac May 1st
he is such a great artist
( )Alex May 5th
Muy buen trabajo. Un ilustrador muy talentoso. Tambien muy interesante el trabajo de Alberto Cerriteño, mexicano radicado en Portland, OR.
( )madewira May 7th
after reading this long interview, I decide to list Sergio on my Favorite Artists.
( )superb quality works!
Craig Webb May 28th
When you see a talented artist being credited for his or her work, you will surely find a few haters with an opinion straggling behind them.
( )Goku July 26th
very nice art works.
( )