Team Member Spotlight: Anna Swierenga

In our second installment of the Perfect Search team member spotlight series, we're talking to our resident data visualization nerd/Bachelor addict/designer extraordinaire, Anna Swierenga. Read on to find out where she gets her design inspiration, what projects she's most proud of, and why there's a photo of her with Elton John and Elon Musk above. 

1) What's your favorite part of your job? What's the most challenging part of your job?

Honestly, I love solving any kind of problem in a creative way. Whether it’s trying to create Google and Facebook banners for a specific client or illustrating a blog post image to reflect the content, I enjoy conquering that task. The most challenging part of my job is actually the same thing. It’s difficult coming up with new ideas for each banner or post when you have to do it so frequently and with a quick turnaround.

2) Where do you get your design inspiration?

I use Feedly which is a compilation of news feeds that I have broken up into different categories: Design, Graphic Design, Tech, Web Design and Marketing. Some sites I use purely for aesthetic and composition purposes like Abduzeedo, Behance Featured Projects, and Dribbble. Other sites I follow to get a new perspective on things and push my creativity like Colossal, Notcot.org, and Adweek: Ad Freak. Lastly I visit sites that are educational and informative like Creative Bloq, Smashing Magazine, and Hubspot Marketing Blog.

(Anna also wrote a blog post on web design blogs that will inspire you--check it out!)

3) What's your favorite thing that you've designed?

My favorite client work I’ve designed is the GoCurrency logo. I spent a lot of time on it, went through various versions and finally landed on what it is now. I always knew I’d make the ‘o’ in ‘Go’ a green circle because it was too perfect to not reference a traffic light. When I got to the point of making the ‘c’ a Euro sign and the ‘y’ a Yen sign I got really excited. I spent a good amount of time trying to incorporate the dollar sign but it ruined the simplicity and beauty of it.

One of my favorite things that I’ve designed for Perfect Search is our logo and website. It was a really long process and involved a lot of hard work from different team members but it definitely paid off. It’s always a challenge to design something that is highly optimized for conversions but I had fun with it--and I think our Company History page really shows that.

4) What are your top 3 Perfect Search memories?

One would be going to a promotional event for a client. I was honored that they included us and wanted our input on how to set up an event that appealed to millennials. We also got to help model the product--a portable jet ski--and I got to feel famous for a day.

Another top memory (or memories, really) would be our company holiday parties. It’s always a great time to dress up, bond with everyone in the company and have fun outside of the office.

I also really enjoyed playing on our company kickball team. Granted, we weren’t the greatest team in terms of the whole winning thing. But we had an awesome time encouraging one another (and, of course, making fun of each other for our lack of athletic ability).

5) If you could host a talk show, who would be your first guest? What would be your talk show's name?

My first guests would be Elton John and Elon Musk. I would ask Elon if his mom forgot the ‘t.’ The name of the show would be Tea Talks with Anna Ruth. There’s a very real, not-at-all Photoshopped photo of the three of us at an premiere party above.

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Would you be an avid Tea Talks fan? Do you have any design blog recommendations of your own? Send them our way by tweeting us @Perfect_Search. 

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